# 1969–70 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1969–70 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1969-70 basketball season for head coach Harv Schmidt saw his team enter the collegiate top 25 rankings in December, only to fall back off the chart in February. The team was led in scoring for the season by Greg Jackson, Mike Price and Rick Howat. Price would finish his senior season by being named on the Converse honorable mention All-American team. The Fighting Illini would go on to finish the season with a 15-9 overall record and tied for 3rd place in the conference with an 8–6 record.
The 1969-70 team's starting lineup included Randy Crews and Fred Miller at the forward spots, Price and Howat as guards and Jackson at center.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/2/1969* no, no | | Butler | W 83-67 | 1 - 0 | Assembly Hall (13,752) Champaign, IL |
| 12/6/1969* no, no | | at Georgia | W 81-70 | 2 - 0 | Stegeman Coliseum (6,271) Athens, GA |
| 12/8/1969* no, no | | DePauw | W 91-57 | 3 - 0 | Assembly Hall (13,367) Champaign, IL |
| 12/13/1969* no, no | | Creighton | W 57-51 | 4 - 0 | Assembly Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 12/18/1969* no, no | | Detroit | W 82-65 | 5 - 0 | Assembly Hall (6,251) Champaign, IL |
| 12/20/1969* no, no | | vs. Wichita State | W 66-63 | 6 - 0 | Chicago Stadium (5,240) Chicago, IL |
| 12/20/1969* no, no | No. 15 | at Washington State | L 58-59 | 6-1 | Bohler Gymnasium (13,000) Pullman, WA |
| 12/29/1969* no, no | No. 15 | vs. Michigan State Far West Classic | W 86-77 | 7-1 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum (6,873) Portland, OR |
| 12/30/1969* no, no | | vs. No. 19 Southern California Far West Classic | L 62-65 | 7-2 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum (6,324) Portland, OR |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/3/1970 no, no | | at Wisconsin | W 74-69 | 8 - 2 (1 - 0) | Wisconsin Field House (5,411) Madison, WI |
| 1/6/1970 no, no | | Indiana Rivalry | W 94-74 | 9 - 2 (2 - 0) | Assembly Hall (15,392) Champaign, IL |
| 1/10/1970 no, no | | Ohio State | W 77-59 | 10 - 2 (3 - 0) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 1/13/1970 no, no | No. 17 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 101-80 | 11 - 2 (4 - 0) | McGaw Memorial Hall (7,677) Evanston, IL |
| 1/17/1970 no, no | No. 17 | at Michigan | W 75-73 | 12 - 2 (5 - 0) | Crisler Center (8,405) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 1/31/1970* no, no | No. 10 | vs. Notre Dame | L 83-86 | 12 - 3 | Chicago Stadium (15,864) Chicago, IL |
| 2/3/1970 no, no | No. 14 | Wisconsin | L 65-66 | 12 - 4 (5 - 1) | Assembly Hall (14,217) Champaign, IL |
| 2/7/1970 no, no | No. 14 | at Minnesota | L 73-82 | 12 - 5 (5 - 2) | Williams Arena (12,519) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/14/1970 no, no | | at Purdue | L 49-83 | 12 - 6 (5 - 3) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/17/1970 no, no | | No. 11 Iowa Rivalry | L 81-83 | 12 - 7 (5 - 4) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 2/21/1970 no, no | | Purdue | L 81-88 | 12 - 8 (5 - 5) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 2/24/1970 no, no | | at Michigan State | W 74-67 | 13 - 8 (6 - 5) | Jenison Fieldhouse (6,417) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/28/1970 no, no | | Minnesota | W 75-73 | 14 - 8 (7 - 5) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 3/3/1970 no, no | | at Indiana Rivalry | W 85-75 | 15 - 8 (8 - 5) | New Fieldhouse (5,196) Bloomington, IN |
| 3/7/1970 no, no | | Michigan State | L 76-81 | 15 - 9 (8 - 6) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Points |
| Greg Jackson | 24 | 175 | 59 | 234 | 409 |
| Mike Price | 24 | 135 | 89 | 220 | 359 |
| Rick Howat | 24 | 147 | 41 | 66 | 335 |
| Fred Miller | 24 | 107 | 79 | 138 | 293 |
| Randy Crews | 23 | 77 | 47 | 142 | 201 |
| Bob Windmiller | 21 | 56 | 15 | 37 | 127 |
| Tom Dezort | 15 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 36 |
| Bob Shapland | 21 | 8 | 18 | 25 | 34 |
| Jim Krelle | 13 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 23 |

## Awards and honors

* Rick Howat
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Mike Price
** Honorable Mention All-American (Converse)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Mike Price | New York Knicks | 1 | 17 |