# 1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1962–63 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

## Regular season

The 1962-63 season saw the Fighting Illini finish with 20-6 overall, 11-3 in the conference. Senior Dave Downey led the team in scoring, as he had the previous two seasons, and he moved into first on the all-time scoring list. Downey also set the school record for points in a game, which still stands, with 53 in a road loss to Indiana on February 16, 1963. Illinois was a game back of first place in the league standings with only two games remaining when the Assembly Hall opened its doors on March 4, 1963. Illinois’ first game at the Hall was an exciting 79-73 victory over Northwestern before 16,137 fans to stay within a game of first-place Ohio State. After Illinois edged Iowa, 73-69, in the last game of the season, the Fighting Illini would need an overtime loss two hours later by the Buckeyes at Indiana to share the title. During the season the Illini would win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Holiday Festival and make the Elite Eight of the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, losing to eventual champion Loyola (Chicago).

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 11/30/1962* no, no | No. 8 | Butler | W 66-49 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 12/6/1962* no, no | | Washington (St. Louis) | W 99-55 | 2-0 | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 12/16/1962* no, no | No. 10 | at Iowa State | W 76-73 | 3-0 | Iowa State Armory (7,000) Ames, IA |
| 12/17/1962* no, no | No. 10 | San Jose State | W 90-64 | 4-0 | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 12/22/1962* no, no | No. 8 | Oklahoma | W 93-90 | 5-0 | Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL |
| 12/26/1962* no, no | No. 4 | vs. Penn ECAC Holiday Festival | W 98-66 | 6-0 | Madison Square Garden (14,238) New York, NY |
| 12/28/1962* no, no | No. 4 | at NYU ECAC Holiday Festival | W 91-84 | 7-0 | Madison Square Garden (15,036) New York, NY |
| 12/29/1962* no, no | No. 4 | vs. West Virginia ECAC Holiday Festival | W 92-74 | 8-0 | Madison Square Garden (12,125) New York, NY |
| 12/31/1962* no, no | No. 3 | vs. Notre Dame | L 88-90 | 8-1 | Chicago Stadium (10,346) Chicago, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/5/1963 no, no | No. 3 | at Iowa Rivalry | W 85-76 | 9-1 (1-0) | Iowa Field House (12,600) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/7/1963 no, no | No. 5 | No. 5 Ohio State | W 90-78 | 10-1 (2-0) | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 1/12/1963 no, no | No. 5 | Purdue | W 106-82 | 11-1 (3-0) | Huff Hall (6,756) Champaign, IL |
| 1/14/1963 no, no | No. 3 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 78–76 | 12-1 (4-0) | McGaw Memorial Hall (7,200) Evanston, IL |
| 1/26/1963* no, no | No. 4 | vs. No. 1 Cincinnati | L 53-62 | 12-2 | Chicago Stadium (23,000) Chicago, IL |
| 2/4/1963 no, no | No. 4 | Indiana Rivalry | W 104-101 | 13-2 (5-0) | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 2/9/1963 no, no | No. 4 | Michigan State | W 91-86 | 14-2 (6-0) | Huff Hall (6,797) Champaign, IL |
| 2/11/1963 no, no | No. 4 | at Wisconsin | L 77-84 | 14-3 (6-1) | Wisconsin Field House (12,088) Madison, WI |
| 2/16/1963 no, no | No. 6 | at Indiana Rivalry | L 100-103 | 14-4 (6-2) | Gladstein Fieldhouse (10,300) Bloomington, IN |
| 2/19/1963 no, no | No. 6 | at Purdue | W 87-79 | 15-4 (7-2) | Lambert Fieldhouse (9,637) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/23/1963 no, no | No. 6 | Wisconsin | W 89-77 | 16-4 (8-2) | Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL |
| 2/25/1963 no, no | No. 6 | at Minnesota | W 81-70 | 17-4 (9-2) | Williams Arena (11,226) Minneapolis, MN |
| 3/2/1963 no, no | No. 6 | at Michigan | L 81-84 | 17-5 (9-3) | Yost Ice Arena (9,450) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 3/4/1963 no, no | No. 8 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 79-73 | 18-5 (10-3) | Assembly Hall (16,137) Champaign, IL |
| 3/9/1963 no, no | No. 8 | Iowa Rivalry | W 73-69 | 19-5 (11-3) | Assembly Hall (16,007) Champaign, IL |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| 3/15/1963* no, no | No. 8 | vs. Bowling Green NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional Semi-Final | W 90-67 | 20-5 | Jenison Fieldhouse (12,143) East Lansing, MI |
| 3/16/1963* no, no | No. 8 | vs. Loyola (Chicago) NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional Final | L 64–79 | 20-6 | Jenison Fieldhouse (9,459) East Lansing, MI |
| *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 |
| Dave Downey | 26 | 201 | 111 | 254 | 513 |
| Bill Small | 26 | 439 | 81 | 120 | 439 |
| Bill Burwell | 26 | 158 | 86 | 230 | 402 |
| Bob Starnes | 26 | 115 | 84 | 180 | 314 |
| Tal Brody | 26 | 95 | 63 | 90 | 253 |
| Skip Thoren | 26 | 53 | 37 | 150 | 143 |
| Bill Edwards | 26 | 23 | 10 | 28 | 56 |
| Bogie Redmon | 23 | 22 | 11 | 72 | 55 |
| Bill McKeown | 14 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 |
| John Love | 8 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
| Larry Bauer | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Jay Lovelace | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Dave Downey
** Helms 1st team All-American
** Converse 2nd team All-American
** Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
* Bill Small
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
* Skip Thoren
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Bill Burwell | St. Louis Hawks | 3 | 24 |
| Dave Downey | San Francisco Warriors | 4 | 30 |
| Bill Small | Detroit Pistons | 5 | 40 |