# 1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

After advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 1994-95, Illinois extended its run on postseason play with a berth in the 1996 NIT. The Illini started the 1995-96 season 11-1 before losing Kiwane Garris to injury. Without its leader, the Illini dropped its first five Big Ten games. Garris returned, but was never 100 percent and junior forward Jerry Hester missed games with a severely sprained ankle. The Illini finished the 1996 season 18-13 overall, 7-11 in the Big Ten. But more importantly the 1996 season marked the end of the most successful era in Illinois basketball when Lou Henson announced his retirement before the end of the season. In his 21 years at Illinois, Henson notched 423 victories and guided the Illini to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Okay, Oklahoma native coached Illinois to 11, 20-win seasons and finished his career as the third winningest coach in Big Ten history with 214 league victories.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 11/25/1995* no, no | | Texas-San Antonio | W 83-80 | 1-0 | Assembly Hall (12,382) Champaign, IL |
| 11/28/1995* no, no | | Eastern Illinois | W 89-57 | 2-0 | Assembly Hall (13,521) Champaign, IL |
| 12/2/1995* no, no | | at No. 12 Duke | W 75-65 | 3-0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| 12/4/1995* no, no | No. 21 | Kansas State | W 82-56 | 4-0 | Assembly Hall (13,814) Champaign, IL |
| 12/8/1995* no, no | No. 21 | Southeast Missouri State Illini Classic | W 89-70 | 5-0 | Assembly Hall (14,611) Champaign, IL |
| 12/9/1995* no, no | No. 21 | Ball State Illini Classic | W 97-53 | 6-0 | Assembly Hall (14,920) Champaign, IL |
| 12/16/1995* no, no | No. 16 | Illinois-Chicago | W 81-73 | 7-0 | Assembly Hall (15,902) Champaign, IL |
| 12/20/1995* no, no | No. 14 | vs. No. 15 Missouri Braggin' Rights | W 96-85 $^{ot}$ | 8-0 | Scottrade Center (21,901) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/23/1995* no, no | No. 14 | vs. California | W 83-69 | 9-0 | United Center (15,046) Chicago, IL |
| 12/27/1995* no, no | No. 12 | vs. No. 13 Syracuse Rainbow Classic | L 64-75 | 9-1 | Stan Sheriff Center (8,757) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/29/1995* no, no | No. 12 | at Hawaii Rainbow Classic | W 82-81 $^{ot}$ | 10-1 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,827) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/30/1995* no, no | No. 12 | vs. North Carolina State Rainbow Classic | W 85-76 | 11-1 | Assembly Hall (7,787) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/3/1996 no, no | No. 13 | at Minnesota | L 64-69 | 11-2 (0-1) | Williams Arena (14,221) Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/6/1996 no, no | No. 13 | Michigan State | L 58-68 | 11-3 (0-2) | Assembly Hall (16,413) Champaign, IL |
| 2/26/1995 no, no | No. 21 | at No. 23 Michigan | L 68-83 | 11-4 (0-3) | Crisler Arena (13,562) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 1/13/1996 no, no | No. 21 | Indiana Rivalry | L 71-85 | 11-5 (0-4) | Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL |
| 1/18/1996 no, no | | at No. 16 Iowa Rivalry | L 79-82 | 11-6 (0-5) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/20/1996 no, no | | at No. 17 Purdue | W 71-67 | 12-6 (1-5) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/24/1996 no, no | | Ohio State | W 77-46 | 13-6 (2-5) | Assembly Hall (14,862) Champaign, IL |
| 1/27/1996 no, no | | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 74-62 | 14-6 (3-5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| 2/3/1996 no, no | | Wisconsin | L 56-57 | 14-7 (3-6) | Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL |
| 2/8/1996 no, no | | at No. 10 Penn State | L 58-61 | 14-8 (3-7) | Bryce Jordan Center (14,754) University Park, PA |
| 2/14/1996 no, no | | Northwestern Rivalry | W 93-62 | 15-8 (4-7) | Assembly Hall (13,560) Champaign, IL |
| 2/17/1996 no, no | | at Ohio State | W 76-67 | 16-8 (5-7) | St. John Arena (12,718) Columbus, OH |
| 2/20/1996 no, no | | No. 7 Purdue | L 71-74 | 16-9 (5-8) | Assembly Hall (15,628) Champaign, IL |
| 2/24/1996 no, no | | No. 18 Iowa Rivalry | W 91-86 | 17-9 (6-8) | Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL |
| 2/28/1996 no, no | | at Indiana Rivalry | L 64-76 | 17-10 (6-9) | Assembly Hall (17,139) Bloomington, IN |
| 3/3/1996 no, no | | Michigan | W 73-62 | 18-10 (7-9) | Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL |
| 3/6/1996 no, no | | at Michigan State | L 67-77 | 18-11 (7-10) | Breslin Student Events Center (13,187) East Lansing, MI |
| 3/9/1996 no, no | | Minnesota | L 66-67 $^{ot}$ | 18-12 (7-11) | Assembly Hall (16,206) Champaign, IL |
| National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| 3/13/1996* no, no | | Alabama First Round | L 69-72 | 18-13 | Assembly Hall (8,398) Champaign, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | 2 pt. Field Goals | 3 pt. Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
| Kiwane Garris | 25 | 80 | 38 | 112 | 86 | 98 | 0 | 42 | 386 |
| Bryant Notree | 31 | 105 | 17 | 66 | 190 | 30 | 5 | 32 | 327 |
| Richard Keene | 31 | 38 | 69 | 34 | 116 | 162 | 8 | 40 | 317 |
| Jerry Hester | 28 | 74 | 38 | 46 | 111 | 35 | 9 | 16 | 308 |
| Jarrod Gee | 31 | 115 | 0 | 35 | 190 | 16 | 33 | 17 | 265 |
| Chris Gandy | 31 | 72 | 4 | 33 | 126 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 189 |
| Matt Heldman | 31 | 23 | 30 | 33 | 29 | 43 | 1 | 11 | 175 |
| Kevin Turner | 31 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 49 | 54 | 3 | 17 | 170 |
| Ryan Blackwell | 30 | 33 | 6 | 34 | 86 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 118 |
| Brett Robisch | 14 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 40 |
| Brian Johnson | 20 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 29 |
| Herb Caldwell | 14 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Jeff Lindenmeyer | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |

## Awards and honors

* Kiwane Garris
** Team Most Valuable Player

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |