# 1973–74 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1973–74 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1973-74 Fighting Illini men's basketball team had done something that no other Illinois team in history had accomplished, finishing last in the Big Ten, tenth place. In the history of the school, Illinois has only had one worse finish, the 1998-99 season, where they ended the year in eleventh place. However, the 1998-99 team played for the Big Ten tournament championship, losing to Michigan State in the championship game.
The 1973-74 season also witnessed the conclusion of a very difficult tenure at the position of head coach. Harv Schmidt, a former player turned head coach, finished his seventh season at Illinois with an overall record of 89 wins and 77 losses. Unfortunately for Schmidt, several situations contributed to his demise, most of the problems being not of his doing. He was a disciplinarian and demanded attention to detail. He worked his players hard yet he was fair and considerate of their needs. Schmidt had high expectations from his team and set a good example by working as hard as he expected his players to work.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 11/30/1973* no, no | at No. 15 Arizona | L 80-101 | 0 - 1 | McKale Center (13,658) Tucson, AZ |
| 12/3/1973* no, no | Tulane | W 99-78 | 1 - 1 | Assembly Hall (5,676) Champaign, IL |
| 12/8/1973* no, no | Southern California | L 60-71 | 1 - 2 | Assembly Hall (6,450) Champaign, IL |
| 12/11/1973* no, no | Detroit | W 64-60 | 2 - 2 | Assembly Hall (6,121) Champaign, IL |
| 12/14/1973* no, no | Northern Michigan | W 82-72 | 3 - 2 | Assembly Hall (5,617) Champaign, IL |
| 12/27/1973* no, no | St. Johns ECAC Holiday Festival | L 60-76 | 3 - 3 | Madison Square Garden (8,403) New York, NY |
| 12/29/1973* no, no | Duquesne ECAC Holiday Festival | L 83-85 | 3 - 4 | Madison Square Garden (-) New York, NY |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/5/1974 no, no | at Ohio State | W 75-73 | 4 - 4 (1 - 0) | St. John Arena (10,641) Columbus, OH |
| 1/12/1974 no, no | Purdue | L 69-91 | 4 - 5 (1 - 1) | Assembly Hall (7,163) Champaign, IL |
| 1/14/1974 no, no | Michigan State | L 82-90 | 4 - 6 (1 - 2) | Assembly Hall (4,685) Champaign, IL |
| 1/19/1974 no, no | at No. 19 Wisconsin | L 75-101 | 4 - 7 (1 - 3) | Wisconsin Field House (9,173) Madison, WI |
| 1/24/1974* no, no | Bradley | L 88-105 | 4 - 8 | Chicago Stadium (4,415) Chicago, IL |
| 1/26/1974* no, no | Jacksonville | L 86-89 | 4 - 9 | Chicago Stadium (-) Chicago, IL |
| 1/28/1974 no, no | at Michigan State | L 82-93 | 4 - 10 (1 - 4) | Jenison Fieldhouse (6,758) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/2/1974 no, no | No. 20 Michigan | L 77-101 | 4 - 11 (1 - 5) | Assembly Hall (7,771) Champaign, IL |
| 2/9/1974 no, no | at No. 12 Indiana Rivalry | L 67-107 | 4 - 12 (1 - 6) | Assembly Hall (17,054) Bloomington, IN |
| 2/11/1974 no, no | at Minnesota | L 61-80 | 4 - 13 (1 - 7) | Williams Arena (10,925) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/16/1974 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | L 75-86 | 4 - 14 (1 - 8) | McGaw Memorial Hall (3,798) Evanston, IL |
| 2/18/1974 no, no | No. 12 Indiana Rivalry | L 83-101 | 4 - 15 (1 - 9) | Assembly Hall (7,368) Champaign, IL |
| 2/23/1974 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | W 91-84 | 5 - 15 (2 - 9) | Assembly Hall (7,667) Champaign, IL |
| 2/25/1974 no, no | Minnesota | L 52-72 | 5 - 16 (2 - 10) | Assembly Hall (7,720) Champaign, IL |
| 3/2/1974 no, no | at Purdue | L 83-94 | 5 - 17 (2 - 11) | Mackey Arena (10,307) West Lafayette, IN |
| 3/9/1974 no, no | Ohio State | L 78-79 | 5 - 18 (2 - 12) | Assembly Hall (7,697) 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 | Assists | Points |
| Rick Schmidt | 23 | 191 | 111 | 165 | 34 | 493 |
| Jeff Dawson | 23 | 173 | 72 | 41 | 73 | 418 |
| Dennis Graff | 18 | 125 | 50 | 18 | 13 | 162 |
| Dave Roberts | 23 | 42 | 37 | 75 | 22 | 121 |
| Tom Carmichael | 23 | 48 | 21 | 127 | 17 | 117 |
| Brad Farnham | 15 | 35 | 16 | 67 | 22 | 86 |
| Don Deputy | 17 | 35 | 12 | 61 | 16 | 182 |
| Bill Rucks | 20 | 35 | 11 | 94 | 8 | 81 |
| Howard Johnson | 14 | 30 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 72 |
| Mike Wente | 17 | 19 | 12 | 39 | 5 | 150 |
| Dave Smith | 10 | 9 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 26 |
| Tim Bushell | 11 | 9 | 5 | 23 | 7 | 23 |
| C.J. Schroeder | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| Otho Tucker | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| Mark Bondeson | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Mike Dempsey | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Rick Schmidt
** Team Most Valuable Player

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Jeff Dawson | Kansas City Kings | 9 | 168 |