# 1981–82 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1982 season brought Illinois another post-season appearance, in the NIT, and an 18-11 record. Derek Harper led the Big Ten in assists and steals.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 11/28/1981* no, no | at Loyola (Chicago) | W 87-83 $^{ot}$ | 1-0 | Chicago Stadium (13,827) Chicago, IL |
| 12/5/1981* no, no | Kansas State | W 55-49 | 2-0 | Assembly Hall (15,106) Champaign, IL |
| 12/8/1981* no, no | vs. No. 13 Missouri Braggin' Rights | L 68-78 $^{ot}$ | 2-1 | St. Louis Arena (15,187) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/11/1981* no, no | Army Illini Classic | W 72-37 | 3-1 | Assembly Hall (14,257) Champaign, IL |
| 12/12/1981* no, no | Texas A&M Illini Classic | W 76-63 | 4-1 | Assembly Hall (15,126) Champaign, IL |
| 12/19/1981* no, no | St. Louis | W 53-43 | 5-1 | Assembly Hall (14,094) Champaign, IL |
| 12/22/1981* no, no | North Dakota State | W 90-61 | 6-1 | Assembly Hall (14,755) Champaign, IL |
| 12/28/1981* no, no | vs. Bowling Green Blade-Glass City Classic | W 56-51 | 7-1 | Centennial Hall (9,089) Toledo, OH |
| 12/29/1981* no, no | at Toledo Blade-Glass City Classic | L 51-71 | 7-2 | Centennial Hall (9,108) Toledo, OH |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/7/1982 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 60-50 | 8-2 (1-0) | McGaw Memorial Hall (7,183) Evanston, IL |
| 1/9/1982 no, no | at No. 7 Iowa Rivalry | L 50-56 | 8-3 (1-1) | Iowa Field House (13,356) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/14/1982 no, no | Ohio State | L 50-51 $^{ot}$ | 8-4 (1-2) | Assembly Hall (15,579) Champaign, IL |
| 1/16/1982 no, no | Michigan State | W 55-51 | 9-4 (2-2) | Assembly Hall (15,290) Champaign, IL |
| 1/21/1982 no, no | Indiana Rivalry | L 53-54 | 9-5 (2-3) | Assembly Hall (16,768) Champaign, IL |
| 1/23/1982 no, no | at No. 5 Minnesota | W 64-57 | 10-5 (3-3) | Williams Arena (17,218) Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/28/1982 no, no | at Purdue | W 63-48 | 11-5 (4-3) | Mackey Arena (13,946) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/30/1982 no, no | Michigan | W 79-61 | 12-5 (5-3) | Assembly Hall (16,186) Champaign, IL |
| 2/4/1982 no, no | Wisconsin | W 88-54 | 13-5 (6-3) | Assembly Hall (15,763) Champaign, IL |
| 2/6/1982 no, no | at Michigan | L 53-58 | 13-6 (6-4) | Crisler Arena (9,208) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/11/1982 no, no | at Indiana Rivalry | L 60-73 | 13-7 (6-5) | Assembly Hall (16,502) Bloomington, IN |
| 2/13/1982 no, no | at Wisconsin | W 68-60 | 14-7 (7-5) | Wisconsin Field House (6,387) Madison, WI |
| 2/18/1982 no, no | Purdue | L 44-52 | 14-8 (7-6) | Assembly Hall (15,817) Champaign, IL |
| 2/20/1982 no, no | No. 8 Minnesota | W 77-65 | 15-8 (8-6) | Assembly Hall (16,578) Champaign, IL |
| 2/25/1982 no, no | at Michigan State | L 47-56 | 15-9 (8-7) | Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/27/1982 no, no | at Ohio State | L 53-63 | 15-10 (8-8) | St. John Arena (13,591) Columbus, OH |
| 3/4/1982 no, no | No. 11 Iowa Rivalry | W 73-67 $^{ot}$ | 16-10 (9-8) | Assembly Hall (16,413) Champaign, IL |
| 3/6/1982* no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | W 85-65 | 17-10 (10-8) | Assembly Hall (16,396) Champaign, IL |
| National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| 3/10/1982 no, no | Long Island NIT First Round | W 126-78 | 18-10 | Assembly Hall (10,505) Champaign, IL |
| 3/15/1982* no, no | Dayton NIT Second Round | L 58-61 | 18-11 | Assembly Hall (16,275) Champaign, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Minutes Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
| Craig Tucker | 29 | 1001 | 170 | 110 | 69 | 84 | 1 | 32 | 450 |
| James Griffin | 29 | 963 | 171 | 52 | 204 | 27 | 56 | 19 | 394 |
| Perry Range | 29 | 1059 | 146 | 83 | 128 | 71 | 7 | 37 | 375 |
| Derek Harper | 29 | 1059 | 105 | 34 | 133 | 145 | 16 | 67 | 244 |
| Bryan Leonard | 29 | 629 | 47 | 23 | 110 | 49 | 14 | 12 | 117 |
| George Montgomery | 28 | 462 | 41 | 20 | 104 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 102 |
| Jay Daniels | 27 | 294 | 38 | 17 | 41 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 93 |
| Anthony Welch | 26 | 260 | 30 | 17 | 39 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 77 |
| Kevin Bontemps | 21 | 76 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 22 |
| Quinn Richardson | 18 | 50 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
| Dee Maras | 12 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Dan Klier | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mike O'Brien | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Scott Palmer | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Derek Harper
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
* James Griffin & Perry Range
** Team Co-Most Valuable Players

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Craig Tucker | New York Knickerbockers | 3 | 57 |
| James Griffin | New Jersey Nets | 4 | 80 |
| Perry Range | Kansas City Kings | 7 | 143 |
| Brian Leonard | Milwaukee Bucks | 8 | 181 |