# 1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

Entering the 1990–91 season, Illinois, faced with the loss of Kendall Gill, Steve Bardo and Marcus Liberty, who declared himself eligible for the NBA draft after his junior season, was picked to finish as low as ninth in the Big Ten by some publications. But, junior forward Andy Kaufmann burst onto the scene scoring 660 points, the second largest single-season total in Illinois history. He and the Illini proved the preseason expectations wrong by going 21-10 and finishing third in the Big Ten.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 11/23/1990* no, no | at American-Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Classic | W 103-84 | 1-0 | Mario Morales Coliseum (400) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| 11/24/1990* no, no | vs. Nebraska Puerto Rico Classic | L 73-100 | 1-1 | Mario Morales Coliseum (400) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| 11/25/1990* no, no | vs. Old Dominion Puerto Rico Classic | W 80-62 | 2-1 | Mario Morales Coliseum (400) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| 11/29/1990* no, no | Illinois-Chicago | L 60-71 | 2-2 | Assembly Hall (11,117) Champaign, IL |
| 12/1/1990* no, no | Eastern Illinois | W 106-87 | 3-2 | Assembly Hall (12,643) Champaign, IL |
| 12/3/1990* no, no | Wisconsin-Milwaukee | W 120-116 $^{2ot}$ | 4-2 | Assembly Hall (11,835) Champaign, IL |
| 12/5/1990* no, no | at Penn State | L 68-78 | 4-3 | Rec Hall (7,347) University Park, PA |
| 12/7/1990* no, no | Oregon State Illini Classic | W 112-78 | 5-3 | Assembly Hall (12,631) Champaign, IL |
| 12/8/1990* no, no | Georgia Southern Illini Classic | W 85-67 | 6-3 | Assembly Hall (12,098) Champaign, IL |
| 12/15/1990* no, no | Arkansas-Little Rock Illini Classic | W 83-72 | 7-3 | Assembly Hall (12,213) Champaign, IL |
| 12/19/1990* no, no | vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights | W 84-81 | 8-3 | St. Louis Arena (17,253) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/22/1990* no, no | No. 10 Louisiana State | W 102-96 | 9-3 | Assembly Hall (14,824) Champaign, IL |
| 12/29/1990* no, no | at Memphis State | W 84-75 | 10-3 | Pyramid Arena (11,200) Memphis, TN |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/2/1991 no, no | at No. 5 Indiana Rivalry | L 74-109 | 10-4 (0-1) | Assembly Hall (17,283) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/5/1991 no, no | Purdue | W 63-61 | 11-4 (1-1) | Assembly Hall (15,721) Champaign, IL |
| 1/10/1991 no, no | Minnesota | W 67-66 | 12-4 (2-1) | Assembly Hall (12,435) Champaign, IL |
| 1/17/1991 no, no | Michigan State | L 68-71 | 12-5 (2-2) | Assembly Hall (13,487) Champaign, IL |
| 1/19/1991 no, no | at No. 4 Ohio State | L 55-89 | 12-6 (2-3) | St. John Arena (13,276) Columbus, OH |
| 1/26/1991 no, no | at Michigan | W 72-67 | 13-6 (3-3) | Crisler Arena (11,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 1/28/1991 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | W 53-50 | 14-6 (4-3) | Assembly Hall (14,846) Champaign, IL |
| 2/2/1991 no, no | Wisconsin | W 70-62 | 15-6 (5-3) | Assembly Hall (16,295) Champaign, IL |
| 2/4/1991 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | W 73-59 | 16-6 (6-3) | Assembly Hall (12,068) Champaign, IL |
| 2/6/1991 no, no | at Purdue | W 59-56 | 17-6 (7-3) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/10/1991 no, no | at Minnesota | W 94-74 | 18-6 (8-3) | Williams Arena (16,305) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/16/1991 no, no | at Michigan State | L 58-62 | 18-7 (8-4) | Breslin Student Events Center (15,138) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/20/1991 no, no | No. 2 Ohio State | L 64-73 | 18-8 (8-5) | Assembly Hall (13,885) Champaign, IL |
| 2/23/1991 no, no | at Iowa Rivalry | W 79-74 | 19-8 (9-5) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/28/1991 no, no | Michigan | W 68-65 | 20-8 (10-5) | Assembly Hall (14,584) Champaign, IL |
| 3/2/1991 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 91-81 | 21-8 (11-5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| 3/6/1991 no, no | at Wisconsin | L 77-85 | 21-9 (11-6) | Wisconsin Field House (11,189) Madison, WI |
| 3/10/1991 no, no | No. 3 Indiana Rivalry | L 58-70 | 21-10 (11-7) | Assembly Hall (16,321) 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 | 2 pt. Field Goals | 3 pt. Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
| Andy Kaufmann | 31 | 967 | 184 | 41 | 169 | 154 | 67 | 0 | 18 | 660 |
| Deon Thomas | 30 | 933 | 172 | 0 | 108 | 203 | 18 | 54 | 10 | 452 |
| Larry Smith | 29 | 989 | 116 | 24 | 90 | 168 | 144 | 8 | 42 | 394 |
| Rennie Clemons | 31 | 834 | 82 | 8 | 76 | 99 | 96 | 7 | 43 | 264 |
| Andy Kpedi | 31 | 766 | 83 | 0 | 35 | 197 | 15 | 27 | 13 | 201 |
| Scott Pierce | 31 | 512 | 50 | 0 | 25 | 96 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 135 |
| Tom Michael | 31 | 515 | 31 | 18 | 15 | 84 | 31 | 10 | 17 | 131 |
| T.J. Wheeler | 13 | 202 | 14 | 4 | 19 | 28 | 20 | 2 | 11 | 59 |
| Brooks Taylor | 27 | 362 | 21 | 1 | 13 | 54 | 28 | 4 | 27 | 58 |
| Tim Geers | 22 | 123 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 41 |
| Matt Schnaderbeck | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Pat Kennedy | 11 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gene Cross | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Spitz | 11 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Deon Thomas
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
* Andy Kpedi
** Team Most Valuable Player

## NCAA basketball tournament

* Postseason ban due to NCAA violations

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |