# 1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1965–66 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

Harry Combes entered his 19th season as the head coach of the Fighting Illini. The program was heading in a positive direction with six up-and-coming sophomores joining a varsity team that already included five juniors and five seniors. This balance was demonstrated within the starting lineup which included a rotation of two sophomores, two juniors and two seniors. The starters included, Don Freeman and Rich Jones as forwards, Preston Pearson and Bob Brown as guards, and Ron Dunlap at center.
It was during this season that Freeman would mark his place in Illini history by setting a record for most points in a season (668), while averaging 27.8 points per game. When he finished at Illinois, he had totaled 1449 points and averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game over his three varsity seasons. This offensive output led to Freeman being named a 1st-team All-American by the Helms Foundation, a 2nd-team All-American by Converse and Basketball News, and honorable mention with UPI,

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/1/1965* no, no | Butler | W 88-74 | 1-0 | Assembly Hall (9,167) Champaign, IL |
| 12/3/1965* no, no | at BYU | L 98-109 | 1-1 | Marriott Center (11,488) Provo, Utah |
| 12/4/1965* no, no | at No. 1 UCLA | L 79-97 | 1-2 | Pauley Pavilion (12,365) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/8/1965* no, no | Kentucky | L 68-86 | 1-3 | Assembly Hall (7,966) Champaign, IL |
| 12/11/1965* no, no | West Virginia | W 96-86 | 2-3 | Assembly Hall (6,251) Champaign, IL |
| 12/14/1965 no, no | at Wisconsin | W 90-70 | 3-3 (1-0) | Wisconsin Field House (8,206) Madison, WI |
| 12/18/1965* no, no | vs. Princeton | L 81-84 | 3-4 | Chicago Stadium (6,038) Chicago, IL |
| 12/27/1965* no, no | vs. Georgetown ECAC Holiday Festival | W 96-94 | 4-4 | Madison Square Garden (8,757) New York, NY |
| 12/28/1965* no, no | vs. No. 10 Providence ECAC Holiday Festival | L 79-81 | 4-5 | Madison Square Garden (12,239) New York, NY |
| 12/30/1965* no, no | vs. Army ECAC Holiday Festival | L 69-78 | 4-6 | Madison Square Garden (18,499) New York, NY |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/8/1966 no, no | at Indiana Rivalry | W 98-84 | 5-6 (2-0) | New Fieldhouse (7,502) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/11/1966 no, no | Wisconsin | W 80-64 | 6-6 (3-0) | Assembly Hall (6,127) Champaign, IL |
| 1/15/1966 no, no | at Purdue | L 87-93 | 6-7 (3-1) | Mackey Arena (8,936) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/28/1966* no, no | vs. Notre Dame | W 120-92 | 7-7 | Chicago Stadium (18,183) Chicago, IL |
| 2/1/1966 no, no | at No. 4 Michigan | W 99-93 | 8-7 (4-1) | Crisler Arena (9,544) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/5/1966 no, no | Ohio State | W 78-77 | 9-7 (5-1) | Assembly Hall (9,838) Champaign, IL |
| 2/7/1966 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | L 77-80 | 9-8 (5-2) | Assembly Hall (7,695) Champaign, IL |
| 2/12/1966 no, no | Indiana Rivalry | L 77-81 | 9-9 (5-3) | Assembly Hall (8,175) Champaign, IL |
| 2/19/1966 no, no | Minnesota | W 100-89 | 10-9 (6-3) | Assembly Hall (8,643) Champaign, IL |
| 2/22/1966 no, no | at Michigan State | L 66-68 | 10-10 (6-4) | Jenison Fieldhouse (10,484) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/26/1966 no, no | at Minnesota | L 92-94 | 10-11 (6-5) | Williams Arena (7,340) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/28/1966 no, no | Purdue | W 98-81 | 11-11 (7-5) | Assembly Hall (6,207) Champaign, IL |
| 3/5/1966 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | W 106-90 | 12-11 (8-5) | Assembly Hall (9,592) Champaign, IL |
| 3/7/1966 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | L 76-84 | 12-12 (8-6) | McGaw Memorial Hall (4,800) Evanston, 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 | Points |
| Don Freeman | 24 | 258 | 152 | 285 | 668 |
| Rich Jones | 24 | 206 | 96 | 265 | 508 |
| Jim Dawson | 24 | 163 | 42 | 100 | 368 |
| Deon Flessner | 24 | 48 | 38 | 127 | 134 |
| Bob Brown | 15 | 44 | 24 | 42 | 112 |
| Preston Pearson | 22 | 38 | 30 | 68 | 106 |
| Ron Dunlap | 23 | 28 | 32 | 109 | 88 |
| Bob Johansen | 20 | 27 | 11 | 37 | 65 |
| Larry Hinton | 20 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 31 |
| Benny Louis | 15 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 |
| Jerry Mettile | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Mike Graville | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Don Freeman
** Team Most Valuable Player
** 1st team All-American (Helms)
** 2nd team All-American (Converse)
** 2nd team All-American (Basketball News)
** Honorable Mention All-American (UPI)
* Rich Jones
** Honorable Mention All-American (Converse)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Don Freeman | Philadelphia 76ers | 3 | 9 |