1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
NCAA men's Division I tournament, second round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 16
Record	23–10 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson (13th season)
Assistant coaches	Dick Nagy (9th season) Jimmy Collins (5th season) Mark Coomes (3rd season)
MVPs	Nick Anderson Kenny Battle
Captains	Glynn Blackwell Jens Kujawa
Home arena	Assembly Hall
Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

1987–88 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Purdue	16	–	2		.889			29	–	4		.879
No. 10 Michigan	13	–	5		.722			26	–	8		.765
No. 17 Iowa	12	–	6		.667			24	–	10		.706
No. 16 Illinois	12	–	6		.667			23	–	10		.697
Indiana	11	–	7		.611			19	–	10		.655
Ohio State	9	–	9		.500			20	–	13		.606
Wisconsin	6	–	12		.333			12	–	16		.429
Michigan State	5	–	13		.278			10	–	18		.357
Minnesota	4	–	14		.222			10	–	18		.357
Northwestern	2	–	16		.111			7	–	21		.250
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

The 1987–88 season brought Lou Henson his 500th career victory and laid the foundation for what would be an incredible history making season in 1988–1989.

Roster

1987–88 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 11 Travis Smith 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Ridgway High School Ridgway, Illinois G 13 Kendall Gill 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Rich Central High School Matteson, Illinois G 15 Mark Shapland 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Monticello High School Monticello, Illinois G 21 Glynn Blackwell (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Highland Park Community High School Highland Park, Michigan G 23 Larry Smith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Alton High School Alton, Illinois F 24 Ervin Small 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Simeon High School Chicago, Illinois G/F 25 Nick Anderson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Simeon High School Chicago, Illinois G 30 Eddie Manzke 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Marist High School Orland Park, Illinois F 32 Bob Starnes  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr St. Thomas Aquinas High School Ft. Lauderdale, Florida F 33 Kenny Battle 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Jr West Aurora High School Aurora, Illinois G/F 35 Stephen Bardo 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Carbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois F 40 Mike MacDonald 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Streamwood High School Streamwood, Illinois F 44 Phil Kunz 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Carlyle High School Carlyle, Illinois F 45 Lowell Hamilton 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Providence St. Mel High School Chicago, Illinois F/C 50 Bryan Brickner 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Scales Mound High School Scales Mound, Illinois C 54 Jens Kujawa (C) 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Jr Taylorville High School Braunschweig, West Germany	Head coach Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (13th year) Assistant coach(es) Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State) (5th year) Dick Nagy (Hardin-Simmons University) (9th year) Mark Coomes (New Mexico State) (3rd year) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Source^[1]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/27/1987*		vs. Baylor Maui Invitational	W 73-50	1-0	Lahaina Civic Center (1,200) Maui, HI
11/28/1987*		vs. Villanova Maui Invitational	L 76-78	1-1	Lahaina Civic Center (1,200) Maui, HI
11/29/1987*		vs. No. 7 Kansas Maui Invitational	W 81-75	2-1	Lahaina Civic Center (1,000) Maui, HI
12/2/1987*		Chicago State	W 86-57	3-1	Assembly Hall (13,486) Champaign, IL
12/5/1987*		Mississippi Valley State	W 111-73	4-1	Assembly Hall (14,354) Champaign
12/8/1987*		Austin Peay	W 100-62	5-1	Assembly Hall (14,519) Champaign
12/11/1987*		Illinois-Chicago Illini Classic	W 109-53	6-1	Assembly Hall (13,653) Champaign, IL
12/12/1987*		Auburn Illini Classic	W 107-103 ot	7-1	Assembly Hall (14,847) Champaign, IL
12/19/1987*		North Carolina	L 74-85	7-2	Assembly Hall (16,712) Champaign, IL
12/22/1987*		vs. No. 17 Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 75-63	8-2	St. Louis Arena (18,224) St. Louis, MO
12/30/1987*		at Colorado	W 86-68	9-2	Coors Events Center (8,241) Denver, CO
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1988		No. 11 Purdue	L 68-81	9-3 (0-1)	Assembly Hall (16,654) Champaign, IL
1/7/1988	No. 19	at Minnesota	W 65-61 ot	10-3 (1-1)	Williams Arena (10,988) Minneapolis, MN
1/9/1988	No. 19	Michigan State	W 77-62	11-3 (2-1)	Assembly Hall (16,616) Champaign, IL
1/16/1988	No. 20	at Wisconsin	W 80-65	12-3 (3-1)	Wisconsin Field House (11,068) Madison, WI
1/17/1988*	No. 20	Tennessee	W 103-79	13-3	Assembly Hall (15,386) Champaign, IL
1/21/1988	No. 13	at No. 19 Iowa Rivalry	L 79-93	13-4 (3-2)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA
1/23/1988	No. 13	Northwestern Rivalry	W 79-48	14-4 (4-2)	Assembly Hall (14,606) Champaign, IL
3/4/1987	No. 13	at No. 8 Michigan	L 64-76	14-5 (4-3)	Crisler Arena (13,609) Ann Arbor, MI
1/30/1988*	No. 13	at No. 1 Arizona	L 70-78	14-6	McKale Center (13,227) Tucson, AZ
2/4/1988	No. 17	at Ohio State	L 60-64	14-7 (4-4)	St. John Arena (13,320) Columbus, OH
2/6/1988	No. 17	No. 3 Indiana Rivalry	L 74-75	14-8 (4-5)	Assembly Hall (16,671) Champaign, IL
2/11/1988		Minnesota	W 86-50	15-8 (5-5)	Assembly Hall (14,313) Champaign, IL
2/13/1988		at Michigan State	W 83-65	16-8 (6-5)	Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004) East Lansing, MI
2/17/1988		Ohio State	W 118-86	17-8 (7-5)	Assembly Hall (14,587) Champaign, IL
2/21/1988		Wisconsin	W 85-65	18-8 (8-5)	Assembly Hall (16,348) Champaign, IL
2/25/1988		at No. 2 Purdue	L 79-93	18-9 (8-6)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
2/29/1988		at Indiana Rivalry	W 75-65	19-9 (9-6)	Assembly Hall (16,233) Bloomington, IN
3/6/1988		No. 11 Iowa Rivalry	W 94-81	20-9 (10-6)	Assembly Hall (16,538) Champaign, IL
3/9/1988	No. 19	Michigan	W 85-74	21-9 (11-6)	Assembly Hall (16,605) Champaign, IL
3/12/1988	No. 19	at Northwestern Rivalry	W 79-74	22-9 (12-6)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/18/1988*	(3 S) No. 16	vs. (14 S) Texas-San Antonio First Round	W 81-72	23-9	Riverfront Coliseum (16,562) Cincinnati, OH
3/20/1988*	(3 S) No. 16	vs. (6 S) Villanova Second Round	L 63-66	23-10	Riverfront Coliseum (16,562) Cincinnati, OH
*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
Nick Anderson[2]	33	909	221	2	77	217	53	28	37	525
Kenny Battle[3]	33	1027	197	0	122	183	55	10	72	516
Glynn Blackwell[4]	33	822	143	10	83	111	78	1	40	399
Kendall Gill[5]	33	946	107	21	67	73	138	3	65	344
Lowell Hamilton[6]	33	627	140	1	48	127	9	19	14	331
Stephen Bardo[7]	33	820	77	3	53	138	125	7	41	216
Jens Kujawa[8]	33	719	69	0	38	171	34	29	17	176
Larry Smith[9]	31	403	45	2	41	37	80	1	19	133
Phil Kunz	26	195	16	0	9	41	2	13	3	41
Ervin Small	24	98	10	0	6	36	4	2	1	26
Mark Shapland	6	22	2	0	0	9	1	0	0	4
Bryan Brickner	5	13	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1
Travis Smith	2	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1
Mike MacDonald	2	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Eddie Manzke	6	18	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Bob Starnes	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Awards and honors

• Kendall Gill
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
• Nick Anderson
  • Team Co-Most Valuable Player ^[10]
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
• Kenny Battle
  • Team Co-Most Valuable Player ^[11]
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick

^[12]

Rankings

Main article: 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings