2001–02 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2001–02 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

2001–02 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Big Ten Regular Season co-champions Las Vegas Invitational, Champion
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 13
Record	26–9 (11–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bill Self (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Billy Gillispie (2nd season) Wayne McClain (1st season) Norm Roberts (2nd season)
MVP	Frank Williams
Captains	Cory Bradford Frank Williams
Home arena	Assembly Hall
Seasons ← 2000–01 2002–03 →

2001–02 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 13 Illinois	11	–	5		.688			26	–	9		.743
No. 23 Indiana	11	–	5		.688			25	–	12		.676
Wisconsin	11	–	5		.688			19	–	13		.594
Michigan State	10	–	6		.625			19	–	12		.613
Minnesota	9	–	7		.563			18	–	13		.581
Northwestern	7	–	9		.438			16	–	13		.552
Iowa	5	–	11		.313			19	–	16		.543
Purdue	5	–	11		.313			13	–	18		.419
Michigan	5	–	11		.313			11	–	18		.379
Penn State	3	–	13		.188			7	–	21		.250
No. 14 Ohio State*†	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
† 2002 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll *Ohio State: 30 reg. season games; 2 NCAA Tourn. games vacated due to sanctions against the program Disputed record: Ohio State-(24-8)(11-5)

Regular season

In 2002, the Illini earned a four-way share of the Big Ten title before advancing to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. Frank Williams again earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as the five seniors who finished their careers took the Illini from an 11th-place finish in the league in 1999 to consecutive Big Ten titles in 2001 and 2002.

Roster

2001–02 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 00 Brett Melton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Mahomet-Seymour High School Mahomet, Illinois G 4 Luther Head 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Manley High School Chicago, Illinois G 13 Cory Bradford (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Raleigh Egypt High School Memphis, Tennessee F/C 21 Robert Archibald 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr Lafayette High School Ballwin, Missouri F 22 Lucas Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Maine West High School Des Plaines, Illinois F 23 Blandon Ferguson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr St. Joseph Notre Dame High School Oakland, California G 24 Sean Harrington 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Elgin High School Bartlett, Illinois G 25 Jerrance Howard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Peoria High School Peoria, Illinois G 30 Frank Williams (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 212 lb (96 kg) RS Jr Manual High School Peoria, Illinois G 31 Nick Huge  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Christian High School/Appalachian State University Charlotte, North Carolina F 33 Damir Krupalija 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 231 lb (105 kg) Sr Rockford Boylan High School Rockford, Illinois F 34 Brian Cook 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Lincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois F 42 Clayton Thomas (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Larkin High School Elgin, Illinois F 43 Roger Powell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Joliet Central High School Joliet, Illinois C 45 Nick Smith 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Fr Bloomingdale High School Valrico, Florida	Head coach Bill Self (Oklahoma State) (2nd year) Assistant coach(es) Billy Gillispie (Southwest Texas State) (2nd year) Norm Roberts (Queens College) (2nd year) Wayne McClain (Illinois State) (1st year) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2014-11-12

Schedule

Source^[1]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 7, 2001* 7:00 pm		Illinois All-Stars	W 104-81		Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
Nov 12, 2001* 7:00 pm		Lincoln U-Missouri	W 111-60		Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
Non-Conference regular season
11/16/2001*	No. 3	Gonzaga	W 76–58	1–0	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, IL
11/19/2001*	No. 2	Eastern Illinois Las Vegas Invitational (1st Round)	W 93–53	2–0	Assembly Hall (13,827) Champaign, Illinois
11/22/2001*	No. 2	vs. Penn Las Vegas Invitational	W 78–71	3–0	Valley High School (1,700) Las Vegas, Nevada
11/23/2001*	No. 2	vs. Georgia Tech Las Vegas Invitational	W 105–66	4–0	Valley High School (2,000) Las Vegas, Nevada
11/24/2001*	No. 2	vs. Southern Illinois Las Vegas Invitational, (Championship)	W 75–72	5–0	Valley High School (2,500) Las Vegas, Nevada
11/27/2001*	No. 2	at No. 5 Maryland Big Ten-ACC Challenge	L 63–76	5–1	Cole Field House (14,500) College Park, Maryland
12/1/2001*	No. 2	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	W 80–56	6–1	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
12/6/2000*	No. 5	vs. No. 7 Arizona	L 82–87	6–2	US Airways Center (10,697) Phoenix, Arizona
12/8/2001*	No. 5	vs. Arkansas	W 94–91	7–2	United Center (18,671) Chicago, Illinois
12/16/2001*	No. 10	Western Illinois	W 98–62	8–2	Assembly Hall (14,653) Champaign, Illinois
12/18/2001*	No. 9	Illinois State	W 87–73	9–2	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
12/22/2001*	No. 9	vs. No. 8 Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 72–61	10–2	Scottrade Center (22,153) St. Louis, Missouri
12/29/2001*	No. 7	Loyola (Chicago)	W 87–72	11–2	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
Big Ten regular season
1/2/2002	No. 7	Minnesota	W 76–53	12–2 (1–0)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
1/5/2002	No. 7	at Wisconsin	L 66–72	12–3 (1–1)	Kohl Center (17,142) Madison, Wisconsin
1/9/2002	No. 9	at Purdue	L 74–84	12–4 (1–2)	Mackey Arena (12,876) West Lafayette, Indiana
1/12/2002	No. 9	Michigan	W 94–70	13–4 (2–2)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
1/15/2002	No. 11	No. 17 Iowa Rivalry	W 77–66	14–4 (3–2)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
1/23/2002	No. 9	Wisconsin	W 80–48	15–4 (4–2)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
1/26/2002 CBS	No. 9	at Indiana Rivalry	L 57–88	15–5 (4–3)	Assembly Hall (17,456) Bloomington, Indiana
1/29/2002	No. 12	at No. 25 Ohio State	L 67–78	15–6 (4–4)	Value City Arena (19,200) Columbus, Ohio
2/3/2002 CBS	No. 12	Michigan State	L 61–67	15–7 (4–5)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
2/7/2002	No. 21	at Michigan	W 68–60	16–7 (5–5)	Crisler Arena (10,710) Ann Arbor, Michigan
2/9/2002	No. 21	Purdue	W 69–67	17–7 (6–5)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
2/12/2002	No. 18	at Michigan State	W 63–61	18–7 (7–5)	Breslin Student Events Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan
2/16/2002* CBS	No. 18	at Seton Hall	W 75–65	19–7	Continental Airlines Arena (10,070) South Orange, New Jersey
2/20/2002	No. 16	Penn State	W 83–56	20–7 (8–5)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
2/23/2002	No. 16	at Northwestern Rivalry	W 56–41	21–7 (9–5)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, Illinois
2/26/2002	No. 15	No. 25 Indiana Rivalry	W 70–62	22–7 (10–5)	Assembly Hall (16,500) Champaign, Illinois
3/3/2002 CBS	No. 15	at Minnesota	W 67–66	23–7 (11–5)	Williams Arena (14,612) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Big Ten tournament
3/8/2002	(3) No. 10	vs. (6) Minnesota Quarterfinals	W 92–76	24–7	Conseco Fieldhouse (18,996) Indianapolis, Indiana
3/9/2002 CBS	(3) No. 10	vs. (2) No. 21 Ohio State Semifinals	L 88–94	24–8	Conseco Fieldhouse (18,996) Indianapolis, Indiana
NCAA tournament
3/15/2002 CBS	(4 MW) No. 13	vs. (13 MW) San Diego State First Round	W 93–64	25–8	United Center (20,850) Chicago, Illinois
3/17/2002 CBS	(4 MW) No. 13	vs. (12 MW) Creighton Second Round	W 72–60	26–8	United Center (21,525) Chicago, Illinois
3/22/2002 CBS	(4 MW) No. 13	vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kansas Sweet Sixteen	L 69–73	26–9	Kohl Center (16,310) Madison, Wisconsin
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Season Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	Avg	Average per game
FG	Field-goals made	FGA	Field-goal attempts	Off	Offensive rebounds
Def	Defensive rebounds	A	Assists	TO	Turnovers
Blk	Blocks	Stl	Steals	High	Team high

Final Individual Statistics ^[2]

			Minutes		Scoring		Total FGs			3-point FGs			Free-Throws			Rebounds
Player	GP	GS	Tot	Avg	Pts	Avg	FG	FGA	Pct	3FG	3FA	Pct	FT	FTA	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Avg	A	TO	Blk	Stl
Williams, Frank	35	34	1135	32.4	566	16.2	174	443	.393	54	159	.340	164	203	.808	32	131	163	4.7	153	96	10	71
Cook, Brian	35	34	1008	28.8	471	13.5	174	342	.509	27	74	.365	96	110	.873	64	169	233	6.7	44	77	50	29
Bradford, Cory	35	35	1133	32.4	406	11.6	133	312	.426	74	189	.392	66	86	.767	32	78	110	3.1	87	68	5	29
Archibald, Robert	34	31	769	22.6	362	10.6	114	173	.659	0	1	.000	134	205	.654	70	118	188	5.5	44	67	38	25
Harrington, Sean	35	14	868	24.8	223	6.4	73	178	.410	56	141	.397	21	29	.724	7	53	60	1.7	87	39	0	28
Head, Luther	35	13	581	16.6	156	4.5	63	124	.508	16	55	.291	14	25	.560	17	50	67	1.9	59	43	5	34
Krupalija, Damir	21	1	332	15.8	146	7.0	49	84	.583	11	23	.478	37	50	.740	37	62	99	4.7	29	23	5	7
Smith, Nick	33	4	334	10.1	127	3.8	49	91	.538	0	3	.000	29	44	.659	26	48	74	2.2	20	28	19	5
Powell, Roger	27	0	160	5.9	79	2.9	27	50	.540	3	5	.600	22	36	.611	19	29	48	1.8	2	10	4	3
Ferguson, Blandon	30	7	232	7.7	67	2.2	23	60	.383	0	3	.000	21	28	.750	18	28	46	1.5	18	26	1	10
Johnson, Lucas	17	2	304	17.9	64	3.8	15	38	.395	7	24	.292	27	37	.730	14	29	43	2.5	30	18	3	13
Howard, Jerrance	21	0	81	3.9	20	1.0	7	18	.389	2	7	.286	4	4	1.000	6	7	13	0.6	14	11	0	4
Melton, Brett	7	0	45	6.4	17	2.4	5	11	.455	4	8	.500	3	5	.600	0	3	3	0.4	2	1	0	0
Thomas, Clayton	8	0	13	1.6	2	0.3	1	5	.200	0	0	.000	0	0	.000	1	3	4	0.5	0	2	1	0
Young, Walter	2	0	5	2.5	2	1.0	1	3	.333	0	0	.000	0	0	.000	0	1	1	0.5	1	0	0	0
Team																49	63	112			3
Total	35		7000		2708	77.4	908	1932	.470	254	692	.367	638	862	.740	392	872	1264	36.1	590	512	141	258
Opponents	35		7000		2369	67.7	815	1960	.416	235	691	.340	504	760	.663	405	711	1116	31.9	449	540	101	195

NCAA basketball tournament

• Midwest regional
  • Illinois 93, San Diego State 64
  • Illinois 72, Creighton 60
• Regional semifinal
  • Kansas 73, Illinois 69

^[3]

Awards and honors

• Frank Williams
  • Associated Press All-American honorable mention
  • Team Most Valuable Player ^[4]
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
• Brian Cook
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Frank Williams	Denver Nuggets	1	25
Robert Archibald	Memphis Grizzies	2	31

^[5]

Rankings

Main article: 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings