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1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Michigan State 13 – 5   .722 26 – 6   .813
No. 15 Purdue 13 – 5   .722 27 – 8   .771
No. 20 Iowa 13 – 5   .722 20 – 8   .714
Ohio State 12 – 6   .667 19 – 12   .613
Indiana 10 – 8   .556 22 – 12   .647
Michigan 8 – 10   .444 15 – 12   .556
Illinois 7 – 11   .389 19 – 11   .633
Wisconsin 6 – 12   .333 12 – 15   .444
Minnesota 6 – 12   .333 11 – 16   .407
Northwestern 2 – 16   .111 6 – 21   .222
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

In 1978-79 season, Illinois finished seventh in the Big Ten, but went 19-11 overall, including ascension to No. 2 in the national polls after starting the year 15-0. During this season, Illinois upset top-ranked Michigan State and Magic Johnson, 57-55, in one of the school’s most memorable games. It was during this season that Illinois also led the nation in field-goal percentage defense (.404).

Roster

1978–79 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Reno Gray Current redshirt 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Jr Hales Franciscan High School Chicago, Illinois
G 12 Kevin Westervelt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
C 13 James Griffin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Dunbar High School Grandview, Texas
G 15 Cletis Hubbard 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Dunbar High School Ft. Worth, Texas
G 20 Matt Meyer 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Foreman High School Mantino, Illinois
G 21 Steve Lanter 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Mascoutah Community High School Belleville, Illinois
G 22 Perry Range 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr South Beloit High School South Beloit, Illinois
G 23 Larry Lubin (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr New Trier High School Glencoe, Illinois
G 30 Rob Judson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Zion-Benton High School Zion, Illinois
F 31 Neil Bresnahan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Fenwick High School Oak Park, Illinois
F 32 Levi Cobb 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Morgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois
F 33 Eddie Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Westinghouse High School Chicago, Illinois
F 42 Mark Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
F 43 Bryan Leonard 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Belleville High School-East Belleville, Illinois
C 44 Derek Holcomb 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1] [2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/24/1978*
no, no 		Texas-Arlington W 109-74  1-0
 Assembly Hall (9,097)
Champaign, IL
11/28/1978*
no, no 		Denver W 81-57  2-0
 Assembly Hall (10,092)
Champaign, IL
12/2/1978*
no, no 		at Tulane W 65-60  3-0
 Devlin Fieldhouse (3,542)
New Orleans, LA
12/5/1978*
no, no 		at Missouri
Show-Me Classic 		W 69-57  4-0
 Hearnes Center (6,002)
Columbia, MO
12/8/1978*
no, no 		South Carolina W 64-57  5-0
 Assembly Hall (12,156)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1978*
no, no 		Centenary W 86-60  6-0
 Assembly Hall (10,082)
Champaign, IL
12/16/1978*
no, no 		No. 18 at Kent State W 82-44  7-0
 Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (1,020)
Kent, OH
12/22/1978*
no, no 		No. 15 vs. No. 8 Syracuse
Kentucky Invitational Tournament 		W 64-61  8-0
 Rupp Arena (21,000)
Lexington, KY
12/23/1978*
no, no 		No. 15 vs. No. 7 Texas A&M
Kentucky Invitational Tournament 		W 71-57  9-0
 Rupp Arena (23,272)
Lexington, KY
12/28/1978*
no, no 		No. 6 vs. Western Michigan
Glacier Bowl Classic 		W 84-79  10-0
 Buckner Fieldhouse (-)
Anchorage, AK
12/29/1978*
no, no 		No. 6 vs. Ozarks
Glacier Bowl Classic 		W 88-82  11-0
 Buckner Fieldhouse (-)
Anchorage, AK
12/30/1978*
no, no 		No. 6 at Alaska-Anchorage
Glacier Bowl Classic 		W 92-80  12-0
 Buckner Fieldhouse (-)
Anchorage, AK
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1979
no, no 		No. 4 at Indiana
Rivalry 		W 65-61  13-0
(1-0) 		Assembly Hall (16,104)
Bloomington, IN
1/6/1979
no, no 		No. 4 at Northwestern
Rivalry 		W 75-56  14-0
(2-0) 		McGaw Memorial Hall (7,122)
Evanston, IL
1/11/1979
no, no 		No. 4 No. 1 Michigan State W 57-55  15-0
(3-0) 		Assembly Hall (16,209)
Champaign, IL
1/13/1979
no, no 		No. 4 Ohio State L 66-69 OT 15-1
(3-1) 		Assembly Hall (12,088)
Champaign, IL
1/18/1979
no, no 		No. 4 at Wisconsin W 81-74  16-1
(4-1) 		Wisconsin Field House (12,204)
Madison, WI
1/20/1979
no, no 		No. 4 Purdue L 57-69  16-2
(4-2) 		Assembly Hall (16,458)
Champaign, IL
1/25/1979
no, no 		No. 8 at Iowa
Rivalry 		L 52-58  16-3
(4-3) 		Iowa Field House (13,355)
Iowa City, IA
1/27/1979
no, no 		No. 8 Michigan L 54-56  16-4
(4-4) 		Assembly Hall (16,473)
Champaign, IL
2/1/1979
no, no 		No. 14 Minnesota W 67-57  17-4
(5-4) 		Assembly Hall (14,383)
Champaign, IL
2/3/1979
no, no 		No. 14 at Michigan L 65-74  17-5
(5-5) 		Crisler Center (13,609)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/8/1979
no, no 		No. 20 at Purdue L 65-71  17-6
(5-6) 		Mackey Arena (14,123)
West Lafayette, IN
2/10/1979
no, no 		No. 20 at Minnesota W 59-57  18-6
(6-6) 		Williams Arena (16,615)
Minneapolis, MN
2/15/1979
no, no 		Wisconsin W 81-64  19-6
(7-6) 		Assembly Hall (12,880)
Champaign, IL
2/17/1979
no, no 		No. 14 Iowa
Rivalry 		L 53-67  19-7
(7-7) 		Assembly Hall (9,441)
Champaign, IL
2/22/1979
no, no 		at No. 14 Ohio State L 55-73  19-8
(7-8) 		St. John Arena (13,489)
Columbus, OH
2/24/1979
no, no 		at No. 7 Michigan State L 62-76  19-9
(7-9) 		Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004)
East Lansing, MI
3/1/1979
no, no 		Northwestern
Rivalry 		L 64-71  19-10
(7-10) 		Assembly Hall (12,390)
Champaign, IL
3/3/1979
no, no 		Indiana
Rivalry 		L 60-72  19-11
(7-11) 		Assembly Hall (16,503)
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
Mark Smith[4] 30 897 160 84 173 121 23 53 404
Eddie Johnson[5] 30 786 168 26 170 52 4 18 362
Rob Judson[6] 30 918 123 35 68 61 3 33 281
Neil Bresnahan[7] 30 840 105 40 236 75 7 32 250
James Griffin[8] 30 426 105 19 98 7 29 12 229
Derek Holcomb[9] 29 818 90 34 190 49 86 17 214
Levi Cobb[10] 30 504 68 24 122 29 4 19 160
Steve Lanter 27 473 35 16 38 52 1 15 72
Perry Range[11] 24 180 21 14 25 12 0 8 56
Bryan Leonard 16 45 6 11 11 1 4 2 23
Larry Lubin 22 88 6 0 4 9 1 6 12
Kevin Westervelt 8 15 2 5 3 0 0 0 9
Cletis Hubbard 8 22 2 2 2 4 0 1 6
Matt Meyer 6 9 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Dave Schulter 2 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick

[13]

Rankings

Main article: 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

  1. ^ Men's Basketball Roster
  2. ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1978-79 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  5. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  6. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  7. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  8. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  9. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  10. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  11. ^ "pg. 119 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  12. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  13. ^ 1979 NBA Draft Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
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