1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
Rainbow Classic, Champion [1]
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record31–5 (14–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPNick Anderson
Captains
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1988–89 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Indiana 15 – 3   .833 27 – 8   .771
No. 3 Illinois 14 – 4   .778 31 – 5   .861
No. 10 Michigan 12 – 6   .667 30 – 7   .811
No. 14 Iowa 10 – 8   .556 23 – 10   .697
Minnesota 9 – 9   .500 19 – 12   .613
Wisconsin 8 – 10   .444 18 – 12   .600
Purdue 8 – 10   .444 15 – 16   .484
Ohio State 6 – 12   .333 19 – 15   .559
Michigan State 6 – 12   .333 18 – 15   .545
Northwestern 2 – 16   .111 9 – 19   .321
Rankings from AP Poll


The 1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[edit]

The 1988-89 team may have been the most talented team ever assembled at the University of Illinois. The team was so athletic that they could "run and alley-oop" baskets using even the non-starting players, and a record number of 100+ game scores reflected this fact. The players known as the “Flying Illini,” included all the important pieces from the 1987-88 squad (Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill, Steve Bardo, Lowell Hamilton, Nick Anderson and Larry Smith) as well as junior college All-American P.J. Bowman and former high school All-American Marcus Liberty. The Fighting Illini won their first 16 games and were ranked No. 2 in the nation going into a nationally televised game against Georgia Tech, whom Illinois had already beaten, 80-75, at the Rainbow Classic in December. The Yellow Jackets led, 47-31, but Illinois managed to surge back to force overtime, eventually needing two extra periods to win the game. Along with the No. 1 ranking the next day came some bad news. Illinois’ catalyst, Gill, had broken a bone in his foot and would miss the next 12 games. Hurt by the loss of Gill, Illinois lost three of the next four games and its No. 1 ranking. The Illini rallied to finish second in the Big Ten with a 14-4 record and with Gill back in the lineup, the Illini were awarded a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament. After rolling to victories over McNeese State and Ball State at the Hoosier Dome, a powerpacked regional in Minneapolis with Missouri, Louisville and Syracuse, stood in the way of Illinois’ trip to the Final Four. Louisville fell victim to Illinois, losing 83-69, which set up a regional final matchup with Syracuse. The Fighting Illini held off Syracuse to advance to the Final Four in Seattle where Illinois faced Michigan, a team it had beaten twice already in conference play, in the national semifinals. Michigan was inspired by the firing of their coach prior to the tournament, and won a game that contained 33 lead changes.[2] Despite Battle’s 29-point, 11-rebound effort, Illinois fell to eventual national-champion Michigan, 83-81.

Roster[edit]

1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 P.J. Bowman 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Centennial High School Champaign, Illinois
G 13 Kendall Gill 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Rich Central High School Matteson, Illinois
G 15 Travis Smith 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Gallatin High School Ridgway, Illinois
G 22 Eddie Manzke 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Marist High School Orland Park, Illinois
G 23 Larry Smith 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Alton High School Alton, Illinois
F 24 Ervin Small 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Simeon High School Chicago, Illinois
G/F 25 Nick Anderson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Simeon High School Chicago, Illinois
G 30 Marcus Liberty 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS So King High School Chicago, Illinois
G/F 32 Brian O'Connell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Schaumburg High School Schaumburg, Illinois
F 33 Kenny Battle (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr West Aurora High School Aurora, Illinois
F 34 Andy Kaufmann 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Jacksonville High School Jacksonville, Illinois
G/F 35 Stephen Bardo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Carbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
F 50 Mike MacDonald 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Streamwood High School Streamwood, Illinois
F/C 45 Lowell Hamilton (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Providence St. Mel High School Chicago, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[3] [4]

Schedule[edit]

Source[5]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/26/1988*
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 9 Illinois-Chicago W 85-59  1-0
 Assembly Hall (13,800)
Champaign, IL
11/29/1988*
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 7 Metro State W 86-55  2-0
 Assembly Hall (13,911)
Champaign, IL
12/3/1988*
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 7 Ole Miss W 91-79  3-0
 Assembly Hall (14,386)
Champaign, IL
12/6/1988*
8:30 p.m., ESPN 		No. 7 Florida (#19) W 97-67  4-0
 Assembly Hall (15,020)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1988*
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 7 Duquesne
Illini Classic 		W 112-81  5-0
 Assembly Hall (14,532)
Champaign, IL
12/10/1988*
8 p.m., WCIA 		No. 7 Arkansas-Little Rock
Illini Classic 		W 107-88  6-0
 Assembly Hall (14,887)
Champaign, IL
12/17/1988*
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 6 Tennessee Tech W 105-77  7-0
 Assembly Hall (12,794)
Champaign, IL
12/19/1988*
8 p.m., WCIA 		No. 6 vs. Missouri (#10)
Braggin' Rights 		W 87-84  8-0
 St. Louis Arena (18,561)
St. Louis, MO
12/22/1988*
7:30 p.m., WCIA 		No. 5 at Louisiana State W 127-100  9-0
 Pete Maravich Assembly Center (14,192)
Baton Rouge, LA
12/28/1988*
10 p.m., none 		No. 4 vs. Tulsa
Rainbow Classic 		W 85-58  10-0
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (3,173)
Honolulu, HI
12/29/1988*
6 p.m., none 		No. 4 vs. Georgia Tech (#17)
Rainbow Classic 		W 80-75  11-0
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (5,775)
Honolulu, HI
12/31/1988*
12:15 a.m., none 		No. 4 at Hawaii
Rainbow Classic 		W 96-87  12-0
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (6,379)
Honolulu, HI
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 3 Michigan State W 71-54  13-0
(1-0) 		Assembly Hall (16,497)
Champaign, IL
1/12/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 2 Wisconsin W 103-80  14-0
(2-0) 		Assembly Hall (14,433)
Champaign, IL
1/14/1989
12 p.m., WCIA 		No. 2 vs. Michigan (#6) W 96-84  15-0
(3-0) 		Assembly Hall (14,499)
Champaign, IL
1/19/1989
9 p.m., ESPN 		No. 2 at Northwestern W 75-70  16-0
(4-0) 		McGaw Hall (8,117)
Evanston, IL
1/22/1989*
12 p.m., ABC 		No. 2 Georgia Tech W 103-92 2OT 17-0
 Assembly Hall (16,561)
Champaign, IL
1/26/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 1 at Minnesota L 62-69  17-1
(4-1) 		Williams Arena (13,766)
Minneapolis, MN
1/28/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 1 Indiana (#16)
Rivalry 		W 75-65  18-1
(5-1) 		Assembly Hall (16,563)
Champaign, IL
2/2/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 2 at Purdue L 72-76  18-2
(5-2) 		Mackey Arena (14,123)
West Lafayette, IN
2/5/1989
3 p.m., ABC 		No. 2 at Iowa (#9)
Rivalry 		L 82-86  18-3
(5-3) 		Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500)
Iowa City, IA
2/9/1980
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 7 Ohio State (#16) W 62-60  19-3
(6-3) 		Assembly Hall (16,439)
Champaign, IL
2/11/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 7 Northwestern W 86-69  20-3
(7-3) 		Assembly Hall (16,471)
Champaign, IL
2/16/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 5 at Michigan State W 75-56  21-3
(8-3) 		Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004)
East Lansing, MI
2/18/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 5 at Wisconsin L 52-72  21-4
(8-4) 		Wisconsin Field House (11,886)
Madison, WI
2/20/1989
8:30 p.m., ESPN 		No. 5 Purdue W 102-75  22-4
(9-4) 		Assembly Hall (16,415)
Champaign, IL
2/26/1989
3 p.m., ABC 		No. 10 at Ohio State W 94-71  23-4
(10-4) 		St. John Arena (13,276)
Columbus, OH
3/2/1989
7 p.m., WCIA 		No. 8 Minnesota W 63-58  24-4
(11-4) 		Assembly Hall (16,455)
Champaign, IL
3/5/1989
3 p.m., ABC 		No. 8 at Indiana (#3)
Rivalry 		W 70-67  25-4
(12-4) 		Assembly Hall (17,311)
Bloomington, IN
3/8/1989
9 p.m., ESPN 		No. 4 Iowa (#15)
Rivalry 		W 118-94  26-4
(13-4) 		Assembly Hall (16,552)
Champaign, IL
3/11/1989
3 p.m., ABC 		No. 4 at Michigan (#8) W 89-73  27-4
(14-4) 		Crisler Arena (13,609)
Ann Arbor, MI
NCAA tournament[6]
3/16/1989*
6 p.m., CBS 		No. 3 vs. McNeese State
first round 		W 77-71  28-4
 Hoosier Dome (37,242)
Indianapolis, IN
3/18/1989*
1:20 p.m., CBS 		No. 3 vs. Ball State (#18)
second round 		W 72-60  29-4
 Hoosier Dome (37,444)
Indianapolis, IN
3/24/1989*
7 p.m., CBS 		No. 3 vs. Louisville (#12)
Regional semifinals 		W 83-69  30-4
 Metrodome (33,560)
Minneapolis, MN
3/26/1989*
1 p.m., CBS 		No. 3 vs. Syracuse (#7)
Regional Finals 		W 89-86  31-4
 Metrodome (33,469)
Minneapolis, MN
4/1/1989*
7 p.m., CBS 		No. 3 vs. Michigan (#10)
National semifinals 		L 81-83  31-5
 Kingdome (39,187)
Seattle, WA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats[edit]

Player Games Played Minutes Played 2 pt. Field Goals 3 pt. Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points
Nick Anderson[7] 36 1125 238 24 99 285 72 32 57 647
Kenny Battle[8] 36 1105 209 9 151 174 64 13 89 596
Lowell Hamilton[9] 36 943 219 0 50 204 24 31 21 488
Kendall Gill[10] 24 681 105 38 46 70 91 6 51 370
Marcus Liberty[11] 36 748 114 6 57 141 42 10 38 303
Stephen Bardo[12] 36 1000 65 29 76 144 148 8 34 293
Larry Smith[13] 36 695 63 3 40 73 157 5 28 175
P.J. Bowman[14] 29 284 6 22 9 28 26 1 7 87
Ervin Small[15] 36 392 26 0 27 76 5 0 10 77
Andy Kaufmann[16] 12 136 11 5 14 20 8 1 5 51
Mike MacDonald[17] 23 60 7 0 1 10 1 0 1 15
Brian O'Connell[18] 4 5 1 0 2 3 0 0 0 4
Eddie Manzke[19] 18 25 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1

Awards and honors[edit]

Team players drafted into the NBA[edit]

Player NBA Club Round Pick
Kendall Gill Charlotte Hornets 1 5
Nick Anderson Orlando Magic 1 11
Kenny Battle Detroit Pistons 2 27

[22]

Rankings[edit]

Main article: 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Rainbow Classic History". Archived from the original on March 18, 2005. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  2. ^ Cotton, Anthony (April 2, 1989). "Michigan Survives Dogfight With Illini". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  3. ^ Men's Basketball Roster
  4. ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1988-89 Archived February 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  6. ^ 1989 NCAA Tournament
  7. ^ Season Stats Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  10. ^ Season Stats Archived 2007-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  14. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  15. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  16. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  17. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  18. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  19. ^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  20. ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  22. ^ 1989 NBA draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
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