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1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record13–6 (7–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coachWally Roettger (1st season)
CaptainHoward Braun
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1935–36 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Indiana 11 1   .917 18 2   .900
Purdue 11 1   .917 16 4   .800
Michigan 7 5   .583 15 5   .750
Illinois 7 5   .583 13 6   .684
Northwestern 7 5   .583 13 6   .684
Ohio State 5 7   .417 12 8   .600
Iowa 5 7   .417 9 10   .474
Wisconsin 4 8   .333 11 9   .550
Minnesota 3 9   .250 7 17   .292
Chicago 0 12   .000 6 14   .300

The 1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

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The 1935–36 season would turn out to be Craig Ruby's 14th and final year of coaching at the University of Illinois. It would also turn out to be Ruby's final head coaching job anywhere as he would leave to pursue a career with Hallmark Greeting Cards. Ruby's tenure at Illinois ranks 3rd behind Lou Henson (21 years) and Harry Combes (20 years). His 148 wins also ranks 5th behind Henson (423) Combes (316) and Bruce Weber (210) and Doug Mills (151). Along with future head coach Harry Combes, the Illini returned 10 lettermen from a team that had finished in first place in the Big Ten the year before. Unfortunately for the Illini, they lost 3 conference games at home and finished with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses. The team finished the season with an overall record of 13 wins 6 losses. The starting lineup included captain Howard Braun and Wilbur Henry at guard, Harry Combes, Harold Benham and James Vopicka at forward, with Robert Riegel at the center position.[1]

Roster

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1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F 3 Duane Cullinan
Jr Pekin, Illinois
C 4 Robert Riegel
Jr Tolono, Illinois
G 5 Howard Braun (C)
Sr Champaign, Illinois
G 6 Wilbur Henry
Jr North Hollywood, California
G 7 James Vopicka
Jr Berwyn, Illinois
F 8 Harold Benham
Sr Downers Grove, Illinois
G 9 Lowell Spurgeon
So Rockford, Illinois
F 10 Harold Swanson
Jr Chicago Heights, Illinois
F 11 Byron Blout
Jr Salinas, California
C 12 Martin Markworth
Sr Cleveland, Ohio
G 13 Lester Lindberg
Sr Lockport, Illinois
G 14 Russell Layer
So Richmond Heights, Missouri
G 15 Paul W. Gibbs
Sr Los Angeles, California
G 17 Harry Combes
Jr Champaign, Illinois
G 18 Stanley Bergbom
So Barrington, Illinois
F 19 William Bennis
So Freeport, Illinois
F 20 William Gates
Sr Rockford, Illinois
G 25 Harry Van Hook
So Mt. Pulaski, Illinois
G 28 Edward Yeaton
So Elkhorn, Wisconsin
F 29 Howard Gasaway
So Liberal, Kansas
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

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Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/7/1935*
no, no
St. Louis W 35–27  1–0
Huff Hall (4,960)
Champaign, IL
12/11/1935*
no, no
Wabash W 40–22  2–0
Huff Hall (4,804)
Champaign, IL
12/17/1935*
no, no
DePauw W 47–14  3–0
Huff Hall (5,000)
Champaign, IL
12/20/1935*
no, no
at DePaul W 26–24  4–0
Chicago Stadium (6,000)
Chicago, IL
12/28/1935*
no, no
at Knox College W 48–31  5–0
Auxiliary Gymnasium (1,500)
Galesburg, IL
12/30/1935*
no, no
California W 42–17  6–0
Huff Hall (3,000)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1936
no, no
at Iowa
Rivalry
L 26–27  6–1
(0–1)
Iowa Field House (–)
Iowa City, IA
1/6/1936
no, no
at Minnesota W 42–19  7–1
(1–1)
Williams Arena (–)
Minneapolis, MN
1/11/1936
no, no
at Wisconsin W 29–27  8–1
(2–1)
Wisconsin Field House (7,500)
Madison, WI
1/13/1936
no, no
Ohio State L 13–18  8–2
(2–2)
Huff Hall (5,500)
Champaign, IL
1/18/1936
no, no
Northwestern
Rivalry
L 28–40  8–3
(2–3)
Huff Hall (4,500)
Champaign, IL
2/5/1936*
no, no
at Notre Dame L 23–33  8–4
Notre Dame Fieldhouse (–)
Notre Dame, IN
2/10/1936
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 36–14  9–4
(3–3)
Huff Hall (4,000)
Champaign, IL
2/15/1936
no, no
Wisconsin W 36–20  10–4
(4–3)
Huff Hall (4,500)
Champaign, IL
2/17/1936
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 39–38  11–4
(5–3)
Patten Gymnasium (–)
Evanston, IL
2/22/1936
no, no
Minnesota W 35–33  12–4
(6–3)
Huff Hall (4,500)
Champaign, IL
2/24/1936
no, no
Michigan L 37–42  12–5
(6–4)
Huff Hall (5,500)
Champaign, IL
2/29/1936
no, no
at Ohio State W 30–20  13–5
(7–4)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (5,500)
Columbus, OH
3/2/1936
no, no
at Michigan L 22–35  13–6
(7–5)
Yost Field House (–)
Ann Arbor, MI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[2]

References

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  1. ^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1935–36 pg.79, FightingIllini.com