1985–86 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1985–86 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1985–86 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
, Champion
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 19
1985–86 record	22–10 (11–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson;
Assistant coaches	; Jimmy Collins; ;
MVP	Ken Norman
Captain	Bruce Douglas; Efrem Winters
Home arena	Assembly Hall
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

The 1985–86 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

Regular season[]

Junior college transfer Ken Norman highlighted the 1985-86 season as he set the school record for single-season field-goal percentage (.641).

Roster[]

1985–86 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Tony Wysinger	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Jr	Peoria Central High School	Peoria, Illinois
G	12	Chuck Keller	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	145 lb (66 kg)	Sr		Effingham, Illinois
G	21	Glynn Blackwell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Highland Park Community High School	Highland Park, Michigan
G	22	Doug Altenberger	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Sr	Richwoods High School	Peoria, Illinois
G	23	Curtis Taylor	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Fowler High School	Syracuse, New York
F	24	Efrem Winters (C)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	King High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	25	Bruce Douglas (C)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Quincy Senior High School	Quincy, Illinois
F/C	30	Scott Meents	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Herscher High School	Kankakee, Illinois
F	33	Ken Norman	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Crane High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	34	Dave Wells	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Freeport High School	Freeport, Illinois
G	35	Reggie Woodward	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	King High School	Chicago, Illinois
C	40	Olaf Blab	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	RS Fr	Charleston High School	Munich, West Germany
F	42	Jim Green	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute	Morton, Illinois
F	44	Anthony Welch	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Sr	Creston High School	Grand Rapids, Michigan
F	45	Lowell Hamilton	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Providence St. Mel High School	Chicago, Illinois
C	54	Jens Kujawa	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	RS Fr	Taylorville High School	Braunschweig, West Germany

Head coach

Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (11th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State) (3rd year)
(Hardin-Simmons University) (5th year)
(New Mexico State) (1st year)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

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
11/26/1985* no, no	No. 7	vs. Loyola (Chicago)	W 95-64	1-0	Assembly Hall (13,143) Champaign, IL
11/26/1985* no, no	No. 7	vs. Hawaii Loa	W 72-45	2-0	(200) Honolulu, HI
11/29/1985* no, no	No. 7	vs. #13 Oklahoma Hawaii Thanksgiving Invitational	L 57-59	2-1	Kaneohe Armory (300) Honolulu, HI
12/4/1985* no, no	No. 12	vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay	W 84-34	3-1	Assembly Hall (13,417) Champaign, IL
12/6/1985* no, no	No. 12	vs. Eastern Kentucky	W 79-56	4-1	Assembly Hall (13,707) Champaign
12/7/1985* no, no	No. 12	vs. Utah State Illini Classic	W 115-64	5-1	Assembly Hall (13,980) Champaign
12/10/1985* no, no	No. 10	vs. Tennessee	L 51-54	5-2	Mabee Center (12,700) Tulsa, OK
12/14/1985* no, no	No. 10	vs. Houston	W 102-92	6-2	Assembly Hall (15,564) Champaign, IL
12/21/1985* no, no	No. 15	vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 67-55	7-2	St. Louis Arena (13,106) St. Louis, MO
12/23/1985* no, no	No. 15	vs. Howard	W 67-55	8-2	Assembly Hall (10,043) Champaign, IL
12/30/1985* no, no	No. 16	vs. Iowa State	W 64-62	9-2	Rosemont Horizon (9,876) Rosemont, IL

1/2/1986 no, no	No. 14	vs. Minnesota	W 76-57	10-2 (1-0)	Assembly Hall (13,329) Champaign, IL
1/4/1986 no, no	No. 14	vs. Iowa Rivalry	L 59-60	10-3 (1-1)	Assembly Hall (16,676) Champaign, IL
1/8/1986 no, no	No. 18	@ #2 Michigan	L 59-61	10-4 (1-2)	Crisler Arena (13,609) Ann Arbor, MI
1/12/1986 no, no	No. 18	@ Michigan State	L 51-58	10-5 (1-3)	Jenison Fieldhouse (7,912) East Lansing, MI
1/16/1986 no, no	No. NR	vs. Wisconsin	W 73-54	11-5 (2-3)	Assembly Hall (12,829) Champaign, IL
1/18/1986 no, no	No. NR	vs. Northwestern	W 72-46	12-5 (3-3)	Assembly Hall (13,891) Champaign, IL
1/23/1986 no, no	No. NR	@ Ohio State	W 67-65	13-5 (4-3)	St. John Arena (13,071) Columbus, OH
1/25/1986 no, no	No. NR	@ Indiana Rivalry	L 69-71	13-6 (4-4)	Assembly Hall (17,128) Bloomington, IN
2/2/1986 no, no	No. NR	vs. Purdue	W 80-68	14-6 (5-4)	Assembly Hall (16,412) Champaign, IL
2/6/1986 no, no	No. NR	vs. Michigan State	L 80-84	14-7 (5-5)	Assembly Hall (15,947) Champaign, IL
2/8/1986 no, no	No. NR	vs. Michigan	W 83-79 ^ot	15-7 (6-5)	Assembly Hall (16,353) Champaign, IL
2/13/1986 no, no	No. NR	@ Northwestern	W 75-52	16-7 (7-5)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL
2/15/1986 no, no	No. NR	@ Wisconsin	W 82-74	17-7 (8-5)	Wisconsin Field House (10,605) Madison, WI
2/20/1986 no, no	No. NR	vs. #15 Indiana Rivalry	L 60-61	17-8 (8-6)	Assembly Hall (16,349) Champaign, IL
2/22/1986 no, no	No. NR	vs. Ohio State	W 66-62	18-8 (8-7)	Assembly Hall (16,376) Champaign, IL
2/27/1986 no, no	No. NR	@ #20 Purdue	W 81-72	19-8 (9-7)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
3/1/1986* no, no	No. 12	@ #4 Georgia Tech	W 59-57	20-8	Alexander Memorial Coliseum (15,148) Atlanta, GA
3/6/1986 no, no	No. 19	@ Iowa Rivalry	L 53-57	20-9 (10-7)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,450) Iowa City, IA
3/8/1986 no, no	No. 19	@ Minnesota	W 73-64	21-9 (11-7)	Williams Arena (13,608) Minneapolis, MN
NCAA Tournament^[4]
3/14/1986* no, no	No. 19	vs. Fairfield First Round	W 75-51	22-9	Charlotte Coliseum (-) Charlotte, NC
3/16/1986* no, no	No. 19	vs. Alabama Second Round	L 56-58	22-10	Charlotte Coliseum (11,325) Charlotte, NC
*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
Ken Norman^[5]	32	1015	216	93	226	32	25	24	525
Anthony Welch^[6]	32	931	162	22	147	49	12	18	334
Efrem Winters^[7]	32	944	124	48	183	40	19	15	296
Bruce Douglas^[8]	32	1070	118	47	88	199	10	88	283
Tony Wysinger^[9]	28	717	115	39	41	106	2	39	269
Glynn Blackwell^[10]	32	650	94	18	63	53	0	37	206
Scott Meents^[11]	32	507	77	24	89	46	22	17	178
Lowell Hamilton^[12]	24	182	36	16	41	4	6	4	88
Curtis Taylor	18	139	15	24	20	14	1	9	54
Jens Kujawa	18	97	19	4	44	4	5	2	42
Doug Altenberger	5	68	10	0	10	3	0	3	20
Olaf Blab	13	49	7	1	8	2	6	1	15
Reggie Woodward	4	20	1	7	1	1	0	2	9
Charles Keller	12	25	1	5	1	1	0	1	54
Brian Sterrett	2	5	1	0	1	0	0	0	2
Dave Wells	1	2	0	2	0	0	1	0	2
Jim Green	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Awards and honors[]

Bruce Douglas
- Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
Ken Norman
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[13]
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Bruce Douglas	Sacramento Kings	3	57
Anthony Welch	Dallas Mavericks	3	62
Scott Meents	Chicago Bulls	4	74
Efrem Winters	Atlanta Hawks	4	88

^[14]

Rankings[]

References[]

^ Men's Basketball Roster
^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1985-86 Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ 1986 NCAA Tournament
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ Season Stats pg. 121
^ List of MVPs
^ 1986 NBA Draft Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine

[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 1985-86 Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[4] 1986 NCAA Tournament

[5] Season Stats pg. 121

[6] Season Stats pg. 121

[7] Season Stats pg. 121

[8] Season Stats pg. 121

[9] Season Stats pg. 121

[10] Season Stats pg. 121

[11] Season Stats pg. 121

[12] Season Stats pg. 121

[13] List of MVPs

[14] 1986 NBA Draft Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

hide v t Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics


v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Michigan	14	–	4	.778	28	–	5	.848
No. 16 Indiana	13	–	5	.722	21	–	8	.724
No. 18 Michigan State	12	–	6	.667	23	–	8	.742
No. 19 Illinois	11	–	7	.611	22	–	10	.688
Purdue	10	–	8	.556	22	–	10	.688
Iowa	10	–	8	.556	20	–	12	.625
Ohio State	8	–	10	.444	19	–	14	.576
Minnesota	5	–	13	.278	15	–	16	.484
Wisconsin	4	–	14	.222	12	–	16	.429
Northwestern	2	–	16	.111	8	–	20	.286

Rankings from AP Poll