*** Welcome to piglix ***

1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Fighting Illini logo.svg
Illini Classic, Champion
Conference Big Ten Conference
1995–96 record 18–13 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach Lou Henson
Assistant coach Dick Nagy
Assistant coach Jimmy Collins
Assistant coach Mark Bial
MVP Kiwane Garris
Captain Richard Keene
Kiwane Garris
Jerry Hester
Home arena Assembly Hall
Seasons
← 1994–95
1996–97 →
1995–96 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#4 Purdue 15 3   .833     26 6   .813
Indiana 13 5   .722     20 11   .645
#18 Penn State 12 6   .667     21 7   .750
#21 Iowa 12 6   .667     24 8   .750
Minnesota 11 7   .611     20 10   .667
Wisconsin 9 9   .500     18 14   .563
Michigan State 9 9   .500     16 16   .500
Illinois 7 11   .389     18 13   .581
Ohio State 5 13   .278     12 15   .444
Northwestern 4 14   .222     9 18   .333
Michigan 1 8   .111     1 10   .091
Rankings from AP Poll
*Michigan: 20 Games vacated due to sanctions against the program; 1 NCAA Tourn. vacated
*Minnesota: 2 NIT vacated due to sanctions against the program
Disputed records: Michigan-(21-11)(10-8); Minnesota-(19-13)(10-8)

The 1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

After advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 1994-95, Illinois extended its run on postseason play with a berth in the 1996 NIT. The Illini started the 1995-96 season 11-1 before losing Kiwane Garris to injury. Without its leader, the Illini dropped its first five Big Ten games. Garris returned, but was never 100 percent and junior forward Jerry Hester missed games with a severely sprained ankle. The Illini finished the 1996 season 18-13 overall, 7-11 in the Big Ten. But more importantly the 1996 season marked the end of the most successful era in Illinois basketball when Lou Henson announced his retirement before the end of the season. In his 21 years at Illinois, Henson notched 423 victories and guided the Illini to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Okay, Oklahoma native coached Illinois to 11, 20-win seasons and finished his career as the third winningest coach in Big Ten history with 214 league victories.

Source

Source


...
Wikipedia

...