1999–2000 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1999–2000 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 21
1999–2000 record	22–10 (11–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lon Kruger
Assistant coach	Robert McCullum
Assistant coach	Rob Judson
Assistant coach	Steve Henson
MVP	Cory Bradford
Captain	Victor Chukwudebe
Home arena	Assembly Hall

1999–2000 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#2 Michigan State †	13	–	3	.813	32	–	7	.821
#25 Purdue	12	–	4	.750	24	–	10	.706
#21 Illinois	11	–	5	.688	22	–	10	.688
#22 Indiana	10	–	6	.625	20	–	9	.690
Wisconsin	8	–	8	.500	22	–	14	.611
Iowa	6	–	10	.375	14	–	16	.467
Michigan	6	–	10	.375	15	–	14	.517
Penn State	5	–	11	.313	19	–	16	.543
Minnesota	4	–	12	.250	12	–	16	.429
Northwestern	0	–	16	.000	5	–	25	.167
#8 Ohio State*	5	–	1	.833	11	–	3	.786

† 2000 Big Ten Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll *Ohio State: 14 reg. season games; 2 NCAA Tourn. games vacated due to sanctions against the program Disputed record: Ohio State-(23-7)(13-3)

The 1999–2000 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

In 2000, for the third time in four seasons, Illinois advanced to the NCAA Tournament, this time as a #4 seed. After defeating Penn in the opening round, the Illini season ended with a defeat to eventual national runner-up Florida. The Fighting Illini spent much of the season ranked in the Top 25, climbing as high as No. 15 in late December. An early three-game losing streak in Big Ten play put the Illini in a hole to start league play at 1-3. But, Illinois went on to win 10 of the last 12 league games before finishing second in the Big Ten Tournament. During the February 19th game vs. Northwestern, the Illini would set an NCAA record fewest points allowed in the first half of a game by giving up only 6 points.^[1] Cory Bradford earned second-team All-Big Ten honors after leading Illinois in scoring and the Big Ten in three-point field goals. Forward Brian Cook was named Co-Freshman of the Year in the conference and earned All-Tournament honors with strong play in the Big Ten Tournament.

Team

No.	Player	Hometown	High School	Class	Position
00	Victor Chukwudebe (captain)	Springfield, Illinois	Lanphier High School	Sr.	Forward
5	Nate Mast	Champaign, Illinois	Champaign Central High School	Jr.	Guard
12	Joe Cross	Carbondale, Illinois	Carbondale High School	Jr.	Guard
13	Cory Bradford	Memphis, Tennessee	Raleigh Egypt High School	So.	Guard
21	Robert Archibald	Ballwin, Missouri	Lafayette High School	So.	Forward/Center
22	Lucas Johnson	Des Plaines, Illinois	Maine West High School	So.	Forward
24	Sean Harrington	Bartlett, Illinois	Elgin High School	Fr.	Guard
25	Jerrance Howard	Peoria, Illinois	Peoria High School	Fr.	Guard
30	Frank Williams	Peoria, Illinois	Manual High School	Fr.	Guard
32	Cleotis Brown	Pittsview, Alabama	Russell County High School	Sr.	Forward
33	Damir Krupalija	Rockford, Illinois	Rockford Boylan High School	So.	Forward
34	Brian Cook	Lincoln, Illinois	Lincoln Community High School	Fr.	Forward
40	Sergio McClain	Peoria, Illinois	Manual High School	Jr.	Guard/Forward
52	Marcus Griffin	Peoria, Illinois	Manual High School	Jr.	Forward

Head Coach Lon Kruger (4th year at Illinois) ^[2]

Schedule

Source^[3]

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Regular Season
11/19/1999* no, ESPN+	No. 17	vs. Western Illinois	W 76-53	1-0	Assembly Hall (14,421) Champaign, IL
11/22/1999* no, MVCN	No. 15	@ Bradley	W 72-62	2-0	Carver Arena (11,430) Peoria, IL
11/30/1999* no, ESPN	No. 16	vs. #17 Duke Big Ten-ACC Challenge	L 69-72	2-1	United Center (20,143) Chicago, IL
12/4/1999* no, MASN	No. 16	vs. Maryland BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament	L 67-69	2-2	Verizon Center (13,536) Washington, D.C.
12/5/1999* no, no	No. 16	vs. Seton Hall BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament	W 72-61	3-2	Verizon Center (13,703) Washington, D.C.
12/8/1999* no, no	No. NR	vs. Texas-Pan American	W 98-61	4-2	Assembly Hall (11,705) Champaign, IL
12/11/1999* no, ESPN2	No. 22	vs. Kansas State	W 81-48	5-2	Assembly Hall (14,022) Champaign, IL
12/18/1999* no, ESPN	No. 20	vs. #8 Kansas	W 84-70	6-2	United Center (16,714) Chicago, IL
12/21/1999* no, ESPN+	No. 15	vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	L 72-78	6-3	Scottrade Center (22,484) St. Louis, MO
12/28/1999* no, no	No. 20	vs. Bethune-Cookman	W 97-47	7-3	Assembly Hall (12,070) Champaign, IL
12/30/1999* no, no	No. 20	vs. Loyola (Chicago)	W 107-71	8-3	Assembly Hall (12,462) Champaign, IL
1/6/2000 no, ESPN	No. 19	vs. #13 Ohio State	W 80-77	9-3 (1-0)	Assembly Hall (13,756) Champaign, IL
1/8/2000 no, Raycom	No. 19	@ Wisconsin	L 59-63	9-4 (1-1)	Kohl Center (17,142) Madison, WI
1/12/2000 no, ESPN2	No. 22	vs. Purdue	L 66-69	9-5 (1-2)	Assembly Hall (15,473) Champaign, IL
1/16/2000 no, no	No. 22	@ Michigan	L 91-95 ^ot	9-6 (1-3)	Crisler Arena (11,367) Ann Arbor, MI
1/22/2000 no, ESPN	No. NR	vs. Penn State	W 87-76	10-6 (2-3)	Assembly Hall (16,038) Champaign, IL
1/26/2000 no, ESPN	No. NR	@ Iowa	W 69-58	11-6 (3-3)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA
1/30/2000 no, FSN	No. NR	@ #9 Michigan State	L 66-91	11-7 (3-4)	Breslin Student Events Center (14,659) East Lansing, MI
2/2/2000 no, CSN/WGN	No. NR	vs. Minnesota	W 73-59	12-7 (4-4)	Assembly Hall (12,977) Champaign, IL
2/6/2000 no, no	No. NR	@ Penn State	W 51-50	13-7 (5-4)	Bryce Jordan Center (13,001) University Park, PA
2/9/2000 no, no	No. NR	vs. Michigan	W 75-59	14-7 (6-4)	Assembly Hall (15,539) Champaign, IL
2/12/2000 no, IowaSports	No. NR	vs. Iowa	W 78-50	15-7 (7-4)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
2/17/2000 no, FSNW	No. NR	@ Minnesota	W 89-80	16-7 (8-4)	Williams Arena (13,795) Minneapolis, MN
2/19/2000 no, no	No. NR	@ Northwestern	W 63-30	17-7 (9-4)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL
2/22/2000 no, StudentU	No. NR	vs. #16 Indiana	W 87-63	18-7 (10-4)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
2/27/2000 no, PBS	No. NR	@ #6 Ohio State	L 51-64	18-8 (10-5)	Value City Arena (19,100) Columbus, OH
3/4/2000 no, ROOT	No. 25	vs. Northwestern	W 73-44	19-8 (11-5)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
Big Ten Tournament
3/10/2000* no, CBS	No. 21	vs. #13 Indiana Big Ten Tournament	W 72-69	20-8	United Center (21,141) Chicago, IL
3/11/2000* no, ESPN+	No. 21	vs. Penn State Big Ten Tournament	W 94-84	21-8	United Center (22,011) Chicago, IL
3/12/2000* no, no	No. 21	vs. #5 Michigan State Big Ten Tournament Championship	L 61-76	21-9	United Center (19,663) Chicago, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/17/2000* no, Turner Sports	No. 21	vs. Penn NCAA Tournament	W 68-58	22-9	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14,252) Winston-Salem, NC
3/19/2000* no, CBS	No. 21	vs. Florida NCAA Tournament	L 76-93	22-10	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14,252) Winston-Salem, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Three Pointers	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Cory Bradford^[4]	32	156	96	82	80	63	1	31	490
Frank Williams^[5]	32	125	42	70	135	20	41	16	366
Marcus Griffin^[6]	27	110	0	70	135	20	41	16	290
Brian Cook^[7]	32	112	12	51	143	24	28	22	287
Cleotis Brown^[8]	32	81	21	40	113	33	4	24	223
Sergio McClain^[9]	29	71	4	51	109	71	5	53	197
Lucas Johnson^[10]	32	50	29	67	106	62	7	25	196
Damir Krupalija^[11]	27	43	5	16	112	28	6	20	107
Robert Archibald^[12]	30	35	0	31	97	15	7	12	101
Sean Harrington^[13]	30	26	20	20	15	29	1	9	92

NCAA basketball tournament

East regional
- Illinois 68, Pennsylvania 58
- Florida 93, Illinois 76

^[14]

Awards and honors

Frank Williams
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
Brian Cook
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
Cory Bradford
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[15]

Rankings

Main article: 1999–2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

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 Missouri

Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek

People	Head coaches NBA draftees Consensus All-Americans

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 1999–00 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

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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