2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . Led by first year head coach Bill Self , the Illini played their home games at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois and were members of the Big Ten Conference . They finished the season with a record of 27–8, 13–3 in Big Ten play to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Michigan State . They lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament to Indiana . They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. They advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Arizona .
Regular season
In May 2000, Lon Kruger left Illinois to become head coach of the NBA ’s Atlanta Hawks . Bill Self was named Illinois’ 15th head men’s basketball coach on June 9, 2000.[1] Self came to Illinois from Tulsa where he had led the Golden Hurricane to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a 32–5 record and Tournament run to the Elite Eight in 2000. Self ’s first season at Illinois, was memorable. The Illini were ranked in the Top 10 the entire season and tied for the Big Ten Championship with Michigan State. The Illini defeated Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, but fell to Indiana in the semifinals.
The Illini received an at-large as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. Easy wins over Northwestern State [2] and Charlotte [3] led to a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The Illini defeated Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight.[4] However, the Illini run ended in the Elite Eight to eventual national runner-up Arizona, the third meeting between the two schools on the season.[5] Sophomore Frank Williams became the first Illini player to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors since 1967 and was named to several postseason All-America squads. Junior Cory Bradford set an NCAA record by making a three-point field goal in 88 consecutive games.
Roster
2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
00
Brett Melton
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Fr
Mahomet-Seymour High School
Mahomet, Illinois
G
5
Nate Mast
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Sr
Champaign Central High School
Champaign, Illinois
G
12
Joe Cross
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Sr
Carbondale Community High School
Carbondale, Illinois
G
13
Cory Bradford
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
RS Jr
Raleigh Egypt High School
Memphis, Tennessee
F/C
21
Robert Archibald
6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
250 lb (113 kg)
Jr
Lafayette High School
Ballwin, Missouri
F
22
Lucas Johnson
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
Jr
Maine West High School
Des Plaines, Illinois
G
24
Sean Harrington
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
So
Elgin High School
Bartlett, Illinois
G
25
Jerrance Howard
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
RS Fr
Peoria High School
Peoria, Illinois
G
30
Frank Williams
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
212 lb (96 kg)
RS So
Manual High School
Peoria, Illinois
F
33
Damir Krupalija
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
Jr
Rockford Boylan High School
Rockford, Illinois
F
34
Brian Cook
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
So
Lincoln Community High School
Lincoln, Illinois
F
40
Sergio McClain (C)
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
Sr
Manual High School
Peoria, Illinois
F
42
Clayton Thomas (W)
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
So
Larkin High School
Elgin, Illinois
C
45
Nick Smith
7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
RS Fr
Bloomingdale High School
Valrico, Florida
F
52
Marcus Griffin (C)
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
235 lb (107 kg)
RS Sr
Manual High School/Lincoln College
Peoria, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
All-Time Illini Rosters Roster
Source[6]
Schedule and results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/17/2000 *
No. 8
Maine
W 86–57
1–0
Assembly Hall (13,044)Champaign, IL
11/20/2000 *
No. 8
vs. UNLV Maui Invitational Tournament
W 74–69
2–0
Lahaina Civic Center (2,500)Lahaina, HI
11/21/2000 *
No. 8
vs. No. 6 Maryland Maui Invitational Tournament
W 90–80
3–0
Lahaina Civic Center (2,500)Lahaina, HI
11/22/2000 *
No. 8
vs. No. 1 Arizona Maui Invitational Tournament Championship
L 76–79
3–1
Lahaina Civic Center (2,500)Lahaina, HI
11/26/2000 *
No. 8
Texas Southern
W 86–67
4–1
Assembly Hall (12,970)Champaign, IL
11/28/2000 *
No. 9
vs. No. 1 Duke Big Ten-ACC Challenge
L 77–78
4–2
Greensboro Coliseum (17,966)Greensboro, NC
12/2/2000 *
No. 9
at Kansas State
W 76–56
5–2
Bramlage Coliseum (6,415)Manhattan, KS
12/6/2000 *
No. 9
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
W 85–44
6–2
Assembly Hall (12,312)Champaign, IL
12/9/2000 *2:00, CBS
No. 9
No. 7 Seton Hall
W 87–79
7–2
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
12/16/2000 *
No. 5
vs. No. 7 Arizona
W 81–73
8–2
United Center (21,885)Chicago, IL
12/21/2000 *
No. 5
vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights
W 86–81 OT
9–2
Scottrade Center (22,089)St. Louis, MO
12/23/2000 *
No. 5
at Texas
L 64–72
9–3
Frank Erwin Center (11,916)Austin, TX
12/29/2000 *
No. 9
vs. Illinois-Chicago
W 77–64
10–3
Rosemont Horizon (9,152)Rosemont, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/2001
No. 9
Minnesota
W 80–64
11–3 (1–0)
Assembly Hall (13,840)Champaign, IL
1/6/2001
No. 9
Ohio State
W 83–68
12–3 (2–0)
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
1/11/2001
No. 7
at Iowa Rivalry
L 62–78
12–4 (2–1)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500)Iowa City, IA
1/13/2001
No. 7
Michigan
W 80–51
13–4 (3–1)
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
1/17/2001
No. 11
at Northwestern Rivalry
W 63–49
14–4 (4–1)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)Evanston, IL
1/20/2001
No. 11
Penn State
W 92–60
15–4 (5–1)
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
1/25/2001
No. 7
at Michigan
W 55–51
16–4 (6–1)
Crisler Arena (11,092)Ann Arbor, MI
1/31/2001
No. 6
at Penn State
L 95–98 OT
16–5 (6–2)
Bryce Jordan Center (8,953)University Park, PA
2/3/2001
No. 6
Northwestern Rivalry
W 84–59
17–5 (7–2)
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
2/6/2001
No. 7
No. 4 Michigan State
W 77–66
18–5 (8–2)
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
2/10/2001
No. 7
at Purdue
W 82–61
19–5 (9–2)
Mackey Arena (14,123)West Lafayette, IN
2/13/2001
No. 4
No. 19 Wisconsin
W 68–67
20–5 (10–2)
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
2/17/2001
No. 4
at Indiana Rivalry
W 67–61
21–5 (11–2)
Assembly Hall (17,460)Bloomington, IN
2/22/2001
No. 3
at Ohio State
L 61–63
21–6 (11–3)
Value City Arena (19,200)Columbus, OH
2/24/2001
No. 3
Iowa Rivalry
W 89–63
22–6 (12–3)
Assembly Hall (16,683)Champaign, IL
3/4/2001 4:00, CBS
No. 5
at Minnesota
W 67–59
23–6 (13–3)
Williams Arena (14,329)Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten tournament
3/9/2001
(1) No. 4
vs. (8) Purdue quarterfinals
W 83–66
24–6
United Center (22,679)Chicago, IL
3/10/2001
(1) No. 4
vs. (4) Indiana semifinals
L 56–58
24–7
United Center (23,418)Chicago, IL
NCAA tournament
3/16/2001 * CBS
(1 MW) No. 4
vs. (16 MW) Northwestern State First Round
W 96–54
25–7
University of Dayton Arena (13,007)Dayton, OH
3/18/2001 * CBS
(1 MW) No. 4
vs. (9 MW) Charlotte Second Round
W 79–61
26–7
University of Dayton Arena (13,159)Dayton, OH
3/23/2001 * CBS
(1 MW) No. 4
vs. (4 MW) No. 12 Kansas Sweet Sixteen
W 80–64
27–7
Alamodome (28,962)San Antonio, TX
3/25/2001 * CBS
(1 MW) No. 4
vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Arizona Elite Eight
L 81–87
27–8
Alamodome (30,212)San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Source[7]
Player stats
Player
Games Played
2 pt. Field Goals
3 pt. Field Goals
Free Throws
Rebounds
Assists
Blocks
Steals
Points
Frank Williams[8]
34
129
39
133
126
148
9
67
508
Brian Cook[9]
35
119
28
69
212
43
45
21
391
Marcus Griffin[10]
34
154
0
77
203
34
44
29
385
Cory Bradford[11]
35
41
72
47
89
63
3
23
345
Sergio McClain[12]
35
69
18
69
194
102
7
46
261
Robert Archibald[13]
34
77
0
90
154
22
26
12
244
Sean Harrington[14]
35
10
51
27
49
41
1
27
200
Lucas Johnson[15]
35
30
18
62
116
59
5
20
176
Damir Krupalija[16]
27
36
7
36
105
18
4
16
129
Brett Melton
28
7
8
5
23
7
1
3
43
Joe Cross
17
5
2
2
12
1
0
4
18
Nate Mast
20
1
4
1
12
2
0
1
15
Jerrance Howard
25
4
0
2
9
10
1
0
10
Awards and honors
Rankings
Ranking movementLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked.
Poll
Pre
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 5
Wk 6
Wk 7
Wk 8
Wk 9
Wk 10
Wk 11
Wk 12
Wk 13
Wk 14
Wk 15
Wk 16
Wk 17
Final
AP[18]
8
8
8
9
9
5
9
9
7
11
7
6
7
4
3
5
4
4
References
^ "Illini Hires Self As Hoops Coach" . CBS News . June 9, 2000. Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
^ "Northwestern State vs. Illinois Box Score, March 16, 2001 | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com" . College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
^ "2001 Illinois vs. Charlotte Round of 32" . ncaa-basketball-tournament.pointafter.com . Retrieved July 6, 2016 .[permanent dead link ]
^ "Kansas vs. Illinois Box Score, March 23, 2001 | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com" . College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
^ "NCAA Men's Basketball - Arizona vs. Illinois" . usatoday30.usatoday.com . Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
^ FightingIllini.com
^ "2000-01 Illinois Fighting Illini Roster and Stats" .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013 .
^ "2000-01 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results" .
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics