1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
1998–99 record	14–18 (3–13 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

1998–99 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#2 Michigan State †	15	–	1	.938	33	–	5	.868
#19 Indiana	9	–	7	.563	23	–	11	.676
#18 Wisconsin	9	–	7	.563	22	–	10	.688
#21 Iowa	9	–	7	.563	20	–	10	.667
Minnesota	8	–	8	.500	17	–	11	.607
#11 Purdue	7	–	9	.438	21	–	13	.618
Northwestern	6	–	10	.375	15	–	14	.517
Penn State	5	–	11	.313	13	–	14	.481
Illinois	3	–	13	.188	14	–	18	.438
#14 Ohio State**	0	–	1	.000	1	–	1	.500
Michigan*	0	–	11	.000	0	–	19	.000

† 1999 Big Ten Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll Michigan: 12 reg. season games vacated due to sanctions against the program *Ohio State: 29 reg. season games; 5 NCAA Tourn. games vacated due to sanctions against the program Disputed records: Michigan-(12-19)(5-11); Ohio State-(27-9)(12-4)

The 1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The Illini closed out the 1998-99 season with an amazing run at the Big Ten Tournament title. After entering the tournament as the 11th-seeded team, Illinois reeled off three straight victories over Top 25-ranked teams before losing in the championship game to second-ranked Michigan State. Illini freshman Cory Bradford was the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year and was also selected to the All-Tournament team.

Team

No.	Player	Hometown	High School	Class	Position
00	Victor Chukwudebe (captain)	Springfield, Illinois	Lanphier High School	Jr.	Forward
3	Arias Davis	Waycross, Georgia	Ware County High School	Sr.	Guard
4	Fess Hawkins	Pine Bluff, Arkansas	Dollarway High School	So.	Center
5	Nate Mast	Champaign, Illinois	Champaign Central High School	So.	Guard
13	Cory Bradford	Memphis, Tennessee	Raleigh Egypt High School	Fr.	Guard
21	Robert Archibald	Ballwin, Missouri	Lafayette High School	Fr.	Forward/Center
22	Lucas Johnson	Des Plaines, Illinois	Maine West High School	Fr.	Forward
30	Frank Williams	Peoria, Illinois	Manual High School	Fr.	Guard
32	Cleotis Brown	Pittsview, Alabama	Russell County High School	Jr.	Guard
33	Damir Krupalija	Rockford, Illinois	Rockford Boylan High School	Fr.	Forward
35	Carvell Ammons	Champaign, Illinois	Centennial High School	So.	Forward
40	Sergio McClain	Peoria, Illinois	Manual High School	So.	Guard/Forward
44	Rich Beyers	Shelbyville, Illinois	Shelbyville High School	So.	Forward

Head Coach Lon Kruger (3rd year at Illinois) ^[1]

Schedule

Source^[2]

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Regular Season
11/10/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. Wake Forest Coaches vs. Cancer Classic	L 73-75 ^ot	0-1	Madison Square Garden (13,239) New York, NY
11/11/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. Georgetown Coaches vs. Cancer Classic	W 65-50	1-1	Madison Square Garden (12,589) New York, NY
11/17/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. George Washington	L 58-64	1-2	Assembly Hall (10,683) Champaign, IL
11/20/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. St. Louis	W 70-65	2-2	Assembly Hall (12,586) Champaign, IL
11/23/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. Tennessee-Martin	W 71-35	3-2	Assembly Hall (10,496) Champaign, IL
11/28/1998* no, no	No. NR	@ Texas-Pan American	W 71-56	4-2	UTPA Fieldhouse (2,463) Edinburg, TX
11/30/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. Valparaiso	W 53-49	5-2	Assembly Hall (10,842) Champaign, IL
12/5/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. Bradley	W 53-48	6-2	United Center (11,084) Chicago, IL
12/12/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. Eastern Illinois	W 70-67	7-2	Assembly Hall (12,273) Champaign, IL
12/19/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. #13 Kansas	L 55-65	7-3	Kemper Arena (13,728) Kansas City, MO
12/22/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. #15 Missouri Braggin' Rights	L 62-67	7-4	Scottrade Center (22,471) St. Louis, MO
12/29/1998* no, no	No. NR	vs. #14 Clemson	W 67-50	8-4	Bi-Lo Center (14,687) Greenville, SC
1/3/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ #8 Indiana	L 53-62	8-5 (0-1)	Assembly Hall (7,249) Bloomington, IN
1/7/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ #17 Iowa	L 62-84	8-6 (0-2)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,301) Iowa City, IA
1/9/1999 no, no	No. NR	vs. Northwestern	L 46-59	8-7 (0-3)	Assembly Hall (12,255) Champaign, IL
1/13/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ #13 Purdue	L 54-63	8-8 (0-4)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
1/16/1999 no, no	No. NR	vs. #14 Michigan State	L 49-51	8-9 (0-5)	Assembly Hall (15,428) Champaign, IL
1/20/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ #15 Wisconsin	L 53-75	8-10 (0-6)	Kohl Center (16,112) Madison, WI
1/23/1999 no, no	No. NR	vs. Penn State	L 61-65	8-11 (0-7)	Assembly Hall (12,552) Champaign, IL
1/28/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ Michigan	W 61-59	9-11 (1-7)	Crisler Arena (10,784) Ann Arbor, MI
1/30/1999 no, no	No. 24	vs. #15 Ohio State	L 61-64	9-12 (1-8)	Assembly Hall (13,756) Champaign, IL
2/3/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ #18 Minnesota	L 63-75	9-13 (1-9)	Williams Arena (14,792) Minneapolis, MN
2/6/1999 no, no	No. NR	vs. #11 Wisconsin	W 53-51	10-13 (2-9)	Assembly Hall (14,062) Champaign, IL
2/11/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ #5 Michigan State	L 44-61	10-14 (2-10)	Breslin Student Events Center (14,659) East Lansing, MI
2/13/1999 no, no	No. NR	vs. #21 Purdue	L 56-63	10-15 (2-11)	Assembly Hall (15,473) Champaign, IL
2/17/1999 no, no	No. NR	@ Northwestern	W 69-63	11-15 (3-11)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,314) Evanston, IL
2/21/1999 no, no	No. NR	vs. #20 Iowa	L 72-78	11-16 (3-12)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
2/24/1999 no, no	No. NR	vs. #20 Indiana	L 64-70 ^ot	11-17 (3-13)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
Big Ten Tournament
3/4/1999* no, no	No. NR	vs. #23 Minnesota Big Ten Tournament	W 67-64	12-17	United Center (18,641) Chicago, IL
3/5/1999* no, no	No. NR	vs. #17 Indiana Big Ten Tournament	W 82-66	13-17	United Center (20,297) Chicago, IL
3/6/1999* no, no	No. NR	vs. #11 Ohio State Big Ten Tournament	W 79-77	14-17	United Center (20,695) Chicago, IL
3/7/1999* no, no	No. NR	vs. #2 Michigan State Big Ten Tournament Championship	L 50-67	14-18	United Center (19,581) Chicago, IL
*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^[3]	32	174	85	61	84	62	1	25	494
Cleotis Brown^[4]	32	107	20	61	152	44	13	52	295
Sergio McClain^[5]	31	98	6	65	106	81	3	71	267
Fess Hawkins^[6]	32	77	0	47	162	19	36	24	201
Victor Chukwudebe^[7]	32	78	0	22	158	16	20	22	178
Damir Krupalija^[8]	24	35	6	34	132	25	13	15	110
Lucas Johnson^[9]	31	37	15	46	96	45	4	12	135
Robert Archibald^[10]	32	32	0	31	100	26	10	10	95
Arias Davis^[11]	25	29	18	6	20	10	2	9	82

Awards and honors

Cory Bradford
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[12]
Frank Williams
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

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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