The 2004–05 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team marked the 100th season of men's basketball at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. After starting the regular season with a record of 29–0 and winning the Big Ten Conference regular season title outright at 15–1, the Illini were Big Ten tournament champions. They advanced in the NCAA tournament to the national championship, marking the school's first appearance in the championship game, but lost to North Carolina, 75–70. They ended the season tying the record for most victories in a season for a men's college basketball team. Due to the final AP poll releasing before the title game, Illinois finished ranked as unanimous No. 1, the first such AP poll finish in program history.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball history, Sports Illustrated voted the 2005 Illinois team as the best ever not to win a national title in 2014.

Season

Overview Illinois celebrated its 100th season of varsity basketball in 2004–05. In his second season as head coach at Illinois, Bruce Weber's Illini put together the most successful season in U of I history. The Illini tied the all-time NCAA record for victories in a season with 37 wins en route to its 37–2 record (since surpassed by 2011–12 Kentucky with a 38–2 record and 2014–15 Kentucky with a 38–1 record). Illinois made its fifth all-time NCAA Final Four appearance and first since 1989. The Illini defeated Louisville in the national semifinal to advance to the championship game for the first time in school history. Illinois finished as the national runner-up, falling by five points to North Carolina in the title game.

Above all else, the team was noted for its impeccable ball movement on offense, and led the nation in assists. A constant flow of passes allowed for open looks from the three-point line on every play. Led by a three-guard starting lineup, the team did not rely upon sheer size and height like many other teams in order to dominate, but rather skill and teamwork. Illinois relied upon three-point shooting for its offensive firepower. Illinois' effective offense was largely attributable to the team chemistry that had developed amongst the starting five, which had gone unchanged over the two previous seasons. Defensively, the team was one of the best at guarding against the three-point shot. Illinois averaged 77.0 points per game, while allowing 61.1 points per game, for an average point differential of nearly 16 points.

+ National statistical rankings (Division I)StatisticAmountNational rankPoints scored3,0024thAssists7271stRebounding1,3389thThree-point field goals made3442ndThree-point field goal attempts8774thPoints allowed (defense)2,3828th

In blowout home games, senior Nick Smith, the tallest player in University of Illinois basketball history, would take three-point shots from the top of the key. He made 4 of 11 on the season.

Regular season The Illini started the season by setting a school record with 29 straight wins, the third best start in Big Ten history and tying the 12th best start in NCAA annals. Illinois won its second-ever game over a No. 1-ranked opponent, crushing Wake Forest 91–73 at the Assembly Hall on December 1. After the win, the Illini took over the number 1 overall spot in the national polls and held it for the remainder of the regular season, a run of 15 straight weeks. On January 25, 2005, Illinois defeated Wisconsin 75–65 at the Kohl Center, snapping the Badgers' nation-leading 38-game home court winning streak. In the process, Illinois handed the Badgers their first home court loss since a defeat to, coincidentally, Wake Forest, on December 4, 2002, and also assumed the nation's longest home court winning streak themselves.

Illinois was ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll of 2005, another first for the program. The Illini then went on to win to its second straight outright Big Ten Championship with a 15–1 record, as Weber became the first coach in 100 years of Big Ten basketball to win consecutive outright league championships in his first two seasons.

Post-Season The Illini won the Big Ten tournament, becoming just the second team to win both an outright Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten tournament in the same season. In the NCAA tournament, the overall number 1 seeded Illini won their first three games by double digits.

In an Elite Eight matchup, Illinois fell behind early to the University of Arizona due to poor shooting behind the three-point line and sensational play by Arizona's leaders Salim Stoudamire and Channing Frye. The game featured a 15-point comeback from the Illini, triggered by several steals and Deron Williams' clutch three-point shooting, including several NBA range threes, in the last 3 minutes and 30 seconds of the game.

The Illini then defeated The University of Louisville 72–57, the team's largest margin of victory in the tournament, to move on to the 2005 National Championship Game against North Carolina.

In the national championship game, Illinois was defeated by North Carolina 70–75. North Carolina relied upon stellar post play from Sean May, who managed to get James Augustine and Jack Ingram into foul trouble, while Illinois struggled offensively with what had succeeded the rest of the season, converting only 12 of a championship game record 40 three-point field goal attempts. James Augustine played 9 minutes due to foul trouble, forcing Jack Ingram to play a huge role in the second half comeback the Illini made. For almost the entire season, Illinois was ranked #1 and North Carolina was ranked #2, respectively, in all polls, and both teams were the favorites to meet in the national championship game. The North Carolina squad would go on to field six players in the NBA draft.

Accolades Bruce Weber was named National Coach of the Year by nine organizations. Dee Brown, "The One Man Fast Break", was named The Sporting News National Player of the Year and swept the conference honors as well, being named both Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The Illini had three players earn consensus All-America honors in the same season for the first time ever. In addition to Brown earning consensus first-team All-America honors, Deron Williams and Luther Head were named consensus second-team All-Americans. Following the season, both Williams and Head were chosen in the first round of the NBA draft, with Head being drafted No. 24 overall by the Houston Rockets while Williams became the highest Illinois player ever drafted when he was chosen No. 3 overall by the Utah Jazz.

Team

Roster

Depth chart

Injuries Sophomore Brian Randle took a medical redshirt after punching a wall in frustration and breaking his hand during preseason practice.

Records + Season records Type of record Record Overall 37–2 Regular season 29–1 Conference 15–1 Non-conference 14–0 Home 15–0 Road 9–1 Neutral 5–0 Neutral (including tournaments) 13–1 Blowouts (10+ points) 31–0

Schedule

!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Exhibition

!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season

!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season

!colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|Big Ten tournament

!colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament

Rankings

Season Statistics Legend   GP  Games played   GS  Games started  Avg  Average per game   FG  Field-goals made  FGA  Field-goal attempts  Off  Offensive rebounds  Def  Defensive rebounds   A  Assists   TO Turnovers  Blk  Blocks  Stl  Steals  High  Team high

+ Statistics2004-05 Illinois Season Statistics , FightingIllini.com Minutes Scoring Total FGs 3-point FGs Free-Throws Rebounds Player GP GS Tot Avg Pts Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg A TO Blk Stl Head, Luther 39 39 1297 33.3 622 15.9 214 462 .463 116 283 .410 78 99 .788 24 131 155 4.0 150 69 9 67 Brown, Dee 39 39 1272 32.6 518 13.3 179 359 .499 99 228 .434 61 79 .772 21 83 104 2.7 177 73 3 70 Williams, Deron 39 39 1315 33.7 489 12.5 178 411 .433 68 187 .364 65 96 .677 14 128 142 3.6 264 109 8 38 Powell, Roger 39 39 979 25.1 467 12.0 175 319 .549 20 52 .385 97 133 .729 103 119 222 5.7 16 42 9 25 Augustine, James 39 39 1037 26.6 392 10.1 141 227 .621 0 0 .000 110 147 .748 100 195 295 7.6 43 46 46 36 Ingram, Jack 39 0 589 15.1 174 4.5 71 150 .473 9 23 .391 23 29 .793 51 56 107 2.7 17 15 20 26 Smith, Nick 38 0 413 10.9 127 3.3 54 133 .406 4 11 .364 15 23 .652 20 58 78 2.1 24 21 18 11 McBride, Rich 38 0 546 14.4 98 2.6 32 99 .323 27 87 .310 7 7 1.000 16 35 51 1.3 29 19 2 15 Carter, Warren 33 0 261 7.9 74 2.2 32 62 .516 1 6 .167 9 19 .474 19 39 58 1.8 5 14 6 9 Pruitt, Shaun 21 0 97 4.6 29 1.4 10 26 .385 0 0 .000 9 18 .500 10 9 19 0.9 0 10 1 3 Nkemdi, Fred 18 0 44 2.4 12 0.7 6 10 .600 0 0 .000 0 1 .000 4 2 6 0.3 2 6 1 0 Team 43 58 101 4 Total 39 7850 3002 77.0 1092 2258 .484 344 877 .392 474 651 .728 425 913 1338 34.3 727 428 123 300 Opponents 39 7850 2382 61.1 869 2094 .415 233 651 .358 411 618 .665 407 815 1222 31.3 482 580 99 196

Awards and honors James Augustine Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player Dee Brown Consensus All-American 1st team United States Basketball Writers Association 1st team All-American Sporting News National Player of the Year Big Ten Player of the Year Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Associated Press 2nd team All-American National Basketball Coaches Association 2nd team All-American Team Co-Most Valuable Player Luther Head Consensus All-American 2nd team Associated Press 2nd team All-American United States Basketball Writers Association 1st team All-American National Basketball Coaches Association 2nd team All-American NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team Team Co-Most Valuable Player Deron Williams Consensus All-American 2nd team National Basketball Coaches Association 2nd team All-American Sporting News 2nd team All-American Associated Press 3rd team All-American NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team NCAA Tournament Regional Most Outstanding Player Team Co-Most Valuable Player Bruce Weber National Coach of the Year Big Ten Coach of the Year

Team players drafted into the NBA YearPlayerNBA ClubRoundPick 2005 Deron Williams Utah Jazz 1 3 2005 Luther Head Houston Rockets 1 24 2006 James Augustine Orlando Magic 2 41 2006 Dee Brown Utah Jazz 2 46

References

External links Season statistics