unlike the previous season, the 1950–51 campaign was the best of sunderlage's time at illinois. a 13 win conference season marked only the second time since 1942 that the fighting illini men's basketball team had completed that feat. head coach harry combes had guided his team to a big ten championship, a third-place finish in the 1951 ncaa men's division i basketball tournament and a final ap ranking of no. 5 in the nation. the 1950-51 team compiled an overall record of 22 wins and 5 losses with a conference record of 13 wins and 1 loss. during the tournament, illinois beat columbia, 79-71, and north carolina state, 84-70, to get to the national semifinals and a rematch with the kentucky wildcats, which had downed the illini in the national semifinals in 1949. in a heart-breaking loss, kentucky nipped illinois, 76-74. the illini collected third place nationally by beating oklahoma a&m, 61-46, in minneapolis. along with sunderlage, the team included and ted beach, rodney fletcher, irving bemoras, robert peterson and mack follmer.