Northern Illinois' 1981-82 men's basketball ventured into unchartered territory by capturing the school's first major post-season conference tournament title and the school's initial berth in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships. Mentored by John McDougal, the team survived a rigorous non-league schedule beating Big Ten rival Northwestern (77-70) and Notre Dame (70-65) -- and hit their stride in the MAC Men's Basketball Championship. The Huskies rallied to nip Ohio (70-68) in OT, and then outlasted Bowling Green State (67-66), and Ball State (79-75) in OT in the title game at Michigan's Crisler Arena to win the automatic bid. Matched against Big Eight runner-up Kansas State in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Dallas, Texas, NIU scored first, stayed close, and eventually succumbed (77-68). Allen Rayhorn (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Leonard Hayes (18 points) led the way.
Although the Huskies finished 16-14 overall, no Northern Illinois squad has ultimately featured four NBA draft picks -- Rayhorn (Seattle Supersonics), Tim Dillon (Chicago Bulls), Keith Gray (Washington Bullets), and Jon Collins (Denver Nuggets). The 1981-82 roster included two of the program's all-time career scorers (Rayhoorn with 1,848 points and Dillon with 1,559), two All-Americas (Rayhorn & Dillon), one Academic All-America (Dillon), and three individual NIU Athletics HOF inductees (McDougal, Rayhorn, and Dillon).
The letterwinners: Carl Armato (Rockford, Ill./Boylan), Jon Collins (East St. Louis, Ill./Cahokia), Tim Dillon (Franklin Grove, Ill./Franklin Center), Keith Gray (Flint, Mich./Central), Terry Green (Lockport, Ill./Lockport), Co-Capt. Leonard Hayes (Atlantic City, N.J.), Bruce Johnson (Aurora, Ill./West), manager Glen Krupica (Franklin Park, Ill./East Leyden), Ron Lindfors (Bensenville, Ill./Franklin Park East Leyden), Mike Padden (Geneva, Ill./Geneva), co-captain Allen Rayhorn (Rock City, Ill./Dakota), and manager Tom Tortorello (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect).
