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1980–81 BYU Cougars men's basketball team

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1980–81 BYU Cougars men's basketball
NCAA Tournament 3-Seed, Elite Eight
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 16
Record25–7 (12–4 WAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMarriott Center
Seasons
1981–82 →
1980–81 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 14 Utah 13 3   .813 25 5   .833
No. 17 Wyoming 13 3   .813 24 6   .800
No. 16 BYU 12 4   .750 25 7   .781
UTEP 9 7   .563 18 12   .600
San Diego State 8 8   .500 15 12   .556
Hawaii 7 9   .438 14 13   .519
New Mexico 6 10   .375 11 15   .423
Air Force 3 13   .188 9 18   .333
Colorado State 1 15   .063 3 24   .111
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1980–81 BYU Cougars men's basketball team represented Brigham Young University in the 1980–81 college basketball season. This was head coach Frank Arnold's sixth season at BYU. The Cougars played their home games at the Marriott Center and reached the Elite Eight, where they fell to Virginia.[2]

Personnel

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1980–81 BYU Cougars men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 22 Danny Ainge 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Sr Eugene, Oregon
G 24 Greg Baliff 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Provo, Utah
F 31 John Batholomew 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Raleigh, North Carolina
G 25 Dave Challis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Walnut Creek, California
G 21 Craig Christensen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Salt Lake City, Utah
G 23 Steve Craig 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Los Angeles, California
F 42 Gary Furniss 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Driggs, Idaho
C 50 Greg Kite 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Houston, TX
G 21 Mike Maxwell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Salt Lake City, Utah
C 52 Dave McGuire 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr West Covina, California
F 32 Keith Rice 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Portland, Oregon
F 34 Fred Roberts 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Riverton, Utah
F 33 Timo Saarelainen 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Helsinki, Finland
F 44 Steve Trumbo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 223 lb (101 kg) Jr Las Vegas, Nevada
G 23 Richie Webb 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Idaho Falls, Idaho
Head coach

Frank Arnold

Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: 2022-Oct-17

Schedule

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1980*
No. 18 at Washington W 80–70  1–0
Hec Edmundson Pavilion (8,059)
Seattle, Washington
Nov 29, 1980*
No. 18 at No. 7 Oregon State L 68–75  1–1
Gill Coliseum (10,000)
Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 6, 1980*
No. 19 at Utah State W 82–79  2–1
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,291)
Logan, Utah
Dec 12, 1980*
No. 19 North Texas W 108–92  3–1
Marriott Center (21,758)
Provo, Utah
Dec 13, 1980*
No. 19 Saint Mary's W 95–76  4–1
Marriott Center (21,583)
Provo, Utah
Dec 16, 1980*
No. 18 Michigan State W 82–50  5–1
Marriott Center (20,703)
Provo, Utah
Dec 19, 1980*
No. 18 vs. No. 17 Illinois W 80–75  6–1
Stokely Athletic Center (11,905)
Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 20, 1980*
No. 18 at Tennessee L 65–81  6–2
Stokely Athletic Center (12,700)
Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 23, 1980*
No. 20 at Weber State W 85–78  7–2
Dee Events Center (10,118)
Ogden, Utah
Dec 27, 1980*
No. 20 Utah State W 104–89  8–2
Marriott Center (23,037)
Provo, Utah
Jan 2, 1981
No. 19 at Air Force W 77–65  9–2
(1–0)
Clune Arena (5,600)
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Jan 3, 1981*
No. 19 at UNLV W 92–90  10–2
Las Vegas Convention Center (6,393)
Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 8, 1981
No. 17 San Diego State W 84–73  11–2
(2–0)
Marriott Center (22,718)
Provo, Utah
Jan 10, 1981
No. 17 Hawaii W 91–74  12–2
(3–0)
Marriott Center (22,873)
Provo, Utah
Jan 15, 1981
No. 15 at New Mexico W 92–87  13–2
(4–0)
University Arena (16,416)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 17, 1981
No. 15 at UTEP L 62–64  13–3
(4–1)
Special Events Center (9,825)
El Paso, Texas
Jan 23, 1981
No. 18 Colorado State W 66–46  14–3
(5–1)
Marriott Center (22,697)
Provo, Utah
Jan 24, 1981
No. 18 Wyoming W 84–70  15–3
(6–1)
Marriott Center (22,983)
Provo, Utah
Jan 31, 1981
No. 15 at No. 9 Utah L 56–60  15–4
(6–2)
Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,281)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 6, 1981
No. 16 UNLV W 86–77  16–4
Marriott Center (22,841)
Provo, Utah
Feb 7, 1981
No. 16 Air Force W 62–51  17–4
(7–2)
Marriott Center (22,724)
Provo, Utah
Feb 12, 1981
No. 15 at Hawaii W 77–72  18–4
(8–2)
Neal S. Blaisdell Center (3,948)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Feb 14, 1981
No. 15 at San Diego State L 72–73  18–5
(8–3)
San Diego Sports Arena (6,883)
San Diego, California
Feb 19, 1981
No. 17 UTEP W 84–75  19–5
(9–3)
Marriott Center (22,373)
Provo, Utah
Feb 21, 1981
No. 17 New Mexico W 78–72  20–5
(10–3)
Marriott Center (22,184)
Provo, Utah
Feb 26, 1981
No. 15 at Wyoming L 84–86  20–6
(10–4)
War Memorial Fieldhouse (9,300)
Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 28, 1981
No. 15 at Colorado State W 80–69  21–6
(11–4)
Moby Arena (5,107)
Fort Collins, Colorado
Mar 7, 1981
No. 18 No. 9 Utah W 95–76  22–6
(12–4)
Marriott Center (23,106)
Provo, Utah
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1981*
(6 E) No. 16 vs. (11 E) Princeton
First round
W 60–51  23–6
Providence Civic Center (8,273)
Providence, Rhode Island
Mar 14, 1981*
(6 E) No. 16 vs. (3 E) No. 10 UCLA
Second Round
W 78–55[3]  24–6
Providence Civic Center (12,823)
Providence, Rhode Island
Mar 19, 1981*
(6 E) No. 16 vs. (2 E) No. 7 Notre Dame
East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen
W 51–50[4]  25–6
Omni Coliseum (15,461)
Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 21, 1981*
(6 E) No. 16 vs. (1 E) No. 5 Virginia
East Regional final – Elite Eight
L 60–74[5]  25–7
Omni Coliseum (15,461)
Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East.

[6]

Rankings

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[7]

Season summary

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Awards and honors

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NBA draft

[edit]
Round Pick Player NBA Club
2 31 Danny Ainge Boston Celtics
Source:[8]

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ Call, Jeff (February 3, 2002). "Ainge, 'underachieving' 1981 Cougs honored". Deseret News.
  3. ^ "B.Y.U. Gains in East, As Does Notre Dame". The New York Times. March 15, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "B.Y.U. Defeats Irish, 51-50; North Carolina Ousts Utah". The New York Times. March 20, 1981. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  5. ^ "Virginia and North Carolina Reach N.C.A.A Final Four". The New York Times. March 22, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "1980-81 BYU Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.
  7. ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 877–878. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  8. ^ "1981 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.