1980–81 BYU Cougars men's basketball team

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]

1980–81 BYU Cougars men's basketball
NCAA Tournament 3-Seed, Elite Eight
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 16
Record257 (124 WAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMarriott Center
1980–81 WAC men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 14 Utah133 .813255  .833
No. 17 Wyoming133 .813246  .800
No. 16 BYU124 .750257  .781
UTEP97 .5631812  .600
San Diego State88 .5001512  .556
Hawaii79 .4381413  .519
New Mexico610 .3751115  .423
Air Force313 .188918  .333
Colorado State115 .063324  .111
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Personnel

1980–81 BYU Cougars men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
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

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 
Seattle, Washington
Nov 29, 1980*
No. 18 at No. 7 Oregon State L 68–75  1–1
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 6, 1980*
No. 19 at Utah State W 82–79  2–1
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 
Logan, Utah
Dec 12, 1980*
No. 19 North Texas W 108–92  3–1
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Dec 13, 1980*
No. 19 Saint Mary's W 95–76  4–1
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Dec 16, 1980*
No. 18 Michigan State W 82–50  5–1
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Dec 19, 1980*
No. 18 vs. No. 17 Illinois W 80–75  6–1
Stokely Athletic Center 
Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 20, 1980*
No. 18 at Tennessee L 65–81  6–2
Stokely Athletic Center 
Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 23, 1980*
No. 20 at Weber State W 85–78  7–2
Dee Events Center 
Ogden, Utah
Dec 27, 1980*
No. 20 Utah State W 104–89  8–2
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Jan 2, 1981
No. 19 at Air Force W 77–65  9–2
(1–0)
Clune Arena 
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Jan 3, 1981*
No. 19 at UNLV W 92–90  10–2
Las Vegas Convention Center 
Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 8, 1981
No. 17 San Diego State W 84–73  11–2
(2–0)
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Jan 10, 1981
No. 17 Hawaii W 91–74  12–2
(3–0)
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Jan 15, 1981
No. 15 at New Mexico W 92–87  13–2
(4–0)
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 17, 1981
No. 15 at UTEP L 62–64  13–3
(4–1)
Special Events Center 
El Paso, Texas
Jan 23, 1981
No. 18 Colorado State W 66–46  14–3
(5–1)
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Jan 24, 1981
No. 18 Wyoming W 84–70  15–3
(6–1)
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Jan 31, 1981
No. 15 at No. 9 Utah L 56–60  15–4
(6–2)
Jon M. Huntsman Center 
Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 6, 1981
No. 16 UNLV W 86–77  16–4
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Feb 7, 1981
No. 16 Air Force W 62–51  17–4
(7–2)
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Feb 12, 1981
No. 15 at Hawaii W 77–72  18–4
(8–2)
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, Hawaii
Feb 14, 1981
No. 15 at San Diego State L 72–73  18–5
(8–3)
San Diego Sports Arena 
San Diego, California
Feb 19, 1981
No. 17 UTEP W 84–75  19–5
(9–3)
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Feb 21, 1981
No. 17 New Mexico W 78–72  20–5
(10–3)
Marriott Center 
Provo, Utah
Feb 26, 1981
No. 15 at Wyoming L 84–86  20–6
(10–4)
War Memorial Fieldhouse 
Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 28, 1981
No. 15 at Colorado State W 80–69  21–6
(11–4)
Moby Arena 
Fort Collins, Colorado
Mar 7, 1981
No. 18 No. 9 Utah W 95–76  22–6
(12–4)
Marriott Center 
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 
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 
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 
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 
Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East.

Rankings

[6]

Season summary


Awards and honors

NBA draft

Round Pick Player NBA Club
231Danny AingeBoston Celtics
Source:[7]

References

  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. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 877–878. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  7. "1981 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
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