1980–81 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team


The 1980–81 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team represented the Oregon State University as a member of the Pacific 10 Conference during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by 11th-year head coach Ralph Miller and played their home games on campus at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon.

1980–81 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball
Pac-10 champions
ConferencePac-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record26–2 (17–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
MVPSteve Johnson
Home arenaGill Coliseum
Seasons
1980–81 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Oregon State 17 1   .944 26 2   .929
No. 3 Arizona State 16 2   .889 24 4   .857
No. 10 UCLA 13 5   .722 20 7   .741
USC 9 9   .500 14 13   .519
Washington 8 10   .444 14 13   .519
Arizona 8 10   .444 13 14   .481
Oregon 6 12   .333 13 14   .481
California 5 13   .278 13 14   .481
Stanford 5 13   .278 9 18   .333
Washington State 3 15   .167 10 17   .370
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

After winning their first 26 games of the season, Oregon State fell to No. 5 Arizona State in the regular season finale to finish at 26–1 (17–1 Pac-10), repeating as conference champion, and were ranked second in both polls. Despite dropping the regular season finale, they did not drop in the rankings, and were seeded No. 1 in the West region of the NCAA tournament.

The Beavers received an opening round bye, and were shocked by No. 8 seed Kansas State, 50–48,[2] at Pauley Pavilion. The Wildcats would reach the Elite Eight before falling to eventual runner-up North Carolina. Oregon State finished the season at 26–2.

Roster

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1980–81 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 32 Lester Conner 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Oakland, California
F 52 Charlie Sitton 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr McMinnville, Oregon
F/C 55 Steve Johnson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr San Bernardino, California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on
Source:[3]

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Nov 29, 1980*
No. 7 No. 18 Brigham Young W 75–68  1–0
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 4, 1980
No. 6 Cal State Northridge W 78–47  2–0
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 6, 1980*
No. 6 at Pepperdine W 82–76  3–0
Firestone Fieldhouse 
Malibu, California
Dec 8, 1980*
No. 5 at Portland State W 102–58  4–0
Peter W. Stott Center 
Portland, Oregon
Dec 13, 1980*
No. 5 Portland W 92–57  5–0
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 26, 1980*
No. 4 vs. Northwestern W 90–70  6–0
Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
Dec 27, 1980*
No. 4 vs. Rhode Island W 103–55  7–0
Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
Dec 28, 1980*
No. 4 vs. Oregon W 67–57  8–0
Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, Oregon
Jan 3, 1981
No. 2 at No. 13 Arizona State W 71–67  9–0
(1–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Tempe, Arizona
Jan 5, 1981
No. 2 at Arizona W 61–49  10–0
(2–0)
McKale Center 
Tucson, Arizona
Jan 9, 1981
No. 2 Stanford W 76–62  11–0
(3–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 10, 1981
No. 2 California W 80–53  12–0
(4–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 17, 1981
No. 1 Oregon W 82–55  13–0
(5–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 22, 1981
No. 1 at Washington State W 66–53  14–0
(6–0)
Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Jan 24, 1981
No. 1 at Washington W 97–91  15–0
(7–0)
Bank of America Arena 
Seattle, Washington
Jan 29, 1981
No. 1 No. 10 UCLA W 81–67  16–0
(8–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 31, 1981
No. 1 Southern California W 55–48  17–0
(9–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 6, 1981
No. 2 at California W 69–54  18–0
(10–0)
Harmon Gym 
Berkeley, California
Feb 7, 1981
No. 2 at Stanford W 62–57  19–0
(11–0)
Maples Pavilion 
Stanford, California
Feb 12, 1981
No. 2 at Oregon W 78–61  20–0
(12–0)
McArthur Court 
Eugene, Oregon
Feb 14, 1981*
No. 2 at St. John's W 57–45  21–0
Nassau Coliseum 
New York, New York
Feb 21, 1981
No. 2 Washington State W 81–53  22–0
(13–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 23, 1981
No. 2 Washington W 89–63  23–0
(14–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 27, 1981
No. 2 at USC W 73–64  24–0
(15–0)
L.A. Sports Arena 
Los Angeles, California
Mar 1, 1981
No. 2 at No. 13 UCLA W 82–76  25–0
(16–0)
Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, California
Mar 5, 1981
No. 2 Arizona W 80–62  26–0
(17–0)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 7, 1981*
No. 2 No. 5 Arizona State L 67–87  26–1
(17–1)
Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1981*
(1 W) No. 2 vs. (8 W) Kansas State
Second round
L 48–50[4]  26–2
Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, California
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
W=West.
All times are in Pacific.
Source:[5][6]

Rankings

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Awards and honors

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NBA draft

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Round Pick Player NBA Club
1 7 Steve Johnson Kansas City Kings

[7]

References

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  1. ^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  2. ^ "Kansas State Wins By 50-48". The New York Times. March 15, 1981. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  3. ^ "1980–81 Oregon State Beavers Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  4. ^ Layden, Tim (March 14, 2012). "March 14, 1981: When the NCAA tournament became Madness". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  5. ^ "2020-21 Oregon State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Oregon State University Athletics. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  6. ^ "1980–81 Oregon State Beavers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  7. ^ "1981 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved September 11, 2022.