1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball
KOA tournament champions
ConferencePacific Coast Athletic Association
Record17–10 (9–5 PCAA)
Head coach
Assistant coachBob Shermerhorn
Home arenaCrawford Hall
Seasons
1980–81 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Fresno State† 12 – 2   .857 25 – 4   .862
San Jose State 10 – 4   .714 21 – 9   .700
UC Irvine 9 – 5   .643 17 – 10   .630
Long Beach State 9 – 5   .643 15 – 13   .536
Utah State 5 – 9   .357 12 – 16   .429
UC Santa Barbara 5 – 9   .357 11 – 16   .407
Pacific 4 – 10   .286 14 – 13   .519
Cal State Fullerton 2 – 12   .143 4 – 23   .148
† 1981 PCAA tournament winner

The 1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by first year head coach Bill Mulligan and played their home games at the Crawford Hall. They were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished the season 17–10 and 9–5 in PCAA play.

Previous season

The 1979–80 Anteaters finished the season with a record of 9–18 and 1–13 in PCAA play. They anteaters were invited to the PCAA tournament where they lost in the first round against the Long Beach State 49ers. Coach Tim Tift announced his resignation as coach of the anteaters with 6 games remaining in the season.[1] Saddleback College coach Bill Mulligan was announced as the new coach on March 1.[2]

Off-season

Incoming transfers

Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Ray Donnelly F 6'6" N/A Jr. N/A Transfer from Arizona[3]
Kevin Fuller G 6'3" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Long Beach City College(CA)[4]
Leonard Johnson G 6'3" N/A Jr. N/A Transfer from Utah[4]
Kevin Magee F 6'8" N/A Jr. Gary, Indiana Junior college transfer from Saddleback College(CA)[3]
Grant Taylor F 6'8" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Cypress College(CA)[4]
Randy Whieldon G 6'4" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Saddleback College(CA)[4]
Jason Works G 5'10" N/A Jr. N/A Junior College transfer from Los Angeles City College[5]

1980 recruiting class

Source:[3]

College recruiting information (1980)
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Ben McDonald
F 		N/A Long Beach Poly (CA) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) N/A  
Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Curtis Crossley
F 		N/A Eastridge High School (IL) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) N/A  
Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Roster

1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F Don Barnes 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
—
 So
G Robbie Beal 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
—
 Jr
G Louis Bremond 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
—
 Jr
G Kevin Fuller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
—
 Jr
F Scott Hartman 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
—
 Jr
F Kevin Magee 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
—
 Jr Gary, Indiana
F Ben McDonald 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
—
 Fr Torrance, California
F Grant Taylor 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
—
 Jr
G Randy Whieldon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
—
 Jr
G Jason Works 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
—
 Jr
F Rainer Wulf 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
—
 Jr
Head coach

Bill Mulligan

Assistant coach(es)
  • Bob Shermerhorn
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: July 24, 2017

Schedule

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference Season
November 28, 1980*
 VMI W 125–96  1–0
 Crawford Hall (1,348)
Irvine, CA
December 6, 1980*
 at UNLV L 95–124  1–1
 Las Vegas Convention Center (6.380)
Winchester, NV
December 11, 1980*
 Chicago Circle W 98–61  2–1
 Crawford Hall (1,294)
Irvine, CA
December 13, 1980*
 at Stanford L 84–98  2–2
 Maples Pavilion (2,393)
Stanford, CA
December 15, 1980*
 Western Washington W 110–82  3–2
 Crawford Hall (831)
Irvine, CA
December 19, 1980*
 vs. San Francisco
Golden Gate Invitational 		L 83–93  3–3
 War Memorial Gymnasium (3,695)
San Francisco, CA
December 20, 1980*
 vs. Miami(OH)
Golden Gate Invitational 		L 99–109  3–4
 War Memorial Gymnasium (4,295)
San Francisco, CA
December 22, 1980*
 UMKC W 110–71  4–4
 Crawford Hall (924)
Irvine, CA
December 29, 1980*
 vs. No. 11 Texas A&M
KOA Classic 		W 91–74  5–4
 MetraPark Arena (5,625)
Billings, MT
December 30, 1980*
 vs. Montana
KOA Classic 		W 65–63 OT 6–4
 MetraPark Arena (4,673)
Billings, MT
January 3, 1981*
 Portland State W 90–64  7–4
 Crawford Hall (1,543)
Irvine, CA
January 10, 1981*
 San Diego W 108–62  8–4
 Crawford Hall (1,611)
Irvine, CA
Conference Season
January 15, 1981
 Cal State Fullerton W 99–84  9–4
(1–0) 		Crawford Hall (1,676)
Irvine, CA
January 17, 1981
 UC Santa Barbara W 65–56  10–4
(2–0) 		Crawford Hall (1,608)
Irvine, CA
January 22, 1981
 at Pacific W 88–72  11–4
(3–0) 		Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium (3,059)
Stockton, CA
January 24, 1981
 at Fresno State L 51–64  11–5
(3–1) 		Selland Arena (6,530)
Fresno, CA
January 29, 1981
 at Long Beach State L 59–70  11–6
(3–2) 		Long Beach Arena (6,147)
Long Beach, CA
January 31, 1981
 Long Beach State L 78–82  11–7
(3–3) 		Crawford Hall (1,719)
Irvine, CA
February 5, 1981
 San Jose State W 90–78  12–7
(4–3) 		Crawford Hall (1,421)
Irvine, CA
February 7, 1981
 Utah State W 117–110 2OT 13–7
(5–3) 		Crawford Hall (1,557)
Irvine, CA
February 12, 1981
 at Utah State W 101–99  14–7
(6–3) 		Smith Spectrum (6,477)
Logan, UT
February 14, 1981
 at San Jose State W 50–49  15–7
(7–3) 		Spartan Gym (2,412)
San Jose, CA
February 19, 1981
 Fresno State L 55–70  15–8
(7–4) 		Crawford Hall (1,663)
Irvine, CA
February 21, 1981
 Pacific W 90–82  16–8
(8–4) 		Crawford Hall (1,472)
Irvine, CA
February 26, 1981
 at UC Santa Barbara L 66–67  16–9
(8–5) 		UC Santa Barbara Events Center (2,274)
Santa Barbara, CA
February 28, 1981
 at Cal State Fullerton W 75–69  17–9
(9–5) 		Titan Gym (2,912)
Fullerton, CA
PCAA tournament
March 5, 1981
 vs. Utah State
Quarterfinals 		L 90–93  17–10
 Anaheim Convention Center (6,269)
Anaheim, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific Time.

Source[6] [7]

Awards and honors

  • Kevin Magee
    • AP First Team All-American[8]
    • PCAA Player of the Year [9]
    • PCAA First Team All-Conference [9]
  • Ben McDonald
    • PCAA Freshman of the Year [9]
    • PCAA All-Freshman Team [9]

References

  1. ^ Weyler, John (February 9, 1980). "UCI's Tim Tift Steps Down as Cage Coach: 13-Year Veteran at Irvine Cites 'the Best Interest of My Family' TIM TIFT QUITS". Los Angeles Times. Irvine, CA.
  2. ^ Weyler, John (February 9, 1980). "BILL MULLIGAN IS THE NEW COACH AT IRVINE--SO FAR: MULLIGAN NAMED IRVINE COACH". Los Angeles Times. Irvine, CA.
  3. ^ a b c Weyler, John (July 15, 1980). "Bill Mulligan Rates a '10' for His Recruiting". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA.
  4. ^ a b c d Weyler, John (April 15, 1980). "UCI's Mulligan on a Hot Streak". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA.
  5. ^ Weyler, John (June 19, 1980). "Mulligan's Still in the Hunt". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA.
  6. ^ "UC Irvine Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). UC Irvine Sports. UC Irvine Athletics. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  7. ^ "Final 1981 Cumulative Basketball Statistics Report" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  8. ^ "NCAA College Basketball AP All-American Teams". Basketball Reference. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d "Big West Conference men's basketball record book" (PDF). bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2017.