1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball team
American college basketball season
1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The Bears, led by head coach Bill Bibb, played their home games at Hawkins Arena on the university's Macon, Georgia , campus and were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference . They finished the season 18–12, 7–4 in TAAC play to finish third in the regular season standings. They won the TAAC tournament to earn the conferences automatic bid to the NCAA tournament . In the NCAA Tournament, they were beaten by No. 5 seed Arkansas in the opening round.
Roster
1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Hometown
F
Tony Gattis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
So
Head coach Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible(W) Walk-on
Schedule and results
Date
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance)
Regular season
Nov 29, 1980 *
St. Leo W 93–65 1–0
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Dec 2, 1980 *
at No. 10 North Carolina
L 74–89 1–1
Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Dec 6, 1980 *
at Arkansas State
L 52–67 1–2
Indian Field House Jonesboro, Arkansas
Dec 10, 1980 *
Ole Miss L 58–70 1–3
Hawkins Arena (3,145)Macon, Georgia
Dec 13, 1980 *
Columbus State W 56–54 2–3
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Dec 15, 1980 *
at Georgia State
W 64–61 3–3
GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia
Dec 29, 1980 *
vs. Southeastern Louisiana
W 74–67 4–3
Maclellan Gymnasium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Dec 30, 1980 *
at Chattanooga
L 58–60 OT
4–4
Maclellan Gymnasium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Jan 5, 1981 *
UNC Greensboro W 88–65 5–4
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Jan 8, 1981
Centenary L 72–77 5–5
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Jan 10, 1981
Arkansas–Little Rock W 71–57 6–5
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Jan 13, 1981 *
at Tulane
L 57–67 6–6
Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 17, 1981 *
Georgia State W 84–69 7–6
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Jan 20, 1981
at Arkansas–Little Rock
L 58–68 7–7
Barton Coliseum Little Rock, Arkansas
Jan 24, 1981
at Samford
W 90–79 8–7
Seibert Hall Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 28, 1981 *
Arkansas State W 91–69 9–7
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Jan 31, 1981 *
Stetson L 62–63 OT
9–8
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Feb 5, 1981 *
Charleston Southern W 74–64 10–8
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Feb 7, 1981
Georgia Southern W 105–70 11–8
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Feb 12, 1981 *
at Stetson
L 71–76 11–9
Edmunds Center DeLand, Florida
Feb 14, 1981
at Georgia Southern
W 60–58 OT
12–9
Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia
Feb 16, 1981
Samford L 60–61 12–10
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Feb 19, 1981
Northwestern State W 94–66 13–10
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Feb 21, 1981
Hardin-Simmons W 93–78 14–10
Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia
Feb 26, 1981
at Northeast Louisiana
W 75–66 15–10
Fant–Ewing Coliseum Monroe, Louisiana
Feb 28, 1981
at Houston Baptist
L 67–69 15–11
Sharp Gymnasium Houston, Texas
TAAC tournament
Mar 5, 1981 *
vs. Arkansas–Little Rock Quarterfinals W 78–69 16–11
Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, Louisiana
Mar 6, 1981 *
vs. Northeast Louisiana Semifinals W 59–55 17–11
Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, Louisiana
Mar 8, 1981 *
vs. Houston Baptist Championship game W 72–67 18–11
Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, Louisiana
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1981 *(12 MW)
vs. (5 MW) No. 20 Arkansas First round L 67–73 18–12
Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll , (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed within region MW=Midwest. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Eastern Time .
[ 1]
References
