1980–81 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team

1980–81 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball
1980–81 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball
Pac-10 champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Pac-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	26–2 (17–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Ralph Miller (11th season);
MVP	Steve Johnson
Home arena	Gill Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

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 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	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

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

Ralph Miller

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Source:^[3]

Schedule and results

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

Awards and honors

Steve Johnson – Consensus First-team All-American, Pac-10 Player of the Year

NBA draft

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

^[7]

References

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

[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.

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