1979–80 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

1979–80 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball
1979–80 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	15–14 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bill Cofield (4th season);
Home arena	UW Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

The 1979–80 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Bill Cofield, coaching his fourth season with the Badgers. The team played their home games at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison, Wisconsin and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.

1979–80 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Indiana	13	–	5	.722	21	–	8	.724
No. 10 Ohio State	12	–	6	.667	21	–	8	.724
No. 20 Purdue	11	–	7	.611	23	–	10	.697
Iowa	10	–	8	.556	23	–	10	.697
Minnesota	10	–	8	.556	21	–	11	.656
Illinois	8	–	10	.444	22	–	13	.629
Michigan	8	–	10	.444	17	–	13	.567
Wisconsin	7	–	11	.389	15	–	14	.517
Michigan State	6	–	12	.333	12	–	15	.444
Northwestern	5	–	13	.278	10	–	17	.370

Rankings from AP Poll

Guard Wes Matthews was the team's leading scorer with 549 points in 28 games. Other statistical leaders included forward Joe Chrnelich with 209 rebounds and Danny Hastings with 72 assists.^[1]

Late in the season, coach Cofield suspended Matthews for arguing with a coach, a decision that was believed to have cost the Badgers an invitation to play in the National Invitation Tournament. Cofield said of his decision: "The young man had to be taught a lesson. While we may have had a shot at postseason play, the basketball program at Wisconsin is more important than whether we win or lose a game."^[2]

Roster

1979–80 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	50	Joe Chrnelich	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
G	10	Arnold Gaines	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Baltimore, Maryland
F	35	Claude Gregory	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Washington, D. C.
G	21	Dan Hastings	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Drexel Hill, PA
G	14	Steve Jacobson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Pardeeville, Wisconsin
G	32	Robert Jenkins	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	Sr	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
F	30	Mike Kreklow	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Neenah, Wisconsin
G	11	Wes Matthews	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Bridgeport, Connecticut
C	44	Mark Newberg	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	La Crosse, Wisconsin

Head coach

Bill Cofield

Assistant coach(es)

Bo Ryan

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
November 30*	Oklahoma City	W 99–92	1–0	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
December 1*	East Tennessee State	W 68–56	2–0	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
December 5* ESPN	at DePaul	L 77–90	2–1	Alumni Hall Chicago, IL
December 8*	Alabama	L 62–66	2–2	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
December 12*	Eastern Michigan	W 69–57	3–2	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
December 15*	at Marquette	W 57–56	4–2	MECCA Arena Milwaukee, WI
December 22*	Cleveland State	W 103–78	5–2	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
December 23*	Morgan State	W 94–42	6–2	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
December 27*	vs. Nebraska	L 82–83	6–3	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
December 28*	vs. Nevada	W 86–61	7–3	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
December 28*	vs. Army	W 78–54	8–3	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
January 3	Northwestern	W 75–66	9–3 (1–0)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
January 5	Indiana	W 52–50	10–3 (2–0)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
January 10	at Minnesota	L 76–82	10–4 (2–1)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 12	at Iowa	L 65–66	10–5 (2–2)	Iowa Field House Iowa City, Iowa
January 15	at Michigan State	L 61–62	10–6 (2–3)	Jenison Field House East Lansing, MI
January 19	Illinois	L 64–69	10–7 (2–4)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
January 24	Purdue	L 60–73^[3]	10–8 (2–5)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
January 26	No. 4 Ohio State	W 72–71^[4]	11–8 (3–5)	St. John Arena Columbus, OH
January 31	Michigan	L 69–73	11–9 (3–6)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
February 2	Ohio State	W 70–67^[5]	12–9 (4–6)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
February 7	at Illinois	L 50–67	12–10 (4–7)	Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
February 9	at Michigan	L 59–68	12–11 (4–8)	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI
February 14	Michigan State	W 80–66	13–11 (5–8)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
February 16	at Purdue	L 61–69^[6]	13–12 (5–9)	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana
February 21	Iowa	W 62–58	14–12 (6–9)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
February 23	Minnesota	W 70–55	15–12 (7–9)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
February 28	at Indiana	L 52–61	15–13 (7–10)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
March 1	at Northwestern	L 50–53	15–14 (7–11)	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[7]^[8]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	14	Wes Matthews	Washington Bullets
4	82	Joe Chrnelich	New York Knicks

References

^ "1979-80 Wisconsin Badgers Roster and Stats". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
^ "Absence of two starting guards may have cost Badgers NIT berth". Wausau Daily Herald. March 3, 1980. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Purdue outlasts Wisconsin, deceitful Badger fans". News-Journal. January 25, 1980. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Wisconsin badgers Bucks". The Daily Sentinel. January 27, 1980. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Badgers again baffle Buckeyes, 70-67". The Des Moines Register. February 3, 1980. p. 3D – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Boilers save the day on clutch free throws". Journal and Courier. February 17, 1980. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1979–80 Wisconsin Badgers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ "Wisconsin Record Book" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2019.

[1] "1979-80 Wisconsin Badgers Roster and Stats". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 31, 2019.

[2] "Absence of two starting guards may have cost Badgers NIT berth". Wausau Daily Herald. March 3, 1980. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "Purdue outlasts Wisconsin, deceitful Badger fans". News-Journal. January 25, 1980. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Wisconsin badgers Bucks". The Daily Sentinel. January 27, 1980. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Badgers again baffle Buckeyes, 70-67". The Des Moines Register. February 3, 1980. p. 3D – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Boilers save the day on clutch free throws". Journal and Courier. February 17, 1980. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "1979–80 Wisconsin Badgers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

[8] "Wisconsin Record Book" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2019.

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