1980-1981 UAB Blazers Men's Basketball team: Difference between revisions
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| [[December 16]] ||align=center|Missouri Western ||align=center|107-54 ||align=center|[[Legacy Arena|Birmingham Coliseum]] || | | [[December 16]] ||align=center|Missouri Western ||align=center|107-54 ||align=center|[[Legacy Arena|Birmingham Coliseum]] || | ||
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| [[December 19]] ||align=center|vs. Idaho State ||align=center|68-55 ||align=center|Lexington, KY || UK Invitational | | [[December 19]] ||align=center|vs. Idaho State ||align=center|68-55 ||align=center|Lexington, KY || align=center|UK Invitational | ||
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| [[December 20]] ||align=center|at #2 Kentucky ||align=center|53-61 ||align=center|Lexington, KY ||UK Invitational | | [[December 20]] ||align=center|at #2 Kentucky ||align=center|53-61 ||align=center|Lexington, KY ||align=center|UK Invitational | ||
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| [[December 23]] ||align=center|at Iowa State ||align=center|70-71 ||align=center|Ames, IA || | | [[December 23]] ||align=center|at Iowa State ||align=center|70-71 ||align=center|Ames, IA || |
Revision as of 11:17, 11 April 2021
The 1980-1981 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented UAB as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1980-81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.
The Blazers were coached by Gene Bartow and played their home games at BJCC Coliseum in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
The Blazers finished the regular season with a 19-7 overall and finished in a three way tie for 1st place in the Sun Belt with a 9-3 in conference play. At the conference tournament in Jacksonville, Florida 3rd seeded UAB defeated 6th seed UNCC (80-64) & 2nd seed South Alabama (86-59) to advance to the Championship against top seed VCU for the second year in a row. In a thrilling game, the once again fell to the Rams (61-62).
UAB was awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, receiving the 7th seed in the Mideast Region. The Blazers first two ever NCAA games took place at Memorial Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, AL. In the first round, UAB was matched up with 10 seed Western Kentucky. The Blazers cruised by the Hilltoppers 93-68 to setup a rematch with 2 seed Kentucky, who had defeated UAB 61-53 in a December game played in Lexington, KY. The Blazers exacted revenge for the regular season loss, defeating the Wildcats 69-62. The victory propelled UAB to its first Sweet Sixteen, an amazing accomplishment for a third year program.
The Mideast Regional was played in Bloomington, Indiana. UAB squared off with the host and 3rd seed Indiana Hoosiers in the regional semi-finals. The Hoosiers and the highly partisan crowd proved too much to overcome and the Blazers season ended with a hard fought 87-72 loss to the eventual national champions. After the game, Indiana Coach Bob Knight praised the Blazers in an interview with Sports Illustrated: "Those UAB kids will have my undying respect for how hard they played the game."
The Blazers Sweet Sixteen appearance and its final 23-9 record put UAB basketball on the national basketball map.
Schedule/Results
Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
November 29 | MacMurray | 96-56 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
December 3 | Butler | 87-58 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
December 6 | at Mississippi | 72-83 | Oxford, MS | |
December 8 | Texas-Arlington | 67-54 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
December 11 | Roosevelt | 112-55 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
December 13 | at Pittsburgh | 70-58 | Pittsburgh, PA | |
December 16 | Missouri Western | 107-54 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
December 19 | vs. Idaho State | 68-55 | Lexington, KY | UK Invitational |
December 20 | at #2 Kentucky | 53-61 | Lexington, KY | UK Invitational |
December 23 | at Iowa State | 70-71 | Ames, IA | |
December 29 | Rice | 78-60 | Birmingham Coliseum | UAB Classic |
December 30 | Southern Mississippi | 60-55 | Birmingham Coliseum | UAB Classic |
January 3 | Jacksonville | 73-55 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
January 10 | Virginia Commonwealth | 67-65 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
January 17 | at South Florida | 77-79 | Tampa, FL | |
January 24 | at Jacksonville | 76-64 | Jacksonville, FL | |
January 29 | South Florida | 70-53 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
January 31 | #16 South Alabama | 73-70 | Birmingham Coliseum | * Sun Belt Conference record crowd of 16,131. |
February 2 | at Georgia State | 85-67 | Atlanta, GA | |
February 5 | Georgia State | 89-64 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
February 7 | at #3 DePaul | 66-77 | Rosemont, IL | |
February 12 | at North Carolina-Charlotte | 73-57 | Charlotte, NC | |
February 15 | at Virginia Commonwealth | 69-79 | Richmond, VA | |
February 18 | at South Alabama | 57-77 | Mobile, AL | |
February 22 | North Carolina-Charlotte | 80-64 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
February 24 | Samford | 92-67 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
February 27 | vs. North Carolina-Charlotte | 80-64 | Jacksonville, FL | Sun Belt Quarter-Finals |
February 28 | vs. South Alabama | 86-59 | Jacksonville, FL | Sun Belt Semi-Finals |
March 1 | vs. Virginia Commonwealth | 61-62 | Jacksonville, FL | Sun Belt Championship |
March 13 | vs. Western Kentucky | 93-86 | Tuscaloosa, AL | NCAA Mideast Regional - First Round |
March 15 | vs. #7 Kentucky | 69-62 | Tuscaloosa, AL | NCAA Mideast Regional - Second Round |
March 20 | at #14 Indiana | 72-87 | Bloomington, IN | NCAA Mideast Regional Semi-Finals |
*Rankings - Associated Press |
Coaching Staff
Name | Position | Seasons at UAB |
---|---|---|
Gene Bartow | Head coach | 3rd |
Lee Hunt | Associate coach | 3rd |
Oscar Catlin | Assistant coach | 2nd |
Robert Corn | Graduate Assistant coach | 2nd |
Players/Stats
# | Player | Games | Field Goals | FG% | Free Throws | FT% | Rebounds | Assists | Turnovers | Blocks | Steals | Points | Pts/G |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | Oliver Robinson | 32 | 200-418 | .478 | 109-140 | .779 | 126 | 105 | 58 | 18 | 58 | 509 | 15.9 |
40 | Chris Giles | 32 | 154-316 | .487 | 65-92 | .707 | 250 | 63 | 43 | 10 | 28 | 373 | 11.7 |
52 | Donnie Speer | 32 | 129-255 | .506 | 46-69 | .667 | 160 | 2 | 41 | 36 | 25 | 304 | 9.5 |
44 | Craig Lane | 32 | 112-213 | .526 | 64-119 | .538 | 134 | 14 | 55 | 1 | 32 | 288 | 9.0 |
34 | Glenn Marcus | 32 | 97-186 | .522 | 78-107 | .729 | 63 | 131 | 64 | 2 | 61 | 272 | 8.5 |
14 | Jonath Nicholas | 32 | 69-132 | .523 | 80-98 | .816 | 36 | 72 | 40 | 2 | 32 | 218 | 6.8 |
55 | Norman Anchrum | 30 | 75-159 | .472 | 42-59 | .712 | 131 | 10 | 38 | 51 | 10 | 189 | 6.3 |
33 | Leon Morris | 31 | 44-91 | .484 | 34-49 | .694 | 92 | 28 | 28 | 5 | 26 | 122 | 3.9 |
21 | Scott Simcik | 14 | 7-17 | .412 | 14-19 | .737 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2.0 |
15 | Luellen Foster | 15 | 10-22 | .455 | 11-15 | .733 | 18 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 2.0 |
32 | Tim Almquist | 24 | 19-38 | .500 | 2-10 | .200 | 35 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 40 | 1.7 |
11 | Murry Bartow | 11 | 1-3 | .333 | 3-6 | .500 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.5 |
12 | Bill McCammon | 13 | 11-25 | .440 | 0-4 | .2000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 1.7 |
45 | Tim Richards | 12 | 7-15 | .467 | 8-12 | .667 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 1.8 |
— | Others | 12 | 10-32 | .313 | 1-2 | .500 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 2.0 |
Team | Totals | 32 | 947-1932 | .490 | 560-808 | .693 | 1162 | 456 | 405 | 133 | 260 | 2454 | 76.7 |
External links
Preceded by: 1979-1980 |
UAB Men’s Basketball Teams 1980–1981 |
Succeeded by: 1981-1982 |