1980-1981 UAB Blazers Men's Basketball team

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 Highlanders	96-56	Birmingham Coliseum
December 3	Butler Bulldogs	87-58	Birmingham Coliseum
December 6	Ole Miss Rebels	72-83	Oxford, MS
December 8	Texas-Arlington Mavericks	67-54	Birmingham Coliseum
December 11	Roosevelt Lakers	112-55	Birmingham Coliseum
December 13	Pittsburgh Panthers	70-58	Pittsburgh, PA
December 16	Missouri Western Golden Griffons	107-54	Birmingham Coliseum
December 19	Idaho State Bengals	68-55	Lexington, KY	UK Invitational
December 20	Kentucky Wildcats	53-61	Lexington, KY	UK Invitational
December 23	Iowa State Cyclones	70-71	Ames, IA
December 29	Rice Owls	78-60	Birmingham Coliseum	UAB Classic
December 30	Southern Miss Golden Eagles	60-55	Birmingham Coliseum	UAB Classic
January 3	Jacksonville Dolphins	73-55	Birmingham Coliseum
January 10	Virginia Commonwealth Rams	67-65	Birmingham Coliseum
January 17	South Florida Bulls	77-79	Tampa, FL
January 24	Jacksonville Dolphins	76-64	Jacksonville, FL
January 29	South Florida Bulls	70-53	Birmingham Coliseum
January 31	South Alabama Jaguars	73-70	Birmingham Coliseum	* Sun Belt Conference record crowd of 16,131.
February 2	Georgia State Panthers	85-67	Atlanta, GA
February 5	Georgia State Panthers	89-64	Birmingham Coliseum
February 7	DePaul Blue Demons	66-77	Rosemont, IL
February 12	North Carolina-Charlotte 49ers	73-57	Charlotte, NC
February 15	Virginia Commonwealth Rams	69-79	Richmond, VA
February 18	South Alabama Jaguars	57-77	Mobile, AL
February 22	North Carolina-Charlotte 49ers	80-64	Birmingham Coliseum
February 24	Samford Bulldogs	92-67	align=center|Birmingham Coliseum
February 27	North Carolina-Charlotte 49ers	80-64	Jacksonville, FL	Sun Belt Quarter-Finals
February 28	South Alabama Jaguars	86-59	Jacksonville, FL	Sun Belt Semi-Finals
March 1	Virginia Commonwealth Rams	61-62	Jacksonville, FL	Sun Belt Championship
March 13	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers	93-86	Tuscaloosa, AL	NCAA Mideast Regional - First Round
March 15	Kentucky Wildcats	69-62	Tuscaloosa, AL	NCAA Mideast Regional - Second Round
March 20	Indiana Hoosiers	72-87	Bloomington, IN	NCAA Mideast Regional Semi-Finals

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