1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
OVC Tournament Champion; Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	21–8 (12–2 OVC)
Head coach	Clem Haskins;
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Western Kentucky †	12	–	2	.857	21	–	8	.724
Murray State	10	–	4	.714	17	–	10	.630
Middle Tennessee	9	–	5	.643	18	–	9	.667
Austin Peay	7	–	7	.500	14	–	13	.519
Eastern Kentucky	7	–	7	.500	10	–	16	.385
Akron	5	–	9	.357	8	–	18	.308
Morehead State	4	–	10	.286	11	–	15	.423
Tennessee Tech	2	–	12	.143	6	–	20	.231

† 1981 OVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were members of the Ohio Valley Conference and led by OVC Coach of the Year Clem Haskins, in his first season as head coach.^[1] WKU won the OVC regular season and tournament championships and received the conference's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.^[2] Craig McCormick and Tony Wilson made the All-OVC Team, and Wilson and Percy White were selected to the OVC Tournament Team.^[3]

Cultural relevance

Haskins broke the color barrier this season at Western Kentucky, becoming the first African American head coach in school history. This came 16 years after he, and Dwight Smith, became the first African Americans to play Hilltopper basketball.^[4]

Schedule

^[5]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/28/1980*		South Carolina Wendy’s Classic	W 73–69	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
11/29/1980*		Vanderbilt Wendy’s Classic	L 76–78	1–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/1/1980*		Alabama–Huntsville	W 83–73	2–1	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/4/1980*		at Texas Tech	L 58–68	2–2	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX
12/6/1980*		at Rice	W 76–63	3–2	Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX
12/9/1980*		at Dayton	L 70–74	3–3	UD Arena Dayton, OH
12/13/1980*		Evansville	L 70–73	4–3	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/29/1980*		vs. Saint Louis Connecticut Mutual Classic	W 57–54	5–3	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
12/30/1980		at Connecticut Connecticut Mutual Classic	L 58–84	5–4	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
1/3/1981*		District of Columbia	W 86–84 ^3OT	6–4	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/5/1981		at Akron	W 68–62	7–4 (1-0)	James A. Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
1/10/1981		at Tennessee Tech	W 65–51	8–4 (2-0)	Eblen Center Cookeville, TN
1/15/1981		at Murray State	L 57–59 ^OT	8–5 (2-1)	Racer Arena Murray, KY
1/17/1981		Austin Peay	W 70–58	9–5 (3-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/22/1981		Middle Tennessee	W 67–55	10–5 (4-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/24/1981		Morehead State	W 75–68	11–5 (5-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/29/1981		at Eastern Kentucky	W 84–80	12–5 (6-1)	Alumni Coliseum Richmond, KY
1/31/1981		at Morehead State	W 77–65	13–5 (7-1)	Ellis Johnson Arena Morehead, KY
2/5/1981		Akron	W 83–61	14–5 (8-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/7/1981		Tennessee Tech	W 72–59	15–5 (9-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/12/1981		at Austin Peay	W 62–59	16–5 (10-1)	Dunn Center Clarksville, TN
2/14/1981		Murray State	W 66–44	17–5 (11-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/19/1981		at Middle Tennessee	L 54–62	17–6 (11-2)	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
2/21/1981		Eastern Kentucky	W 78–62	18–6 (12-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/27/1982*		Northern Iowa	W 69–64	19–6	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/28/1981*		at No. 20 Louisville	L 75–90	19–7	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
1981 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
3/6/1981	(1)	(4) Austin Peay Semifinals	W 82–71	20–7	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
3/7/1981	(1)	(2) Murray State Championship	W 71–67	21–7	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament
3/13/1981*	(10 ME)	vs. (7 ME) UAB First Round	L 68–93	21–8	Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

^ Clem Haskins 1996 USA Men's Olympic Team Assistant Coach, Washington Post online, retrieved 5 May 2020
^ 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
^ 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
^ Lowell H. Harrison (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.
^ 1980-81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 4 May 2020

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[1] Clem Haskins 1996 USA Men's Olympic Team Assistant Coach, Washington Post online, retrieved 5 May 2020

[2] 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020

[3] 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[Harrison-4] Lowell H. Harrison (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.

[5] 1980-81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 4 May 2020

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[4]

[5]

v t e Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Venues	Red Barn (1920–1931) Health & Physical Education Building (1931–1963) E. A. Diddle Arena (1963–present)
Culture & lore	Big Red
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1914–15 1915–16 1916–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball

OVC Tournament Champion Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	21–8 (12–2 OVC)
Head coach	Clem Haskins
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →