1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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The 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
| 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
|---|---|
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Illini Classic, Champion | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 18 |
| AP | No. 19 |
| Record | 21–8 (12–6 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| MVP | Eddie Johnson |
| Captains |
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| Home arena | Assembly Hall |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Indiana | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 26 | – | 9 | .743 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Iowa | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 21 | – | 7 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Illinois | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 21 | – | 8 | .724 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 21 | – | 11 | .656 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 19 | – | 11 | .633 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 14 | – | 13 | .519 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 19 | – | 11 | .633 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 13 | – | 14 | .481 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 11 | – | 16 | .407 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 9 | – | 18 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
In 1981, Illinois made strides in its return to the national spotlight with a 21-8 record, a third-place Big Ten finish and an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The team received a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament and beat Wyoming, 67-65, in Los Angeles to advance to the regionals in Salt Lake City, where Illinois lost to Kansas State, 57-52. During this season, the Fighting Illini led the Big Ten in scoring for the second consecutive season and were again led by Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith. Guards Craig Tucker and Derek Harper arrived to add backcourt punch, and Harper began his Illini career being named First-Team Freshman All-America by ESPN and ABC.
This season marked a change in location and name for the annual game with Missouri. The name was altered from the "Show-Me Classic" to the "Braggin' Rights" and took on a permanent location, St. Louis, with the St. Louis Arena as its original home. Prior to 1980, the location of the game alternated from Assembly Hall and the Hearnes Center. Since 1994, the game is played at the Scottrade Center.
Roster
| 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
Source[1]
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 11/29/1980* |
Loyola Marymount | W 98-65 | 1-0 |
Assembly Hall (11,168) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/6/1980* |
TCU | W 84-62 | 2-0 |
Assembly Hall (14,370) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 12/10/1980* |
vs. No. 14 Missouri Braggin' Rights |
W 84-62 | 3-0 |
St. Louis Arena (14,370) St. Louis, MO | |||||||
| 12/13/1980* |
Marquette | W 69-68 | 4-0 |
U.S. Cellular Arena (11,052) Milwaukee, WI | |||||||
| 12/19/1980* |
No. 17 | vs. No. 18 BYU Volunteer Classic |
L 75-88 | 4-1 |
Stokely Athletic Center (12,700) Knoxville, TN | ||||||
| 12/20/1980* |
No. 17 | vs. Iona Volunteer Classic |
W 106-84 | 5-1 |
Stokely Athletic Center (12,700) Knoxville, TN | ||||||
| 12/26/1980* |
No. 18 | Ohio Illini Classic |
W 84-54 | 6-1 |
Assembly Hall (14,230) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 12/27/1980* |
No. 18 | Oklahoma Illini Classic |
W 93-63 | 7-1 |
Assembly Hall (15,411) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 1/3/1981* |
No. 16 | SIU Edwardsville | W 108-68 | 8-1 |
Assembly Hall (11,443) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/8/1981 |
No. 12 | at Northwestern Rivalry |
W 88-64 | 9-1 (1-0) |
McGaw Memorial Hall (7,741) Evanston, IL | ||||||
| 1/10/1981 |
No. 12 | at Indiana Rivalry |
L 61-78 | 9-2 (1-1) |
Assembly Hall (17,083) Bloomington, IN | ||||||
| 1/15/1981 |
No. 18 | Purdue | W 87-65 | 10-2 (2-1) |
Assembly Hall (16,506) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 1/17/1981 |
No. 18 | No. 20 Minnesota | W 80-76 | 11-2 (3-1) |
Assembly Hall (16,630) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 1/22/1981 |
No. 15 | at No. 16 Michigan | L 76-80 | 11-3 (3-2) |
Crisler Center (11,055) Ann Arbor, MI | ||||||
| 1/24/1981 |
No. 15 | Wisconsin | L 45-54 | 11-4 (3-3) |
Assembly Hall (16,495) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 1/29/1981 |
at Michigan State | W 71-70 | 12-4 (4-3) |
Jenison Fieldhouse (7,443) East Lansing, MI | |||||||
| 1/31/1981 |
No. 13 Iowa Rivalry |
W 79-66 | 13-4 (5-3) |
Assembly Hall (16,555) Champaign, IL | |||||||
| 2/5/1981 |
No. 18 | Ohio State | W 82-63 | 14-4 (6-3) |
Assembly Hall (16,586) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/7/1981 |
No. 18 | at No. 15 Iowa Rivalry |
L 66-72 | 14-5 (6-4) |
Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA | ||||||
| 2/12/1981 |
No. 17 | at Wisconsin | W 84-65 | 15-5 (7-4) |
Wisconsin Field House (7,334) Madison, WI | ||||||
| 2/14/1981 |
No. 17 | at Ohio State | W 63-57 | 16-5 (8-4) |
St. John Arena (13,591) Columbus, OH | ||||||
| 2/19/1981 |
No. 15 | No. 18 Michigan | W 67-64 | 17-5 (9-4) |
Assembly Hall (16,492) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/21/1981 |
No. 15 | Michigan State | W 82-62 | 18-5 (10-4) |
Assembly Hall (16,559) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 2/26/1981 |
No. 14 | at Minnesota | L 59-76 | 18-6 (10-5) |
Williams Arena (16,290) Minneapolis, MN | ||||||
| 2/28/1981 |
No. 14 | at Purdue | W 81-70 | 19-6 (11-5) |
Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN | ||||||
| 3/5/1981 |
No. 16 | No. 14 Indiana Rivalry |
L 66-69 | 19-7 (11-6) |
Assembly Hall (16,663) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| 3/7/1981 |
No. 16 | Northwestern Rivalry |
W 98-76 | 20-7 (12-6) |
Assembly Hall (16,622) Champaign, IL | ||||||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| 3/14/1981* |
(4 W) No. 19 | vs. (5 W) No. 17 Wyoming Second Round |
W 67-65[2] | 21-7 |
Pauley Pavilion (12,340) Los Angeles, CA | ||||||
| 3/19/1981* |
(4 W) No. 19 | vs. (8 W) Kansas State Regional semifinals |
L 52-57 | 21-7 |
Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,450) Salt Lake City, UT | ||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Player stats
| Player | Games played | Minutes played | Field goals | Free throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Johnson[3] | 29 | 1009 | 219 | 62 | 267 | 70 | 6 | 30 | 500 |
| Mark Smith[4] | 29 | 914 | 150 | 102 | 172 | 98 | 18 | 36 | 402 |
| Craig Tucker[5] | 29 | 615 | 117 | 76 | 39 | 58 | 3 | 19 | 310 |
| Perry Range[6] | 29 | 815 | 101 | 65 | 115 | 70 | 0 | 33 | 267 |
| Derek Harper[7] | 29 | 934 | 104 | 33 | 75 | 156 | 8 | 39 | 241 |
| James Griffin[8] | 29 | 519 | 117 | 76 | 39 | 58 | 3 | 18 | 227 |
| Derek Holcomb[9] | 29 | 635 | 70 | 31 | 148 | 40 | 42 | 14 | 171 |
| Bryan Leonard | 25 | 200 | 26 | 7 | 44 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 59 |
| Kevin Bontempts | 19 | 78 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 36 |
| Quinn Richardson | 22 | 62 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 25 |
| Sherrod Arnold | 7 | 44 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Mitch Arnold | 3 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Awards and honors
- Eddie Johnson
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
- Team Most Valuable Player [10]
- Derek Harper
Team players drafted into the NBA
| Player | NBA club | Round | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Johnson | Kansas City Kings | 2 | 29 |
| Derek Holcomb | Portland Trail Blazers | 3 | 50 |
| Mark Smith | Milwaukee Bucks | 3 | 67 |