1980–81 LSU Tigers basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball none 1980–81 LSU Tigers Southeastern Conference SEC 4 4 31–5 17–1 Dale Brown 9th Ron Abernathy 5th Rick Huckabay 2nd LSU Assembly Center SEC regular season champions NCAA tournament Final Four The 1980–81 LSU Tigers basketball team represented Louisiana State University as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1980–81 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by ninth-year head coach Dale Brown, the Fighting Tigers played their home games in the LSU Assembly Center, which would be renamed in memory of Tiger legend Pete Maravich, the NCAA Division I men's basketball career scoring leader, shortly after his death in 1988. After a loss to Arkansas in the Great Alaska Shootout, the Tigers won 26 consecutive games, 17 in the SEC, before a loss at Kentucky in the regular season finale. The setback in Lexington prevented LSU from becoming the first team to go 18–0 in conference play since the SEC adopted its double round-robin format in 1966-67. LSU was surprisingly defeated in the SEC Tournament semifinals by Ole Miss, which won the championship to earn its first trip to the big dance. As No. 1 seed in the Midwest region for the second consecutive year, the Tigers avenged the early season loss to Arkansas in the Sweet SixteenL.S.U., WICHITA WIN IN MIDWEST https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/21/sports/lsu-wichita-win-in-midwest.html The New York Times March 21, 1981 December 12, 2021 and defeated Wichita State to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1953.LSU Captures Midwest Final, Defeats Wichita State by 96-85 https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/23/sports/lsu-captures-midwest-final-defeats-wichita-state-by-96-85.html The New York Times March 23, 1981 December 12, 2021 Losses in the Final Four at Philadelphia vs. Indiana and Virginia, the latter in the last third-place game ever contested in an NCAA tournament, took some of the luster off the Tigers' spectacular season, leaving them with a final mark of 31–5. The Hoosiers defeated North Carolina 63–50 in the championship game, marking the third consecutive year LSU lost in the NCAA Tournament to the eventual national champion (Michigan State in 1979, Louisville in 1980). This coincidence recurred in 1986 (Louisville) and 1987 (Indiana). Following this season, LSU ended its yearly series vs. in-state rival Tulane. The Tigers and Green Wave faced off 201 times between January 1911 and December 1980, but have met only seven times since. Roster 1980 LSU Tigers y Brian Bergeron 22 G 6 3 175 Jr Port Allen, Louisiana Tyrone Black 34 C 6 8 200 So Baton Rouge, Louisiana Andy Campbell 44 C 7 2 235 Sr Hackham West, South Australia Howard Carter basketball y 32 GF 6 5 235 So Baton Rouge, Louisiana Greg Cook basketball y 43 C 6 9 230 Sr Roselle, New Jersey Joe Costello 25 GF 6 7 200 So Arlington, Texas Matt England 14 GF 6 5 180 Fr Houston, Texas Johnny Jones y basketball, born 1961 12 G 6 2 170 Fr DeRidder, Louisiana Brian Kistler 30 F 6 6 190 Fr Indianapolis, Indiana Durand Macklin Rudy Macklin y 40 F 6 7 205 Sr Louisville, Kentucky Ethan Martin 21 G 6 0 170 Sr Baton Rouge, Louisiana Leonard Mitchell 24 F 6 7 190 Fr St. Martinville, Louisiana Willie Sims basketball y 10 G 6 3 200 Sr Long Island City, New York John Tudor 20 G 6 5 180 Fr Pineville, Louisiana https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/louisiana-state/1981.html 2016-Mar-12 Dale Brown Ron Abernathy Rick Huckabay 1981 NCAA Final Four program March 1981 Schedule and results |- !colspan=9 style=LSU Tigers| Regular season Nov 28, 1980 yes yes 12 1980 men Colgate Raiders Colgate Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska Great Alaska Shootout 79–61 1–0 Nov 29, 1980 yes yes 12 Arkansas 20 Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska Great Alaska Shootout 76–86 1–1 Nov 30, 1980 yes yes 12 Georgetown 16 Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska Great Alaska Shootout 76–67 2,000 2–1 Dec 6, 1980 yes 15 Tulane LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 119–81 3–1 Dec 13, 1980 yes 11 1980 none UNLV Runnin' Rebels Nevada-Las Vegas LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 87–73 4–1 Dec 18, 1980 yes yes 10 1980 men New Orleans Privateers New Orleans Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana 96–66 5–1 Dec 20, 1980 yes yes 10 Tulane Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana 86–72 6–1 Dec 22, 1980 yes 10 1980 men Xavier Musketeers Xavier LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 78–62 7–1 Dec 29, 1980 yes 10 1980 men UNC Wilmington Seahawks North Carolina-Wilmington LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 100–68 8–1 Dec 30, 1980 yes 10 1980 men Saint Francis Red Flash Saint Francis (PA) LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 91–65 9–1 Jan 3, 1981 yes 10 1980 men Florida Gators Florida Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida 92–66 10–1 1–0 Jan 7, 1981 9 Vanderbilt LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 77–61 11–1 2–0 Jan 10, 1981 yes 9 1980 men Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi 81–69 12–1 3–0 Jan 14, 1981 yes 6 Alabama Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama 59–56 13–1 4–0 Jan 17, 1981 6 1980 none Georgia Bulldogs Georgia LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 78–65 14–1 5–0 Jan 19, 1981 5 Kentucky 6 LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 81–67 15–1 6–0 Jan 21, 1981 yes 5 Auburn Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama 74–64 16–1 7–0 Jan 24, 1981 5 Tennessee 8 LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 80–63 17–1 8–0 Jan 28, 1981 yes 4 Ole Miss Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi 63–59 18–1 9–0 Jan 31, 1981 4 Florida LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 92–75 19–1 10–0 Feb 4, 1981 yes 4 Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee 86–81 20–1 11–0 Feb 7, 1981 4 Mississippi State LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 94–89 21–1 12–0 Feb 11, 1981 4 Alabama LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70–57 22–1 13–0 Feb 14, 1981 yes 4 Georgia Georgia Coliseum Athens, Georgia 64–62 23–1 14–0 Feb 18, 1981 4 Auburn LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 58–47 24–1 15–0 Feb 21, 1981 yes 4 Tennessee 8 Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee 66–65 25–1 16–0 Feb 22, 1981 yes 4 1980 men Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 67–57 26–1 Feb 25, 1981 2 Ole Miss LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana 74–67 27–1 17–0 Mar 1, 1981 yes 2 Kentucky 9 NBC Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky 71–73 27–2 17–1 |- !colspan=9 style=LSU Tigers| SEC Tournament Mar 5, 1981 yes yes 3 1 Florida 8 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama Quarterfinals 85–73 28–2 Mar 6, 1981 yes yes 3 1 Georgia 5 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama Semifinals 60–68 28–3 |- !colspan=9 style=LSU Tigers| NCAA Tournament Mar 14, 1981 yes yes 4 1 MW Lamar 8 MW Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas Second round 100–78 29–3 Mar 20, 1981 9:05 p.m. yes yes 4 1 MW Arkansas 20 5 MW Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen 72–56 30–3 Mar 22, 1981 2:05 p.m. yes yes 4 1 MW Wichita State 6 MW Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight 96–85 31–3 Mar 28, 1981 12:45 p.m. yes yes 4 1 MW Indiana 9 3 ME The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania National semifinal – Final Four 49–67HOOISERS ROMP AS L.S.U. OFFENSE FAILS https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/29/sports/hooisers-romp-as-lsu-offense-fails.html The New York Times March 29, 1981 December 12, 2021 31–4 Mar 30, 1981 5 p.m. yes yes 4 1 MW Virginia 5 1 E The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Third-place game 74–78 18,276 31–5 AP Poll Central Time MW Midwest Rankings 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings AP 0 15 12 15 11 10 10 10 9 6 5 4 4 4 4 2 3 4 Coaches 0 15 13 13^ 11 12 12 11 10 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 ^Coaches did not release a week-1 poll. NBA draft 1981 NBA draft References Category:LSU Tigers men's basketball seasons Lsu Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Lsu LSU LSU