1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball team

1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball
1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball
TAAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Trans America Athletic Conference
Record	18–12 (7–4 TAAC)
Head coach	Bill Bibb;
Home arena	Hawkins Arena
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by head coach Bill Bibb, played their home games at Hawkins Arena on the university's Macon, Georgia, campus and were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference. They finished the season 18–12, 7–4 in TAAC play to finish third in the regular season standings. They won the TAAC tournament to earn the conferences automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, they were beaten by No. 5 seed Arkansas in the opening round.

1980–81 Trans America Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Houston Christian	9	–	3	.750	18	–	10	.643
NE Louisiana	8	–	4	.667	15	–	13	.536
Mercer †	7	–	4	.636	18	–	12	.600
Centenary	7	–	5	.583	16	–	12	.571
Arkansas–Little Rock	5	–	6	.455	13	–	13	.500
Samford	5	–	6	.455	10	–	17	.370
Northwestern State	5	–	7	.417	11	–	17	.393
Hardin-Simmons	4	–	8	.333	9	–	18	.333
Georgia Southern	2	–	9	.182	5	–	22	.185

† 1981 TAAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster edit

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F		Tony Gattis	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Dec 2, 1980*		at No. 10 North Carolina	L 74–89	0–1	Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TAAC tournament
Mar 5, 1981*		vs. Arkansas–Little Rock Quarterfinals	W 78–69	16–11	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, Louisiana
Mar 6, 1981*		vs. Northeast Louisiana Semifinals	W 59–55	17–11	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, Louisiana
Mar 8, 1981*		vs. Houston Christian Championship game	W 72–67	18–11	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, Louisiana
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1981*	(12 MW)	vs. (5 MW) No. 20 Arkansas First round	L 67–73	18–12	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll, (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed within region MW=Midwest. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.