1980–81 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

The 1980–81 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Larry Brown was the head coach, and the Bruins started the season ranked 6th in the nation (AP Poll). The Bruins started the season 6-0 and was ranked a season high #3 (AP Poll). They then lost at #1 ranked Depaul, 93–77, on December 27. UCLA's team finished 3rd in the Pac-10 regular season. UCLA participated the NCAA Tournament but was upset by BYU in the first round, finishing 10th in the AP poll. Larry Brown coached his second and final year at UCLA.

1980–81 UCLA Bruins men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Pacific-10
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
Record	20–7 (13–5, 3rd Pac-10)
Head coach	Larry Brown (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Larry Farmer Keith Glass Kevin O’ Connor
Home arena	Pauley Pavilion

1980–81 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 Oregon State	17	–	1		.944			26	–	2		.929
No. 3 Arizona State	16	–	2		.889			24	–	4		.857
No. 10 UCLA	13	–	5		.722			20	–	7		.741
USC	9	–	9		.500			14	–	13		.519
Washington	8	–	10		.444			14	–	13		.519
Arizona	8	–	10		.444			13	–	14		.481
Oregon	6	–	12		.333			13	–	14		.481
California	5	–	13		.278			13	–	14		.481
Stanford	5	–	13		.278			9	–	18		.333
Washington State	3	–	15		.167			10	–	17		.370
As of April 15, 1981 Rankings from AP Poll

Starting lineup

Position	Player	Class
F	Mike Sanders	Jr.
F	Darren Daye	So.
C	Kenny Fields	Fr.
G	Michael Holton	So.
G	Rod Foster	So.

Roster

1980–81 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 45 Tony Anderson (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr F 30 Darren Daye 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — So Des Moines, Iowa C 35 Mark Eaton 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) — Jr Inglewood, California C 54 Kenny Fields 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Fr Iowa City, Iowa G 10 Rod Foster 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — So Birmingham, Alabama G 14 Michael Holton 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So Seattle, Washington G 3 Ralph Jackson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Fr F 11 Curtis Knight 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So F 34 Cliff Pruitt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — So F 52 Mike Sanders (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Jr Vidalia, Louisiana F 44 Dean Sears 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Jr	Head coach Larry Brown (North Carolina) Assistant coach(es) Larry Farmer (UCLA) Keith Glass Kevin O'Connor Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
November 28, 1980	No. 6	VMI	W 99–61	1–0	Pauley Pavilion (9,872) Los Angeles, CA
November 29, 1980	No. 6	No. 10 Notre Dame	W 94–81	2–0	Pauley Pavilion (12,321) Los Angeles, CA
December 6, 1980	No. 3	St. Mary's	W 113–70	3–0	Pauley Pavilion (10,127) Los Angeles, CA
December 13, 1980	No. 3	Pepperdine	W 81–63	4–0	Pauley Pavilion (12,273) Los Angeles, CA
December 15, 1980	No. 3	Evansville	W 69–62	5–0	Pauley Pavilion (8,637) Los Angeles, CA
December 21, 1980	No. 3	vs. Temple	W 73–49	6–0	Yoyogi National Gymnasium (5,000) Tokyo, Japan
December 27, 1980	No. 3	at No. 1 DePaul	L 77–93	6–1	Alumni Hall (16,702) Chicago, IL
January 3, 1981	No. 7	Washington	W 96–74	7–1 (1–0)	Pauley Pavilion (12,295) Los Angeles, CA
January 5, 1981	No. 7	Washington State	W 87–61	8–1 (2–0)	Pauley Pavilion (11,321) Los Angeles, CA
January 10, 1981	No. 7	USC	L 66–68	8–2 (2–1)	Pauley Pavilion (11,825) Los Angeles, CA
January 16, 1981	No. 8	at No. 12 Arizona State	L 74–78 3OT	8–3 (2–2)	ASU Activity Center (14,384) Tempe, AZ
January 17, 1981	No. 8	at Arizona	W 79–76	9–3 (3–2)	McKale Center (14,182) Tucson, AZ
January 23, 1981	No. 12	Stanford	W 85–58	10–3 (4–2)	Pauley Pavilion (12,038) Los Angeles, CA
January 24, 1981	No. 12	California	W 75–61	11–3 (5–2)	Pauley Pavilion (12,314) Los Angeles, CA
January 29, 1981	No. 10	at No. 1 Oregon State	L 67–81	11–4 (5–3)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, OR
January 31, 1981	No. 10	at Oregon	W 75–69	12–4 (6–3)	McArthur Court (10,000) Eugene, OR
February 6, 1981	No. 12	at USC	W 76–62	13–4 (7–3)	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (13,277) Los Angeles, CA
February 8, 1981	No. 12	at No. 9 Notre Dame	W 51–50	14–4	Athletic & Convocation Center (11,345) Notre Dame, IN
February 12, 1981	No. 8	Arizona	W 90–79	15–4 (8–3)	Pauley Pavilion (11,910) Los Angeles, CA
February 14, 1981	No. 8	No. 5 Arizona State	W 64–61	16–4 (9–3)	Pauley Pavilion (12,428) Los Angeles, CA
February 19, 1981	No. 6	at California	W 72–66	17–4 (10–3)	Harmon Gym (6,700) Berkeley, CA
February 21, 1981	No. 6	at Stanford	L 72–74	17–5 (10–4)	Maples Pavilion (6,917) Stanford, CA
February 27, 1981	No. 13	Oregon	W 98–75	18–5 (11–4)	Pauley Pavilion (12,074) Los Angeles, CA
March 1, 1981	No. 13	No. 1 Oregon State	L 76–82	18–6 (11–5)	Pauley Pavilion (12,582) Los Angeles, CA
March 5, 1981	No. 13	at Washington State	W 59–50	19–6 (12–5)	Washington State University Performing Arts Coliseum (8,132) Pullman, WA
March 7, 1981	No. 13	at Washington	W 91–72	20–6 (13–5)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion (6,228) Seattle, WA
NCAA Tournament
March 14, 1981	No. 10	vs. No. 16 BYU Second Round	L 55–78	20–7	Providence Civic Center (12,823) Providence, RI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source

Notes

• Larry Brown was only at UCLA two years, but made the NCAA Tournament both times. He was 5–2 in NCAA Tournament games while at UCLA.