1980–81 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 1980–81 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his fifth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 13–14, 7–11 to finish in eighth place in Big Ten play.

1980–81 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record13–14 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Dave Harshman
  • Edgar Wilson
  • John Holms
Captains
Home arenaJenison Field House
Seasons
1980–81 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
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

Previous season edit

The Spartans finished the 1979–80 season 12–15, 6–12 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place in conference.

Roster and statistics edit

1980–81 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No Name Pos Year Height Pts Reb Ast
5 Kevin Smith G JR 6–2 13.5 2.3 4.8
10 Tim Gore G FR 6–4 1.1 0.8 0.3
12 Mike Brkovich G SR 6–5 8.2 2.2 2.4
15 Bob Fossum G FR 5–9 0.2 0.2 0.2
20 Ben Tower F FR 6–8 5.0 3.8 0.7
22 Bill Cawood G SO 6–7 0.8 0.5 0.2
23 Randy Morrison G FR 6–2 3.4 1.1 1.6
24 Richard Mudd F FR 6–9 0.0 1.5 0.0
30 Kurt James F SR 6–7
31 Jay Vincent F/C SR 6–8 22.6 8.5 1.9
41 Derek Perry F SO 6–6 7.5 3.9 0.7
42 Richard Kaye F SR 6–6 3.3 1.8 0.4
44 Herb Bostic F/G SO 6–4 2.4 1.0 0.7
45 Kevin Radelet G JR 5–11 0.2 0.0 0.0
45 George Cooper 2.7 0.3 0.0
52 Steve Bates C JR 6–10 0.6 0.7 0.0

Source[1][2]

Schedule and results edit

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 28, 1980*
Western Michigan
Spartan Cutlass Classic semifinal
W 89–77  1–0
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Nov 29, 1980*
Central Michigan
Spartan Cutlass Classic championship
L 66–89  1–1
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing
Dec 4, 1980*
at Long Beach State W 71–60  2–1
Long Beach Arena 
Long Beach, CA
Dec 6, 1980*
at Cal State Fullerton W 58–42  3–1
Titan Gym 
Fullerton, CA
Dec 12, 1980*
Eastern Michigan W 73–63  4–1
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Dec 16, 1980*
at BYU L 50–82  4–2
Marriott Center 
Provo, UT
Dec 19, 1980*
vs. Utah State
Industrial National Classic semifinal
L 70–74  4–3
Dunkin' Donuts Center 
Providence, RI
Dec 20, 1980*
at Providence
Industrial National Classic third place game
W 77–76  5–3
Dunkin' Donuts Center 
Providence, RI
Dec 27, 1980*
Saint Joseph's W 71–67  6–3
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Big Ten regular season
Jan 8, 1981
at Indiana L 43–55  6–4
(0–1)
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
Jan 10, 1981
at No. 11 Iowa L 57–65  6–5
(0–2)
Iowa Field House 
Iowa City, IA
Jan 15, 1981
No. 20 Minnesota L 77–86  6–6
(0–3)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 17, 1981
Northwestern W 84–70  7–6
(1–3)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 22, 1981
at Wisconsin L 62–63  7–7
(1–4)
Wisconsin Field House 
Madison, WI
Jan 24, 1981
at Purdue W 74–68  8–7
(2–4)
Mackey Arena 
West Lafayette, IN
Jan 29, 1981
Illinois L 70–71  8–8
(2–5)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Jan 31, 1981
Ohio State W 60–54  9–8
(3–5)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 5, 1981
at Michigan
Rivalry
L 77–79  9–9
(3–6)
Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI
Feb 7, 1981
at Ohio State L 62–73  9–10
(3–7)
St. John Arena 
Columbus, OH
Feb 12, 1981
Purdue L 48–63  9–11
(3–8)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 14, 1981
No. 13 Michigan
Rivalry
W 70–66  10–11
(4–8)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 19, 1981
Wisconsin W 74–65  11–11
(5–8)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Feb 21, 1981
at No. 15 Illinois L 62–82  11–12
(5–9)
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
Feb 26, 1981
at Northwestern W 74–61  12–12
(6–9)
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
Feb 28, 1981
at Minnesota L 89–92  12–13
(6–10)
Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
Mar 5, 1981
No. 8 Iowa W 71–70  13–13
(7–10)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
Mar 7, 1981
No. 14 Indiana L 48–69  13–14
(7–11)
Jenison Field House 
East Lansing, MI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time Source[3][2].

Awards and honors edit

  • Jay Vincent – All-Big Ten First Team

References edit

  1. ^ "1980–81 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "16-17 Michigan State Spartans" (PDF). Michigan State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  3. ^ "1980-81 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".