# 1980–81 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

The 1980–81 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 1980–81 NCAA NCAA Division II men's basketball season led by head coach Ralph Underhill.

## Season summary

Expectations were high for 1980–81 as the 80s began with an upgraded schedule. Results were equally as high, producing a 24–3 regular season with the only disappointment being a fourth early NCAA tournament exit.

## Roster

Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 29, 1980 | Wilberforce | W 111–72 | 1–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 1, 1980 | Miami Ohio | W 92–84 | 2–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 3, 1980 | Bolling Green | W 81–68 | 3–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 6, 1980 | Wayne State | W 86–65 | 4–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 10, 1980 | at St. Leo | W 124–77 | 5–0 | St. Leo, Florida |
| Dec 17, 1980 | at Bellarmine | W 85–76 | 6–0 | Knights Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 20, 1980 | District of Columbia | W 76–63 | 7–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 22, 1980 | Eastern Illinois | W 81–73 | 8–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 3, 1981 | IUPUI | W 81–61 | 9–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 7, 1981 | at Indiana Central | W 68–61 | 10–0 | Nicoson Hall Indianapolis |
| Jan 10, 1981 | Marian (IN) | W 87–67 | 11–0 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 12, 1981 | vs. Central State | W 72–58 | 12–0 | UD Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Jan 14, 1981 | at St. Joseph’s (IN) | L 80–87 | 12–1 | Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Indiana |
| Jan 17, 1980 | Northern Kentucky | W 90–76 | 13–1 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 21, 1981 | Bellarmine | L 84–87 | 13–2 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 24, 1981 | SIU Edwardsville | W 81–65 | 14–2 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 28, 1981 | St. Joseph’s (IN) | W 107–79 | 15–2 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 31, 1981 | at Northern Kentucky | W 107–79 | 16–2 | Regents Hall Highland Heights, Kentucky |
| Feb 4, 1981 | at Youngstown State | W 66–59 | 17–2 | Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH |
| Feb 7, 1981 | at Eastern Illinois | L 63–72 | 17–3 | Lantz Fieldhouse Charleston, Illinois |
| Feb 10, 1981 | vs. Central State | W 77–62 | 18–3 | UD Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Feb 12, 1981 | vs. Kentucky Wesleyan | W 78–60 | 19–3 | Owensboro, Kentucky |
| Feb 18, 1981 | Indiana Central | W 92–57 | 20–3 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 21, 1981 | Siena Heights | W 86–74 | 21–3 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 21, 1981 | Spring Arbor | W 101–62 | 22–3 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 25, 1981 | New York Tech | W 69–61 | 23–3 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 27, 1981 | Kentucky Wesleyan | W 96–76 | 24–3 | WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 1981 | Northern Michigan NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional | L 64–73 | 24–4 | Western Hall Macomb, Illinois |
| Mar 7, 1981 | Indiana State–Evansville NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional | W 88–85 | 25–4 | Western Hall Macomb, Illinois |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||
Source

## Awards and honors

| Rodney Benson | MVP |
| Rodney Benson | All-American Div-II |
| Roman Welch | All-American Div-II |
| Steve Hartings | Raider Award |

## Statistics

| Number | Name | Games | Average | Points | Assists | Rebounds |
| 24 | Rodney Benson | 28 | 21.9 | 612 | 55 | 229 |
| 44 | Roman Welch | 28 | 15.1 | 422 | 74 | 184 |
| 42 | Steve Hartings | 29 | 11.0 | 319 | 83 | 170 |
| 34 | Eddie Crowe | 29 | 10.9 | 315 | 116 | 72 |
| 29 | Keith Miller | 26 | 6.4 | 185 | 90 | 61 |
| 25 | Jeff Bragg | 28 | 5.8 | 163 | 57 | 42 |
| 35 | Steve Purcell | 28 | 4.6 | 129 | 31 | 75 |
| 23 | Tom Holzapfel | 4 | 4.5 | 18 | 0 | 8 |
| 45 | Leon Manning | 26 | 3.8 | 100 | 16 | 77 |
| 32 | Mike Zimmerman | 28 | 2.7 | 75 | 49 | 47 |
| 33 | Theron Barbour | 21 | 2.6 | 54 | 13 | 47 |
| 30 | Mike Grote | 16 | 2.0 | 32 | 11 | 10 |
| _ | Phil Benninger | 5 | 1.4 | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| 22 | Barry Turner | 9 | 1.1 | 10 | 2 | 12 |
Source