# 1980–81 Mercer Bears men's basketball team

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 conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I tournament. In their first ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in school history, they were beaten by No. 5 seed Arkansas in the opening round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 29, 1980* | | St. Leo | W 93–65 | 1–0 | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Dec 2, 1980* | | at No. 10 North Carolina | L 74–89 | 1–1 | Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 6, 1980* | | at Arkansas State | L 52–67 | 1–2 | Indian Field House Jonesboro, Arkansas |
| Dec 10, 1980* | | Ole Miss | L 58–70 | 1–3 | Hawkins Arena (3,145) Macon, Georgia |
| Dec 13, 1980* | | Columbus State | W 56–54 | 2–3 | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Dec 15, 1980* | | at Georgia State | W 64–61 | 3–3 | GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia |
| Dec 29, 1980* | | vs. Southeastern Louisiana | W 74–67 | 4–3 | Maclellan Gymnasium Chattanooga, Tennessee |
| Dec 30, 1980* | | at Chattanooga | L 58–60 $^{OT}$ | 4–4 | Maclellan Gymnasium Chattanooga, Tennessee |
| Jan 5, 1981* | | UNC Greensboro | W 88–65 | 5–4 | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Jan 8, 1981 | | Centenary | L 72–77 | 5–5 (0–1) | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Jan 10, 1981 | | Arkansas–Little Rock | W 71–57 | 6–5 (1–1) | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Jan 13, 1981* | | at Tulane | L 57–67 | 6–6 | Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 17, 1981* | | Georgia State | W 84–69 | 7–6 | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Jan 20, 1981 | | at Arkansas–Little Rock | L 58–68 | 7–7 (1–2) | Barton Coliseum Little Rock, Arkansas |
| Jan 24, 1981 | | at Samford | W 90–79 | 8–7 (2–2) | Seibert Hall Birmingham, Alabama |
| Jan 28, 1981* | | Arkansas State | W 91–69 | 9–7 | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Jan 31, 1981* | | Stetson | L 62–63 $^{OT}$ | 9–8 | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Feb 5, 1981* | | Charleston Southern | W 74–64 | 10–8 | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Feb 7, 1981 | | Georgia Southern | W 105–70 | 11–8 (3–2) | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Feb 12, 1981* | | at Stetson | L 71–76 | 11–9 | Edmunds Center DeLand, Florida |
| Feb 14, 1981 | | at Georgia Southern | W 60–58 $^{OT}$ | 12–9 (4–2) | Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia |
| Feb 16, 1981 | | Samford | L 60–61 | 12–10 (4–3) | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Feb 19, 1981 | | Northwestern State | W 94–66 | 13–10 (5–3) | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Feb 21, 1981 | | Hardin-Simmons | W 93–78 | 14–10 (6–3) | Hawkins Arena Macon, Georgia |
| Feb 26, 1981 | | at Northeast Louisiana | W 75–66 | 15–10 (7–3) | Fant–Ewing Coliseum Monroe, Louisiana |
| Feb 28, 1981 | | at Houston Baptist | L 67–69 | 15–11 (7–4) | Sharp Gymnasium Houston, Texas |
| 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 Baptist 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. ||||||