# 1981–82 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team represented the University of Tulsa as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1981–82 college basketball season. The Golden Hurricane played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center. Led by head coach Nolan Richardson, they finished the season 24–6 overall and 12–4 in conference play to finish second in the MVC standings. The Golden Hurricane won the MVC tournament to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region. Tulsa lost to No. 6 seed and eventual Final Four participant Houston in the round of 32.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 28, 1981* | No. 11 | U.S. International | W 89–62 | 1–0 | Tulsa Convention Center (8,473) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Dec 3, 1981* ESPN | No. 9 | at No. 1 North Carolina | L 70–78 | 1–1 | Carmichael Auditorium (10,000) Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 5, 1981* | No. 11 | St. Mary's (TX) | W 57–43 | 2–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (8,288) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Dec 8, 1981* KTUL-TV | No. 14 | at Oklahoma State | W 93–82 | 3–1 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (7,000) Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| Dec 11, 1981* Cable | No. 14 | Texas Christian | W 72–62 | 4–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (8,074) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Dec 12, 1981* Cable | No. 14 | Oral Roberts | W 80–63 | 5–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (8,249) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Dec 19, 1981* | No. 12 | Central Florida | W 69–58 | 6–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (7,905) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Dec 22, 1981* | No. 14 | Florida Southern | W 94–68 | 7–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (7,851) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Jan 2, 1982* Cable | No. 13 | Oklahoma | W 98–96 | 8–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (8,804) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Jan 4, 1982 | No. 13 | Creighton | W 80–55 | 9–1 (1–0) | Tulsa Convention Center (8,871) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Jan 9, 1982 MVC-TV | No. 10 | at New Mexico State | L 66–74 | 9–2 (1–1) | Pan American Center (10,848) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Jan 11, 1982 Cable | No. 10 | at West Texas State | W 98–84 | 10–2 (2–1) | WT Fieldhouse (4,029) Canyon, Texas |
| Jan 14, 1982 Cable | No. 18 | Drake | W 71–54 | 11–2 (3–1) | Tulsa Convention Center (8,764) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Jan 16, 1982 CBS | No. 18 | No. 16 Wichita State | W 99–88 | 12–2 (4–1) | Tulsa Convention Center (9,119) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Jan 21, 1982 Cable | No. 18 | at Southern Illinois | W 77–74 | 13–2 (5–1) | SIU Arena (7,400) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Jan 23, 1982 Cable | No. 10 | at Indiana State | L 59–60 | 13–3 (5–2) | Hulman Center (5,124) Terre Haute, Indiana |
| Jan 28, 1982 | No. 16 | West Texas State | W 68–61 | 14–3 (6–2) | Tulsa Convention Center (8,759) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Jan 30, 1982 KJRH | No. 16 | New Mexico State | W 76–72 | 15–3 (7–2) | Tulsa Convention Center (9,119) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Feb 6, 1982 MVC-TV | No. 11 | at Wichita State | W 80–75 | 16–3 (8–2) | Levitt Arena (10,666) Wichita, Kansas |
| Feb 16, 1982 | No. 7 | Illinois State | W 78–67 | 17–3 (9–2) | Tulsa Convention Center (9,119) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Feb 13, 1982 Cable | No. 7 | at Creighton | W 70–63 | 18–3 (10–2) | Omaha Civic Auditorium (6,293) Omaha, Nebraska |
| Feb 15, 1982 Cable | No. 6 | at Drake | L 55–56 | 18–4 (10–3) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium (7,790) Des Moines, Iowa |
| Feb 20, 1982 MVC-TV | No. 8 | Indiana State | W 77–64 | 19–4 (11–3) | Tulsa Convention Center (9,119) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Feb 22, 1982 | No. 8 | Southern Illinois | W 85–67 | 20–4 (12–3) | Tulsa Convention Center (8,924) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Feb 25, 1982* KJRH | No. 8 | Oral Roberts | W 91–70 | 21–4 | Tulsa Convention Center (9,119) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Feb 27, 1982 NBC | No. 8 | at Bradley | L 79–82 $^{OT}$ | 21–5 (12–4) | Robertson Memorial Field House (7,300) Peoria, Illinois |
| MVC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1982* Cable | No. 10 | Creighton Quarterfinals | W 106–81 | 22–5 | Tulsa Convention Center (7,932) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mar 6, 1982* Cable | No. 10 | New Mexico State Semifinals | W 85–61 | 23–5 | Tulsa Convention Center (9,119) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mar 7, 1982* NBC | No. 10 | Illinois State Championship game | W 90–77 | 24–5 | Tulsa Convention Center (9,119) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1982* CBS | (3 MW) No. 10 | vs. (6 MW) Houston Second round | L 74–78 | 24–6 | Mabee Center (10,775) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Central. ||||||

## NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Team |
| 1 | 20 | Paul Pressey | Milwaukee Bucks |