# 1979–80 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University as a member of the Big Eight Conference in the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Jack Hartman and played their home games at Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas. The Wildcats, poised to win the conference regular season after winning 8 of 10 to begin Big Eight play, finished second in the conference regular season standings. K-State rebounded to win the Big Eight tournament and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 7 seed in the Midwest region. The Wildcats beat No. 10 seed Arkansas in the opening round, then fell to No. 2 seed and eventual National champion Louisville, 71–69 in overtime. Kansas State finished with a record of 22–9 (8–6 Big Eight).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1979* | | Northern Iowa | W 84–38 | 1–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 3, 1979* | | Portland State | W 72–57 | 2–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 5, 1979* | | Oklahoma City | W 83–65 | 3–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 8, 1979* | | Wisconsin–Parkside | W 90–77 | 4–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 10, 1979* | | South Dakota | W 91–59 | 5–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 12, 1979* | | Arizona State | W 63–50 | 6–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 15, 1979* | | at Southern Illinois | W 75–69 | 7–0 | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 17, 1979* | | at Cal State Bakersfield | W 106–53 | 8–0 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Dec 22, 1979* | | at Minnesota | L 61–78 | 8–1 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 30, 1979* | | at No. 19 Arkansas | W 66–57 | 9–1 | Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Jan 2, 1980* | | Long Beach State | W 90–67 | 10–1 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 5, 1980* | | at No. 15 Louisville | L 73–85 | 10–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 9, 1980 | | at Oklahoma State | W 60–59 | 11–2 (1–0) | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| Jan 12, 1980 | | Oklahoma | L 62–72 | 11–3 (1–1) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 16, 1980 | | at Colorado | W 71–65 | 12–3 (2–1) | Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado |
| Jan 19, 1980 | | at Kansas | W 61–52 | 13–3 (3–1) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Jan 23, 1980 | | Iowa State | W 73–63 | 14–3 (4–1) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 26, 1980 | | Nebraska | W 66–64 | 15–3 (5–1) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Jan 30, 1980 | No. 20 | at No. 14 Missouri | W 66–64 | 16–3 (6–1) | Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri |
| Feb 2, 1980 | No. 20 | at Oklahoma | L 55–56 | 16–4 (6–2) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 6, 1980 | | Colorado | W 62–61 | 17–4 (7–2) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Feb 9, 1980 | | Oklahoma State | W 82–72 | 18–4 (8–2) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Feb 13, 1980 | | at Iowa State | L 58–66 | 18–5 (8–3) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Feb 16, 1980 | | Kansas | L 46–48 | 18–6 (8–4) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Feb 20, 1980 | | at Nebraska | L 58–70 | 18–7 (8–5) | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Feb 23, 1980 | | No. 13 Missouri | L 65–67 | 18–8 (8–6) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas |
| Big Eight Tournament ||||||
| Feb 26, 1980* | | vs. Iowa State Quarterfinals | W 101–87 | 19–8 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| Feb 27, 1980* | | vs. Nebraska Semifinals | W 60–59 | 20–8 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| Feb 28, 1980* | | vs. Kansas Championship game | W 79–58 | 21–8 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 1980* | (7 MW) | vs. (10 MW) Arkansas First round | W 71–53 | 22–8 | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Mar 8, 1980* | (7 MW) | vs. (2 MW) No. 2 Louisville Second round | L 69–71 $^{OT}$ | 22–9 | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Rolando Blackman – Big Eight Player of the Year