# 1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by first year head coach Bill Mulligan and played their home games at the Crawford Hall. They were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished the season 17–10 and 9–5 in PCAA play.

## Previous season

The 1979–80 Anteaters finished the season with a record of 9–18 and 1–13 in PCAA play. They anteaters were invited to the PCAA tournament where they lost in the first round against the Long Beach State 49ers. Coach Tim Tift announced his resignation as coach of the anteaters with 6 games remaining in the season. Saddleback College coach Bill Mulligan was announced as the new coach on March 1.

## Off-season
### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ray Donnelly | F | 6'6" | N/A | Jr. | N/A | Transfer from Arizona |
| Kevin Fuller | G | 6'3" | N/A | Jr. | N/A | Junior College transfer from Long Beach City College(CA) |
| Leonard Johnson | G | 6'3" | N/A | Jr. | N/A | Transfer from Utah |
| Kevin Magee | F | 6'8" | N/A | Jr. | Gary, Indiana | Junior college transfer from Saddleback College(CA) |
| Grant Taylor | F | 6'8" | N/A | Jr. | N/A | Junior College transfer from Cypress College(CA) |
| Randy Whieldon | G | 6'4" | N/A | Jr. | N/A | Junior College transfer from Saddleback College(CA) |
| Jason Works | G | 5'10" | N/A | Jr. | N/A | Junior College transfer from Los Angeles City College |

### 1980 recruiting class

Source:
US college sports recruiting information for 1980 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Ben McDonald F | N/A | Long Beach Poly (CA) | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A |||||||
| Curtis Crossley F | N/A | Eastridge High School (IL) | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference Season ||||||
| November 28, 1980* | VMI | W 125–96 | 1–0 | Crawford Hall (1,348) Irvine, CA |
| December 6, 1980* | at UNLV | L 95–124 | 1–1 | Las Vegas Convention Center (6.380) Winchester, NV |
| December 11, 1980* | Chicago Circle | W 98–61 | 2–1 | Crawford Hall (1,294) Irvine, CA |
| December 13, 1980* | at Stanford | L 84–98 | 2–2 | Maples Pavilion (2,393) Stanford, CA |
| December 15, 1980* | Western Washington | W 110–82 | 3–2 | Crawford Hall (831) Irvine, CA |
| December 19, 1980* | vs. San Francisco Golden Gate Invitational | L 83–93 | 3–3 | War Memorial Gymnasium (3,695) San Francisco, CA |
| December 20, 1980* | vs. Miami(OH) Golden Gate Invitational | L 99–109 | 3–4 | War Memorial Gymnasium (4,295) San Francisco, CA |
| December 22, 1980* | UMKC | W 110–71 | 4–4 | Crawford Hall (924) Irvine, CA |
| December 29, 1980* | vs. No. 11 Texas A&M KOA Classic | W 91–74 | 5–4 | MetraPark Arena (5,625) Billings, MT |
| December 30, 1980* | vs. Montana KOA Classic | W 65–63 $^{OT}$ | 6–4 | MetraPark Arena (4,673) Billings, MT |
| January 3, 1981* | Portland State | W 90–64 | 7–4 | Crawford Hall (1,543) Irvine, CA |
| January 10, 1981* | San Diego | W 108–62 | 8–4 | Crawford Hall (1,611) Irvine, CA |
| Conference Season ||||||
| January 15, 1981 | Cal State Fullerton | W 99–84 | 9–4 (1–0) | Crawford Hall (1,676) Irvine, CA |
| January 17, 1981 | UC Santa Barbara | W 65–56 | 10–4 (2–0) | Crawford Hall (1,608) Irvine, CA |
| January 22, 1981 | at Pacific | W 88–72 | 11–4 (3–0) | Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium (3,059) Stockton, CA |
| January 24, 1981 | at Fresno State | L 51–64 | 11–5 (3–1) | Selland Arena (6,530) Fresno, CA |
| January 29, 1981 | at Long Beach State | L 59–70 | 11–6 (3–2) | Long Beach Arena (6,147) Long Beach, CA |
| January 31, 1981 | Long Beach State | L 78–82 | 11–7 (3–3) | Crawford Hall (1,719) Irvine, CA |
| February 5, 1981 | San Jose State | W 90–78 | 12–7 (4–3) | Crawford Hall (1,421) Irvine, CA |
| February 7, 1981 | Utah State | W 117–110 $^{2OT}$ | 13–7 (5–3) | Crawford Hall (1,557) Irvine, CA |
| February 12, 1981 | at Utah State | W 101–99 | 14–7 (6–3) | Smith Spectrum (6,477) Logan, UT |
| February 14, 1981 | at San Jose State | W 50–49 | 15–7 (7–3) | Spartan Gym (2,412) San Jose, CA |
| February 19, 1981 | Fresno State | L 55–70 | 15–8 (7–4) | Crawford Hall (1,663) Irvine, CA |
| February 21, 1981 | Pacific | W 90–82 | 16–8 (8–4) | Crawford Hall (1,472) Irvine, CA |
| February 26, 1981 | at UC Santa Barbara | L 66–67 | 16–9 (8–5) | UC Santa Barbara Events Center (2,274) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 28, 1981 | at Cal State Fullerton | W 75–69 | 17–9 (9–5) | Titan Gym (2,912) Fullerton, CA |
| PCAA tournament ||||||
| March 5, 1981 | vs. Utah State Quarterfinals | L 90–93 | 17–10 | Anaheim Convention Center (6,269) Anaheim, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||
Source

## Awards and honors

* Kevin Magee
** AP First Team All-American
** PCAA Player of the Year
** PCAA First Team All-Conference
* Ben McDonald
** PCAA Freshman of the Year
** PCAA All-Freshman Team