# 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

In 1981, Illinois made strides in its return to the national spotlight with a 21-8 record, a third-place Big Ten finish and an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The team received a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament and beat Wyoming, 67-65, in Los Angeles to advance to the regionals in Salt Lake City, where Illinois lost to Kansas State, 57-52. During this season, the Fighting Illini led the Big Ten in scoring for the second consecutive season and were again led by Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith. Guards Craig Tucker and Derek Harper arrived to add backcourt punch, and Harper began his Illini career being named First-Team Freshman All-America by ESPN and ABC.
This season marked a change in location and name for the annual game with Missouri. The name was altered from the "Show-Me Classic" to the "Braggin' Rights" and took on a permanent location, St. Louis, with the St. Louis Arena as its original home. Prior to 1980, the location of the game alternated from Assembly Hall and the Hearnes Center. Since 1994, the game is played at the Scottrade Center.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 11/29/1980* no, no | | Loyola Marymount | W 98-65 | 1-0 | Assembly Hall (11,168) Champaign, IL |
| 12/6/1980* no, no | | TCU | W 84-62 | 2-0 | Assembly Hall (14,370) Champaign, IL |
| 12/10/1980* no, no | | vs. No. 14 Missouri Braggin' Rights | W 84-62 | 3-0 | St. Louis Arena (14,370) St. Louis, MO |
| 12/13/1980* no, no | | Marquette | W 69-68 | 4-0 | U.S. Cellular Arena (11,052) Milwaukee, WI |
| 12/19/1980* no, no | No. 17 | vs. No. 18 BYU Volunteer Classic | L 75-88 | 4-1 | Stokely Athletic Center (12,700) Knoxville, TN |
| 12/20/1980* no, no | No. 17 | vs. Iona Volunteer Classic | W 106-84 | 5-1 | Stokely Athletic Center (12,700) Knoxville, TN |
| 12/26/1980* no, no | No. 18 | Ohio Illini Classic | W 84-54 | 6-1 | Assembly Hall (14,230) Champaign, IL |
| 12/27/1980* no, no | No. 18 | Oklahoma Illini Classic | W 93-63 | 7-1 | Assembly Hall (15,411) Champaign, IL |
| 1/3/1981* no, no | No. 16 | SIU Edwardsville | W 108-68 | 8-1 | Assembly Hall (11,443) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/8/1981 no, no | No. 12 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 88-64 | 9-1 (1-0) | McGaw Memorial Hall (7,741) Evanston, IL |
| 1/10/1981 no, no | No. 12 | at Indiana Rivalry | L 61-78 | 9-2 (1-1) | Assembly Hall (17,083) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/15/1981 no, no | No. 18 | Purdue | W 87-65 | 10-2 (2-1) | Assembly Hall (16,506) Champaign, IL |
| 1/17/1981 no, no | No. 18 | No. 20 Minnesota | W 80-76 | 11-2 (3-1) | Assembly Hall (16,630) Champaign, IL |
| 1/22/1981 no, no | No. 15 | at No. 16 Michigan | L 76-80 | 11-3 (3-2) | Crisler Center (11,055) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 1/24/1981 no, no | No. 15 | Wisconsin | L 45-54 | 11-4 (3-3) | Assembly Hall (16,495) Champaign, IL |
| 1/29/1981 no, no | | at Michigan State | W 71-70 | 12-4 (4-3) | Jenison Fieldhouse (7,443) East Lansing, MI |
| 1/31/1981 no, no | | No. 13 Iowa Rivalry | W 79-66 | 13-4 (5-3) | Assembly Hall (16,555) Champaign, IL |
| 2/5/1981 no, no | No. 18 | Ohio State | W 82-63 | 14-4 (6-3) | Assembly Hall (16,586) Champaign, IL |
| 2/7/1981 no, no | No. 18 | at No. 15 Iowa Rivalry | L 66-72 | 14-5 (6-4) | Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/12/1981 no, no | No. 17 | at Wisconsin | W 84-65 | 15-5 (7-4) | Wisconsin Field House (7,334) Madison, WI |
| 2/14/1981 no, no | No. 17 | at Ohio State | W 63-57 | 16-5 (8-4) | St. John Arena (13,591) Columbus, OH |
| 2/19/1981 no, no | No. 15 | No. 18 Michigan | W 67-64 | 17-5 (9-4) | Assembly Hall (16,492) Champaign, IL |
| 2/21/1981 no, no | No. 15 | Michigan State | W 82-62 | 18-5 (10-4) | Assembly Hall (16,559) Champaign, IL |
| 2/26/1981 no, no | No. 14 | at Minnesota | L 59-76 | 18-6 (10-5) | Williams Arena (16,290) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/28/1981 no, no | No. 14 | at Purdue | W 81-70 | 19-6 (11-5) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| 3/5/1981 no, no | No. 16 | No. 14 Indiana Rivalry | L 66-69 | 19-7 (11-6) | Assembly Hall (16,663) Champaign, IL |
| 3/7/1981 no, no | No. 16 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 98-76 | 20-7 (12-6) | Assembly Hall (16,622) Champaign, IL |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| 3/14/1981* no, no | (4 W) No. 19 | vs. (5 W) No. 17 Wyoming Second Round | W 67-65 | 21-7 | Pauley Pavilion (12,340) Los Angeles, CA |
| 3/19/1981* no, no | (4 W) No. 19 | vs. (8 W) Kansas State Regional semifinals | L 52-57 | 21-7 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,450) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Minutes Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
| Eddie Johnson | 29 | 1009 | 219 | 62 | 267 | 70 | 6 | 30 | 500 |
| Mark Smith | 29 | 914 | 150 | 102 | 172 | 98 | 18 | 36 | 402 |
| Craig Tucker | 29 | 615 | 117 | 76 | 39 | 58 | 3 | 19 | 310 |
| Perry Range | 29 | 815 | 101 | 65 | 115 | 70 | 0 | 33 | 267 |
| Derek Harper | 29 | 934 | 104 | 33 | 75 | 156 | 8 | 39 | 241 |
| James Griffin | 29 | 519 | 117 | 76 | 39 | 58 | 3 | 18 | 227 |
| Derek Holcomb | 29 | 635 | 70 | 31 | 148 | 40 | 42 | 14 | 171 |
| Bryan Leonard | 25 | 200 | 26 | 7 | 44 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 59 |
| Kevin Bontempts | 19 | 78 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 36 |
| Quinn Richardson | 22 | 62 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 25 |
| Sherrod Arnold | 7 | 44 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Mitch Arnold | 3 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Eddie Johnson
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Derek Harper
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Eddie Johnson | Kansas City Kings | 2 | 29 |
| Derek Holcomb | Portland Trail Blazers | 3 | 50 |
| Mark Smith | Milwaukee Bucks | 3 | 67 |