# 1979–80 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Jim Dutcher, the Gophers played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Minnesota finished tied for fourth in the rugged Big Ten Conference (Indiana and Ohio State were top 10 teams throughout the season while Iowa and Purdue reached the Final Four) with a record of 10–8, but were left out of the 48-team NCAA Tournament. The Gophers went on to reach the championship game of the 1980 NIT, where they fell to Virginia and college legend Ralph Sampson, and finished with an overall record of 21–11.
Senior forward Kevin McHale finished his career as the school-record holder in blocks while also establishing the single-season record (surpassed three seasons later by teammate Randy Breuer). He finished second on the career scoring and rebounding charts. McHale was taken by the Boston Celtics with the No. 3 pick in the 1980 NBA draft.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 30, 1979* | Eastern Michigan | W 77–56 | 1–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 3, 1979* | Fresno State | W 65–49 | 2–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 5, 1979* | North Dakota | W 87–60 | 3–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 15, 1979* | Nebraska | W 75–58 | 4–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 17, 1979* | at Tennessee | L 64–71 | 4–1 | Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 20, 1979* | at Florida State | L 91–112 | 4–2 | Tully Gymnasium Tallahassee, Florida |
| Dec 22, 1979* | Kansas State | W 78–61 | 5–2 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 28, 1979* | Rutgers | W 98–59 | 6–2 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 29, 1979* | at Texas A&M | W 69–63 | 7–2 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Big Ten Conference Regular Season ||||||
| Jan 3, 1980 | at Michigan | L 67–71 | 7–3 (0–1) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 5, 1980 | at Michigan State | W 93–80 | 8–3 (1–1) | Jenison Field House East Lansing, Michigan |
| Jan 10, 1980 | Wisconsin | W 82–76 $^{OT}$ | 9–3 (2–1) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 12, 1980* | Illinois | W 79–75 | 10–3 (3–1) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 17, 1980 | at No. 2 Ohio State | L 70–75 $^{OT}$ | 10–4 (3–2) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Jan 19, 1980 | No. 11 Purdue | W 67–61 | 11–4 (4–2) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 24, 1980 | No. 16 Indiana | W 55–47 | 12–4 (5–2) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 26, 1980 | at Iowa | L 73–80 | 12–5 (5–3) | Iowa Field House Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 31, 1980 | at Northwestern | W 74–64 | 13–5 (6–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| Feb 2, 1980 | Iowa | L 63–73 | 13–6 (6–4) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Feb 7, 1980 | at No. 12 Purdue | L 56–58 | 13–7 (6–5) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Feb 9, 1980 | Northwestern | W 72–55 | 14–7 (7–5) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Feb 14, 1980 | No. 9 Ohio State | W 74–70 | 15–7 (8–5) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Feb 16, 1980 | at Indiana | L 54–67 | 15–8 (8–6) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Feb 21, 1980 | at Illinois | L 58–60 $^{OT}$ | 15–9 (8–7) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| Feb 23, 1980 | at Wisconsin | L 55–70 | 15–10 (8–8) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| Feb 28, 1980 | Michigan State | W 87–73 | 16–10 (9–8) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Mar 1, 1980 | Michigan | W 68–67 | 17–10 (10–8) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1980* | Bowling Green First Round | W 64–50 | 18–10 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Mar 10, 1980* | Mississippi Second Round | W 58–56 | 19–10 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Mar 13, 1980* | Southwestern Louisiana Quarterfinal | W 94–73 | 20–10 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Mar 17, 1980* | vs. Illinois Semifinal | W 65–63 | 21–10 | Madison Square Garden (11,223) New York, New York |
| Mar 19, 1980* | vs. Virginia Championship game | L 55–58 | 21–11 | Madison Square Garden (13,598) New York, New York |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Team players in the 1980 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 3 | Kevin McHale | Boston Celtics |