1980–81 LSU Tigers basketball team

1980–81 LSU Tigers basketball
1980–81 LSU Tigers basketball
SEC regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	31–5 (17–1 SEC)
Head coach	Dale Brown (9th season);
Assistant coaches	Ron Abernathy (5th season); Rick Huckabay (2nd season);
Home arena	LSU Assembly Center
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Last updated May 08, 2025

1980–81 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 LSU	17	–	1	.944	31	–	5	.861
No. 8 Kentucky	15	–	3	.833	22	–	6	.786
No. 15 Tennessee	12	–	6	.667	21	–	8	.724
Alabama	10	–	8	.556	18	–	11	.621
Georgia	9	–	9	.500	19	–	12	.613
Ole Miss †	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	15	–	14	.517
Florida	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Auburn	4	–	14	.222	11	–	16	.407
Mississippi State	3	–	15	.167	8	–	19	.296

† 1981 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll ^[1]

The 1980–81 LSU Tigers basketball team represented Louisiana State University as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1980–81 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by ninth-year head coach Dale Brown, the Fighting Tigers played their home games in the LSU Assembly Center, which would be renamed in memory of Tiger legend Pete Maravich, the NCAA Division I men's basketball career scoring leader, shortly after his death in 1988.

After a loss to Arkansas in the Great Alaska Shootout, the Tigers won 26 consecutive games, 17 in the SEC, before a loss at Kentucky in the regular season finale. The setback in Lexington prevented LSU from becoming the first team to go 18–0 in conference play since the SEC adopted its double round-robin format in 1966-67.

LSU was surprisingly defeated in the SEC Tournament semifinals by Ole Miss, which won the championship to earn its first trip to the big dance.

As No. 1 seed in the Midwest region for the second consecutive year, the Tigers avenged the early season loss to Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen^[2] and defeated Wichita State to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1953.^[3]

Losses in the Final Four at Philadelphia vs. Indiana and Virginia, the latter in the last third-place game ever contested in an NCAA tournament, took some of the luster off the Tigers' spectacular season, leaving them with a final mark of 31–5.

The Hoosiers defeated North Carolina 63–50 in the championship game, marking the third consecutive year LSU lost in the NCAA Tournament to the eventual national champion (Michigan State in 1979, Louisville in 1980). This coincidence recurred in 1986 (Louisville) and 1987 (Indiana).

Following this season, LSU ended its yearly series vs. in-state rival Tulane. The Tigers and Green Wave faced off 201 times between January 1911 and December 1980, but have met only seven times since.

Roster

1980–81 LSU Tigers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	22	Brian Bergeron	6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)	175 lb(79 kg)	Jr	Port Allen, Louisiana
C	34	Tyrone Black	6 ft 8 in(2.03 m)	200 lb(91 kg)	So	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
C	44	Andy Campbell	7 ft 2 in(2.18 m)	235 lb(107 kg)	Sr	Hackham West, South Australia
G/F	32	Howard Carter	6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)	235 lb(107 kg)	So	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
C	43	Greg Cook	6 ft 9 in(2.06 m)	230 lb(104 kg)	Sr	Roselle, New Jersey
G/F	25	Joe Costello	6 ft 7 in(2.01 m)	200 lb(91 kg)	So	Arlington, Texas
G/F	14	Matt England	6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)	180 lb(82 kg)	Fr	Houston, Texas
G	12	Johnny Jones	6 ft 2 in(1.88 m)	170 lb(77 kg)	Fr	DeRidder, Louisiana
F	30	Brian Kistler	6 ft 6 in(1.98 m)	190 lb(86 kg)	Fr	Indianapolis, Indiana
F	40	Durand Macklin	6 ft 7 in(2.01 m)	205 lb(93 kg)	Sr	Louisville, Kentucky
G	21	Ethan Martin	6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)	170 lb(77 kg)	Sr	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
F	24	Leonard Mitchell	6 ft 7 in(2.01 m)	190 lb(86 kg)	Fr	St. Martinville, Louisiana
G	10	Willie Sims	6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)	200 lb(91 kg)	Sr	Long Island City, New York
G	20	John Tudor	6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)	180 lb(82 kg)	Fr	Pineville, Louisiana

Head coach

Dale Brown

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2016-Mar-12

^[4]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1980*	No. 12	vs. Colgate Great Alaska Shootout	W 79–61	1–0	Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska
Nov 29, 1980*	No. 12	vs. No. 20 Arkansas Great Alaska Shootout	L 76–86	1–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska
Nov 30, 1980*	No. 12	vs. No. 16 Georgetown Great Alaska Shootout	W 76–67	2–1	Buckner Fieldhouse (2,000) Fort Richardson, Alaska
Dec 6, 1980*	No. 15	Tulane	W 119–81	3–1	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 13, 1980*	No. 11	Nevada-Las Vegas	W 87–73	4–1	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 18, 1980*	No. 10	at New Orleans	W 96–66	5–1	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 20, 1980*	No. 10	at Tulane	W 86–72	6–1	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 22, 1980*	No. 10	Xavier	W 78–62	7–1	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 29, 1980*	No. 10	North Carolina-Wilmington	W 100–68	8–1	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 30, 1980*	No. 10	Saint Francis (PA)	W 91–65	9–1	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 3, 1981	No. 10	at Florida	W 92–66	10–1 (1–0)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 7, 1981	No. 9	Vanderbilt	W 77–61	11–1 (2–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 10, 1981	No. 9	at Mississippi State	W 81–69	12–1 (3–0)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 14, 1981	No. 6	at Alabama	W 59–56	13–1 (4–0)	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 17, 1981	No. 6	Georgia	W 78–65	14–1 (5–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 19, 1981	No. 5	No. 6 Kentucky	W 81–67	15–1 (6–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 21, 1981	No. 5	at Auburn	W 74–64	16–1 (7–0)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama
Jan 24, 1981	No. 5	No. 8 Tennessee	W 80–63	17–1 (8–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 28, 1981	No. 4	at Ole Miss	W 63–59	18–1 (9–0)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi
Jan 31, 1981	No. 4	Florida	W 92–75	19–1 (10–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 4, 1981	No. 4	at Vanderbilt	W 86–81	20–1 (11–0)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 7, 1981	No. 4	Mississippi State	W 94–89	21–1 (12–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 11, 1981	No. 4	Alabama	W 70–57	22–1 (13–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 14, 1981	No. 4	at Georgia	W 64–62	23–1 (14–0)	Georgia Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Feb 18, 1981	No. 4	Auburn	W 58–47	24–1 (15–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 21, 1981	No. 4	at No. 8 Tennessee	W 66–65	25–1 (16–0)	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 22, 1981*	No. 4	Texas A&M	W 67–57	26–1	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 25, 1981	No. 2	Ole Miss	W 74–67	27–1 (17–0)	LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Mar 1, 1981 NBC	No. 2	at No. 9 Kentucky	L 71–73	27–2 (17–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
SEC Tournament
Mar 5, 1981*	(1) No. 3	vs. (8) Florida Quarterfinals	W 85–73	28–2	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 6, 1981*	(1) No. 3	vs. (5) Georgia Semifinals	L 60–68	28–3	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1981*	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (8 MW) Lamar Second round	W 100–78	29–3	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
Mar 20, 1981* 9:05 p.m.	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (5 MW) No. 20 Arkansas Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 72–56^[2]	30–3	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 22, 1981* 2:05 p.m.	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (6 MW) Wichita State Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 96–85^[3]	31–3	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 28, 1981* 12:45 p.m.	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (3 ME) No. 9 Indiana National semifinal – Final Four	L 49–67^[5]	31–4	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 30, 1981* 5 p.m.	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (1 E) No. 5 Virginia Third-place game	L 74–78	31–5	The Spectrum (18,276) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:**██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	12	15	11	10	10	10	9	6	5	4	4	4	4	2	3	4
Coaches	13	13^	11	12	12	11	10	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	4

^Coaches did not release a week-1 poll.

NBA draft

References

↑ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
1 2 "L.S.U., WICHITA WIN IN MIDWEST". The New York Times . March 21, 1981. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
1 2 "LSU Captures Midwest Final, Defeats Wichita State by 96-85". The New York Times . March 23, 1981. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
↑ "1981 NCAA Final Four program". March 1981.{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
↑ "HOOISERS ROMP AS L.S.U. OFFENSE FAILS". The New York Times . March 29, 1981. Retrieved December 12, 2021.

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[1] sports-reference.com 1980-81 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[ncaa-ark-2] 1 2 "L.S.U., WICHITA WIN IN MIDWEST". The New York Times . March 21, 1981. Retrieved December 12, 2021.

[ncaa-wsu-3] 1 2 "LSU Captures Midwest Final, Defeats Wichita State by 96-85". The New York Times . March 23, 1981. Retrieved December 12, 2021.

[4] "1981 NCAA Final Four program". March 1981.{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

[ncaa-ind-5] "HOOISERS ROMP AS L.S.U. OFFENSE FAILS". The New York Times . March 29, 1981. Retrieved December 12, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e LSU Tigers men's basketball
Venues	State Field (1908–1924) Gym/Armory (1930–1937) John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum (1937–1971) Pete Maravich Assembly Center (1972–present) LSU Basketball Practice Facility LSU Strength and Conditioning facility Martin J. Broussard Center for Athletic Training LSU Academic Center for Student-Athletes
Culture & lore	Traditions Mike the Tiger Bengal Brass One & Done
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics