1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University as a member of the Big Eight Conference in the 1980–81 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 finished second in the conference regular season standings and received a bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 8 seed in the West region. The Wildcats beat No. 9 seed San Francisco in the opening round,^[2] then upset No. 1 seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed Illinois to reach the regional final where they lost to North Carolina in Elite Eight, 82–68.^[3] Kansas State finished with a record of 24–9 (9–5 Big Eight).

1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	24–9 (9–5 Big Eight)
Head coach	Jack Hartman (11th season)
Assistant coach	Lon Kruger (2nd season)
Home arena	Ahearn Field House
Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Missouri	10	–	4		.714			22	–	10		.688
Kansas State	9	–	5		.643			24	–	9		.727
Nebraska	9	–	5		.643			15	–	12		.556
Kansas †	9	–	5		.643			24	–	8		.750
Oklahoma State	8	–	6		.571			18	–	9		.667
Colorado	5	–	9		.357			16	–	12		.571
Oklahoma	4	–	10		.286			9	–	18		.333
Iowa State	2	–	12		.143			9	–	18		.333
† 1981 Big Eight tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Roster

1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 12 Tim Jankovich 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Manhattan, Kansas G 25 Rolando Blackman 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Brooklyn, New York F 45 Ed Nealy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 238 lb (108 kg) Jr Bonner Springs, Kansas F 52 Randy Reed 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr St. Louis, Missouri	Head coach Jack Hartman Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

^[4]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 29*		Northern Iowa	W 72–54	1–0	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
December 1*		South Dakota	W 83–50	2–0	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
December 6*		at Arizona	W 55–53	3–0	McKale Center  Tucson, Arizona
December 8*		at No. 15 Arizona State	L 61–84	3–1	ASU Activity Center  Tempe, Arizona
December 13*		Wisconsin-Parkside	W 72–58	4–1	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
December 20*		US International	W 76–45	5–1	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
December 23*		No. 15 Indiana	L 44–51	5–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
December 27*		vs. No. 17 Arkansas	W 47–46	6–2	Kansas City, Mo
December 31*		Fresno State	W 47–39	7–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
January 3*		Louisville	W 64–47	8–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
January 6*		Oklahoma City	W 97–79	9–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
January 10*		Eastern Illinois	W 74–62	10–2	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
January 14		at Nebraska	L 49–59	10–3 (0–1)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
January 17		at Colorado	W 63–62	11–3 (1–1)	CU Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
January 21		Oklahoma State	L 83–90	11–4 (1–2)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
January 24		at Oklahoma	L 63–65	11–5 (1–3)	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
January 28		No. 18 Kansas	W 54–43	12–5 (2–3)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
January 31		at Iowa State	W 75–62	13–5 (3–3)	Hilton Coliseum (11,238) Ames, Iowa
February 4		Missouri	W 75–65	14–5 (4–3)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
February 7		Colorado	W 82–62	15–5 (5–3)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
February 11		at Oklahoma State	W 73–70	16–5 (6–3)	Gallagher-Iba Arena  Stillwater, Oklahoma
February 14		Nebraska	W 66–49	17–5 (7–3)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
February 18		at Kansas	L 49–51	17–6 (7–4)	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
February 21		Oklahoma	W 108–71	18–6 (8–4)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
February 25		Iowa State	W 67–60	19–6 (9–4)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
February 28		at Missouri	L 43–46	19–7 (9–5)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Big 8 Tournament
March 3		Oklahoma	W 75–56	20–7 (9–5)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
March 4		vs. Colorado	W 64–61	21–7 (9–5)	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
March 5		vs. Kansas	L 68–80	21–8 (9–5)	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
March 12	(8 W)	vs. (9 W) San Francisco	W 64–60	22–8 (9–5)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, California
March 14	(8 W)	vs. (1 W) No. 2 Oregon State	W 50–48^[5]	23–8 (9–5)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, California
March 19	(8 W)	vs. (4 W) No. 19 Illinois West Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 57–52	24–8 (9–5)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
March 21	(8 W)	vs. (2 W) No. 6 North Carolina West Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 68–82	24–9 (9–5)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

Source^[6][7]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	9	Rolando Blackman	Dallas Mavericks

References

1. sports-reference.com 1980-81 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
2. "Kansas State Rallies to Win". The Washington Post. March 13, 1981. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
3. "VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA REACH N.C.A.A. FINAL FOUR". The New York Times. March 22, 1981. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
4. "1980-81 Men's Basketball Roster". Kansas State University Athletics. February 19, 2023.
5. "March 14, 1981: When the NCAA tournament became Madness". Sports Illustrated. March 14, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2023. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
6. "1980-81 Kansas State Wildcats Schedule and Results". CBBRef. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
7. "1980-81 K-State Schedule". K-State Basketball. K-State Athletics. Retrieved July 12, 2021.