1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

The 1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hilltoppers were members of the Ohio Valley Conference and led by OVC Coach of the Year Clem Haskins, in his first season as head coach.^[1] WKU won the OVC regular season and tournament championships and received the conference's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.^[2] Craig McCormick and Tony Wilson made the All-OVC Team, and Wilson and Percy White were selected to the OVC Tournament Team.^[3]

1980–81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
OVC Tournament Champion Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	21–8 (12–2 OVC)
Head coach	Clem Haskins
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena
Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Western Kentucky †	12	–	2		.857			21	–	8		.724
Murray State	10	–	4		.714			17	–	10		.630
Middle Tennessee	9	–	5		.643			18	–	9		.667
Austin Peay	7	–	7		.500			14	–	13		.519
Eastern Kentucky	7	–	7		.500			10	–	16		.385
Akron	5	–	9		.357			8	–	18		.308
Morehead State	4	–	10		.286			11	–	15		.423
Tennessee Tech	2	–	12		.143			6	–	20		.231
† 1981 OVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Cultural relevance

Haskins broke the color barrier this season at Western Kentucky, becoming the first African American head coach in school history. This came 16 years after he, and Dwight Smith, became the first African Americans to play Hilltopper basketball.^[4]

Schedule

^[5]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/28/1980*		South Carolina Wendy’s Classic	W 73–69	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
11/29/1980*		Vanderbilt Wendy’s Classic	L 76–78	1–1	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
12/1/1980*		Alabama–Huntsville	W 83–73	2–1	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
12/4/1980*		at Texas Tech	L 58–68	2–2	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum  Lubbock, TX
12/6/1980*		at Rice	W 76–63	3–2	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
12/9/1980*		at Dayton	L 70–74	3–3	UD Arena  Dayton, OH
12/13/1980*		Evansville	L 70–73	4–3	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
12/29/1980*		vs. Saint Louis Connecticut Mutual Classic	W 57–54	5–3	Hartford Civic Center  Hartford, CT
12/30/1980		at Connecticut Connecticut Mutual Classic	L 58–84	5–4	Hartford Civic Center  Hartford, CT
1/3/1981*		District of Columbia	W 86–84 ^3OT	6–4	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/5/1981		at Akron	W 68–62	7–4 (1-0)	James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
1/10/1981		at Tennessee Tech	W 65–51	8–4 (2-0)	Eblen Center  Cookeville, TN
1/15/1981		at Murray State	L 57–59 ^OT	8–5 (2-1)	Racer Arena  Murray, KY
1/17/1981		Austin Peay	W 70–58	9–5 (3-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/22/1981		Middle Tennessee	W 67–55	10–5 (4-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/24/1981		Morehead State	W 75–68	11–5 (5-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1/29/1981		at Eastern Kentucky	W 84–80	12–5 (6-1)	Alumni Coliseum  Richmond, KY
1/31/1981		at Morehead State	W 77–65	13–5 (7-1)	Ellis Johnson Arena  Morehead, KY
2/5/1981		Akron	W 83–61	14–5 (8-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/7/1981		Tennessee Tech	W 72–59	15–5 (9-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/12/1981		at Austin Peay	W 62–59	16–5 (10-1)	Dunn Center  Clarksville, TN
2/14/1981		Murray State	W 66–44	17–5 (11-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/19/1981		at Middle Tennessee	L 54–62	17–6 (11-2)	Murphy Center  Murfreesboro, TN
2/21/1981		Eastern Kentucky	W 78–62	18–6 (12-2)	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/27/1982*		Northern Iowa	W 69–64	19–6	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
2/28/1981*		at No. 20 Louisville	L 75–90	19–7	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
1981 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
3/6/1981	(1)	(4) Austin Peay Semifinals	W 82–71	20–7	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
3/7/1981	(1)	(2) Murray State Championship	W 71–67	21–7	E. A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, KY
1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament
3/13/1981*	(10 ME)	vs. (7 ME) UAB First Round	L 68–93	21–8	Memorial Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

1. Clem Haskins 1996 USA Men's Olympic Team Assistant Coach, Washington Post online, retrieved 5 May 2020
2. 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
3. 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
4. Lowell H. Harrison (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.
5. 1980-81 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 4 May 2020