1981–82 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball team represented California State University, Fresno during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Boyd Grant's fifth season at Fresno State. The Bulldogs played their home games at Selland Arena and were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished the season 27–3, 13–1 in PCAA play to win the conference regular season title. They defeated Cal State Fullerton to win the PCAA tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs lost in the Sweet Sixteen to eventual runner-up Georgetown, 58–40.^[1]

1981–82 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball
PCAA Regular season champion PCAA tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Pacific Coast Athletic Association Conference
Record	27–3 (13–1 PCAA)
Head coach	Boyd Grant (5th season)
Home arena	Selland Arena
Seasons ← 1980–81 1982–83 →

1981–82 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 11 Fresno State†	13	–	1		.929			27	–	3		.900
UC Irvine	10	–	4		.714			23	–	7		.767
Cal State Fullerton	9	–	5		.643			18	–	14		.563
San Jose State	7	–	7		.500			13	–	13		.500
Long Beach State	7	–	7		.500			12	–	16		.429
UC Santa Barbara	5	–	9		.357			10	–	16		.385
Pacific	3	–	11		.214			7	–	20		.259
Utah State	2	–	12		.143			4	–	23		.148
† 1982 PCAA tournament winner

Roster

1981–82 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 22 Rod Higgins 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Thornton Township Harvey, Illinois F 34 Bernard Thompson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So South Mountain HS Phoenix, Arizona	Head coach Boyd Grant (Colorado State) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
Nov ?, 1981*		University of Victoria	W 49–45	0–0	Selland Arena (4,958) Fresno, California
Regular season
Nov 27, 1981*		Oklahoma City Sun Met Classic	W 68–48	1–0	Selland Arena (6,530) Fresno, California
Nov 28, 1981*		Nevada Sun Met Classic	W 64–52	2–0	Selland Arena (6,530) Fresno, California
Nov 30, 1981*		Saint Martin's	W 60–31	3–0	Selland Arena (6,460) Fresno, California
Dec 5, 1981*		at Air Force	W 45–37	4–0	Clune Arena  Colorado Springs, Colorado
Dec 11, 1981*		vs. Ole Miss Bayou Classic	W 46–44	5–0	Blackham Coliseum  Lafayette, Louisiana
Dec 12, 1981*		at No. 18 Southwestern Louisiana Bayou Classic	L 51–57	5–1	Blackham Coliseum  Lafayette, Louisiana
Dec 18, 1981*		Northern Illinois	W 81–56	6–1	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Dec 21, 1981*		UC Davis	W 75–43	7–1	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Dec 28, 1981*		New Mexico State	W 48–41	8–1	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Jan 4, 1982*		Lamar	W 56–36	9–1	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Jan 7, 1982*		Pepperdine	W 63–46	10–1	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Jan 14, 1982		Pacific	W 74–40	11–1 (1–0)	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Jan 16, 1982		Utah State	W 71–50	12–1 (2–0)	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Jan 21, 1982		at UC Santa Barbara	W 40–38	13–1 (3–0)	The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, California
Jan 23, 1982		at Cal State Fullerton	W 43–40	14–1 (4–0)	Titan Gym  Fullerton, California
Jan 28, 1982		San Jose State	W 63–45	15–1 (5–0)	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Jan 30, 1982		at San Jose State	W 47–36	16–1 (6–0)	San Jose Civic Auditorium  San Jose, California
Feb 4, 1982		at Long Beach State	L 42–45 ^OT	16–2 (6–1)	Long Beach Arena  Long Beach, California
Feb 6, 1982		vs. UC Irvine	W 55–49 ^OT	17–2 (7–1)	Long Beach Arena (8,456) Long Beach, California
Feb 27, 1982		at Utah State	W 73–61	24–2 (13–1)	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum  Logan, Utah
PCAA Tournament
Mar 5, 1982*	(1) No. 12	vs. (5) Long Beach State Semifinals	W 76–55	25–2	Anaheim Convention Center  Anaheim, California
Mar 6, 1982*	(1) No. 12	vs. (3) Cal State Fullerton Championship game	W 69–57	26–2	Anaheim Convention Center  Anaheim, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1982*	(4 W) No. 11	vs. (5 W) No. 14 West Virginia Second round	W 50–46^[2]	27–2	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum  Logan, Utah
Mar 18, 1982* 10:40 pm, CBS	(4 W) No. 11	vs. (1 W) No. 6 Georgetown West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 40–58^[1]	27–3	Marriott Center (15,237) Provo, Utah
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time.

^[3]

Rankings

Main article: 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[4]

NBA draft

Main article: 1982 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	31	Rod Higgins	Chicago Bulls

^[5]

References

1. "ALA.-BIRMINGHAM OUSTS VIRGINIA; GEORGETOWN GAINS; FRESNO STATE FALLS, 58-40-OREGON STATE ROUTS IDAHO". The New York Times. March 19, 1982. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
2. "Georgetown, N. Carolina Gain; Hoyas Overcome Foul Problems". The New York Times. March 14, 1982. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
3. "1981–82 Fresno State Bulldogs Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
4. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 892–893. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.
5. "1982 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2022.