1981–82 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team represented the Oregon State University as a member of the Pacific 10 Conference during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by twelfth-year head coach Ralph Miller and played their home games on campus at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon.

1981–82 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball
Pac-10 champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Pac-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	25–5 (16–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Ralph Miller (12th season)
MVP	Lester Conner, G^[1]
Home arena	Gill Coliseum
Seasons ← 1980–81 1982–83 →

1981–82 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Oregon State	16	–	2		.889			25	–	5		.833
No. 19 UCLA	14	–	4		.778			21	–	6		.778
USC	13	–	5		.722			19	–	9		.679
Washington	11	–	7		.611			19	–	10		.655
Washington State	10	–	8		.556			16	–	14		.533
California	8	–	10		.444			14	–	13		.519
Arizona State	8	–	10		.444			13	–	14		.481
Oregon	4	–	14		.222			9	–	18		.333
Arizona	4	–	14		.222			9	–	18		.333
Stanford	2	–	16		.111			7	–	20		.259
As of April 15, 1982^[2] Rankings from AP Poll

Oregon State finished the regular season at 23–4 (16–2 Pac-10), won a third consecutive conference title (by two games),^[3] and were ranked fourth in both polls.^[4] Despite dropping the regular season finale at Arizona State,^[5] they did not drop in the rankings,^[4] and were seeded second in the West region of the NCAA tournament.^[6]

The Beavers received an opening round bye, defeated Pepperdine in Pullman,^[7][8] and third-seeded Idaho in the Sweet Sixteen at Provo.^[9][10][11] In the regional final (Elite Eight), Oregon State lost 45–69 to eventual national runner-up Georgetown,^[12][13] and finished at 25–5.^[12]

Roster

1981–82 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 32 Lester Conner 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Oakland, California F 52 Charlie Sitton 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So McMinnville, Oregon F 45 A.C. Green 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Portland, Oregon	Head coach Ralph Miller Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Source:^[14]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1981*		Bradley	W 81–55	1–0	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 4, 1981*		at No. 15 Brigham Young	W 56–44	2–0	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
Dec 11, 1981*	No. 19	at Portland	L 63–68	2–1	Howard Hall  Portland, Oregon
Dec 12, 1981*	No. 19	Pepperdine	W 84–69	3–1	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 18, 1981*	No. 20	vs. Penn Suntory Bowl	W 102–64	4–1	Tokyo, Japan
Dec 20, 1981*	No. 20	vs. No. 3 Louisville Suntory Bowl	W 62–56	5–1	Tokyo, Japan
Dec 26, 1981*	No. 16	vs. Pittsburgh Far West Classic	W 88–58	6–1	Memorial Coliseum  Portland, Oregon
Dec 27, 1981* 7:00 p.m.	No. 15	vs. Idaho Far West Classic	L 49–71	6–2	Memorial Coliseum (12,083) Portland, Oregon
Dec 28, 1981*	No. 15	at Portland Far West Classic	W 61–55	7–2	Memorial Coliseum  Portland, Oregon
Jan 2, 1982	No. 15	Arizona State	W 74–43	8–2 (1–0)	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 4, 1982	No. 17	Arizona	W 68–55	9–2 (2–0)	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 9, 1982	No. 17	at California	W 74–43	10–2 (3–0)	Harmon Gym  Berkeley, California
Jan 11, 1982	No. 15	at Stanford	W 81–38	11–2 (4–0)	Maples Pavilion  Stanford, California
Jan 16, 1982 8:00 p.m.	No. 15	at Oregon	W 76–61	12–2 (5–0)	McArthur Court (9,318) Eugene, Oregon
Jan 22, 1982	No. 12	Washington State	W 64–48	13–2 (6–0)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 23, 1982 7:30 p.m.	No. 12	Washington	W 63–43	14–2 (7–0)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, Oregon
Jan 29, 1982	No. 8	at UCLA	L 68–74	14–3 (7–1)	Pauley Pavilion (12,237) Los Angeles, California
Jan 30, 1982	No. 8	at USC	W 72–55	15–3 (8–1)	L.A. Sports Arena (11,004) Los Angeles, California
Feb 6, 1982	No. 10	Stanford	W 111–81	16–3 (9–1)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 8, 1982	No. 6	California	W 57–50	17–3 (10–1)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 13, 1982	No. 6	Oregon	W 94–51^[15]	18–3 (11–1)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 18, 1982	No. 5	Washington	W 55–44^[16]	19–3 (12–1)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion (8,978) Seattle, Washington
Feb 20, 1982 7:30 p.m.	No. 5	at Washington State	W 40–36^[17]	20–3 (13–1)	Beasley Coliseum (9,350) Pullman, Washington
Feb 26, 1982	No. 4	No. 20 UCLA	W 72–58^[18]	21–3 (14–1)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 27, 1982	No. 4	USC	W 45–36^[3]	22–3 (15–1)	Gill Coliseum (10,000) Corvallis, Oregon
Mar 5, 1982	No. 4	at Arizona	W 92–64^[19]	23–3 (16–1)	McKale Center (7,430) Tucson, Arizona
Mar 6, 1982 3:00 p.m.	No. 4	at Arizona State	L 60–68^[5]	23–4 (16–2)	ASU Activities Center (4,700) Tempe, Arizona
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1982	(2W) No. 4	Bye First round
Mar 14, 1982* 4:08 p.m., CBS	(2 W) No. 4	vs. (7 W) Pepperdine Second Round	W 70–51^[8]	24–4	Beasley Coliseum (12,340) Pullman, Washington
Mar 18, 1982* 6:10 p.m., CBS	(2 W) No. 4	vs. (3 W) No. 8 Idaho West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 60–42^[11]	25–4	Marriott Center (15,237) Provo, Utah
Mar 20, 1982* 11:55 a.m., CBS	(2 W) No. 4	vs. (1 W) No. 6 Georgetown West Regional final – Elite Eight	L 45–69^[13]	25–5	Marriott Center (14,986) Provo, Utah
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific.

Source:^[20][21]

Rankings

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

Awards and honors

• Lester Conner – Pac-10 Player of the Year

NBA draft

Main article: 1982 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	14	Lester Conner	Golden State Warriors

^[22]

References

1. "Conner wins MVP at Beavers' banquet". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). March 9, 1982. p. 2C.
2. "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
3. Withers, Bud (February 28, 1982). "OSU claims 3rd straight Pac-10 title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
4. "Heels, Tech lead polls into tourney". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. March 9, 1982. p. 2C.
5. Withers, Bud (March 7, 1982). "Is Beaver defeat a sign of the future?". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
6. Withers, Bud (March 8, 1982). "Beavers draw a team they've beaten". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
7. Withers, Bud (March 15, 1982). "Beavers tear up the 'El Foldo' label". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
8. "Oregon State, Idaho Advance". The New York Times. March 15, 1982. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
9. Withers, Bud (March 18, 1982). "Beavers, Vandals: pair of clones". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
10. Withers, Bud (March 19, 1982). "A surgical job – by George!". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
11. "ALA.-BIRMINGHAM OUSTS VIRGINIA; GEORGETOWN GAINS; FRESNO STATE FALLS, 58-40-OREGON STATE ROUTS IDAHO". The New York Times. March 19, 1982. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
12. Withers, Bud (March 21, 1982). "Hoyas dam OSU trip, 69-45". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
13. "Georgetown, Louisville In Final Four; Hoyas Better Oregon State by 69-45". The New York Times. March 21, 1982. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
14. "1981–82 Oregon State Beavers Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
15. Withers, Bud (February 14, 1982). "Beavers deal Ducks a ghastly defeat". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
16. Withers, Bud (February 19, 1982). "Third title on OSU horizon?". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
17. Withers, Bud (February 21, 1982). "Beavs add another dimension in 40-36 win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
18. "West Coast Basketball Roundup". UPI Archives. February 26, 1982. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
19. Withers, Bud (March 6, 1982). "Only Ralph isn't happy; OSU 92-64". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
20. "2020-21 Oregon State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Oregon State University Athletics. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
21. "1981–82 Oregon State Beavers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
22. "1982 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 14, 2021.