1980–81 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

1980–81 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
1980–81 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Metro Conference Champions; Metro Conference tournament champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Metro Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 12
Record	21–9 (11–1 Metro)
Head coach	Denny Crum (10th season);
Captain	Game captains
Home arena	Freedom Hall
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Metro Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 12 Louisville †	11	–	1	.917	21	–	9	.700
Florida State	7	–	5	.583	17	–	11	.607
Cincinnati	6	–	6	.500	16	–	13	.552
Virginia Tech	6	–	6	.500	15	–	13	.536
Memphis State	5	–	7	.417	13	–	14	.481
Tulane	4	–	8	.333	12	–	15	.444
Saint Louis	3	–	9	.250	9	–	18	.333

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

The 1980–81 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1980-81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 67th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Metro Conference and were coached by Denny Crum, who was in his tenth season. The team played its home games at Freedom Hall.

The Cardinals won the Metro Conference tournament championship (their 3rd), defeating Cincinnati 42–31. As defending Champion Louisville was upset by a half-court shot by U.S. Reed and lost to Arkansas 74–73 in the NCAA tournament second round. The Cardinals finished with a 21–9 (11–1) record.^[2]

Roster

1980–81 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	4	Lancaster Gordon	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Jim Hill	Jackson, Mississippi
G	5	Jerry Eaves	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Ballard	Louisville, Kentucky
G	14	Greg Deuser	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Floyd Central	New Albany, Indiana
F	21	Scooter McCray	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Mount Vernon	Mount Vernon, New York
F/C	22	Rodney McCray	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	Mount Vernon	Mount Vernon, New York
G	34	Roger Burkman	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Franklin Central	Indianapolis, Indiana
C	40	Marty Pulliam	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Mercer Country Senior	Harrodsburg, Kentucky
C	41	Wiley Brown	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Worth County	Sylvester, Georgia
F	43	Derek Smith	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Hogansville	Hogansville, Georgia
G/F	44	Poncho Wright	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Marshall	Indianapolis, Indiana

Head coach

Denny Crum

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
November 22* TVS	No. 3	vs. No. 2 DePaul Hall of Fame Game	L 80–86	0–1	Springfield Civic Center (8,937) Springfield, MA
December 4		at Tulsa	L 60–68	0–2	Tulsa, OK
December 6*		at Oklahoma State	L 71–72	0–3	Stillwater, OK
December 13* NBC		No. 4 Maryland	W 78–67	1–3	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
December 20*	No. 20	Utah	L 59–78	1–4	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
December 22*		Minnesota	L 59–62	1–5	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
December 29*		vs. No. 6 North Carolina Winston Tire Classic	L 64–86	1–6	L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
December 30*		vs. USC Winston Tire Classic	W 79–50	2–6	L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
January 3*		at Kansas State	L 47–64	2–7	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
January 5		at Tulane	W 73–53	3–7 (1–0)	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA
January 10		at Cincinnati	W 83–68	4–7 (2–0)	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH
January 17		Florida State	W 98–78	5–7 (3–0)	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
January 18*		Missouri	W 71–49	6–7	Freedom Hall (13,386) Louisville, KY
January 22*		at Memphis State	L 55–60 ^OT	6–8 (3–1)	Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, TN
January 27*		Providence	W 71–55	7–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
January 29		St. Louis	W 61–57	8–8 (4–1)	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
January 31		Virginia Tech	W 92–70	9–8 (5–1)	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
February 2*		US International	W 86–68	10–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
February 4		Tulane	W 85–58	11–8 (6–1)	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
February 7		at Florida State	W 82–73 ^OT	12–8 (7–1)	Tully Gymnasium Tallahassee, FL
February 9		at Virginia Tech	W 71–66	13–8 (8–1)	Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA
February 13*		at Marquette	W 79–60	14–8	MECCA Arena (11,052) Milwaukee, WI
February 16		Memphis State	W 95–65	15–8 (9–1)	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
February 18*		Iona	W 91–57	16–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
February 23		Cincinnati	W 81–67	17–8 (10–1)	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
February 25		at St. Louis	W 97–85	18–8 (11–1)	The Checkersdome St. Louis, MO
February 28*	No. 20	Western Kentucky	W 90–75	19–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
Metro Tournament
March 7*	(1)	(4) Virginia Tech Semifinals	W 81–68	20–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
March 8*	(1)	(3) Cincinnati Final	W 42–31	21–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
NCAA tournament
March 14* NBC	(4 MW) No. 12	vs. (5 MW) No. 20 Arkansas First Round	L 73–74^[3]	21–9	Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "Lousivlle Basketball Media Guide". Lousivlle Basketball Media Guide. University of Louisville. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
^ "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)
^ 2012–13 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball media guide. Retrieved 2013-May-08.

[1] sports-reference.com 1980-81 Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference Season Summary

[2] "Lousivlle Basketball Media Guide". Lousivlle Basketball Media Guide. University of Louisville. Retrieved December 21, 2012.

[3] "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)

[4] 2012–13 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball media guide. Retrieved 2013-May-08.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Venues	Belknap Gymnasium (1933–1944) Jefferson County Armory (1945–1956) Freedom Hall (1956–2010) KFC Yum! Center (2010–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Kentucky Memphis
Culture & lore	Billy Minardi Classic Cardinal Bird The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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
NAIA and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics