1980–81 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 1980–81 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . Larry Brown was the head coach, and the Bruins started the season ranked 6th in the nation (AP Poll). The Bruins started the season 6-0 and was ranked a season high #3 (AP Poll). They then lost at #1 ranked Depaul, 93–77, on December 27. UCLA's team finished 3rd in the Pac-10 regular season. UCLA participated the NCAA Tournament but was upset by BYU in the first round, finishing 10th in the AP poll. Larry Brown coached his second and final year at UCLA.[ 2]
Starting lineup
Roster
Schedule
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site city, state
Regular Season
November 28, 1980
No. 6
VMI
W 99–61
1–0
Pauley Pavilion (9,872)Los Angeles, CA
November 29, 1980
No. 6
No. 10 Notre Dame
W 94–81
2–0
Pauley Pavilion (12,321)Los Angeles, CA
December 6, 1980
No. 3
St. Mary's
W 113–70
3–0
Pauley Pavilion (10,127)Los Angeles, CA
December 13, 1980
No. 3
Pepperdine
W 81–63
4–0
Pauley Pavilion (12,273)Los Angeles, CA
December 15, 1980
No. 3
Evansville
W 69–62
5–0
Pauley Pavilion (8,637)Los Angeles, CA
December 21, 1980
No. 3
vs. Temple
W 73–49
6–0
Yoyogi National Gymnasium (5,000)Tokyo , Japan
December 27, 1980
No. 3
at No. 1 DePaul
L 77–93[ 3]
6–1
Alumni Hall (16,702)Chicago, IL
January 3, 1981
No. 7
Washington
W 96–74
7–1 (1–0)
Pauley Pavilion (12,295)Los Angeles, CA
January 5, 1981
No. 7
Washington State
W 87–61
8–1 (2–0)
Pauley Pavilion (11,321)Los Angeles, CA
January 10, 1981
No. 7
USC
L 66–68
8–2 (2–1)
Pauley Pavilion (11,825)Los Angeles, CA
January 16, 1981
No. 8
at No. 12 Arizona State
L 74–78 3OT
8–3 (2–2)
ASU Activity Center (14,384)Tempe, AZ
January 17, 1981
No. 8
at Arizona
W 79–76
9–3 (3–2)
McKale Center (14,182)Tucson, AZ
January 23, 1981
No. 12
Stanford
W 85–58
10–3 (4–2)
Pauley Pavilion (12,038)Los Angeles, CA
January 24, 1981
No. 12
California
W 75–61
11–3 (5–2)
Pauley Pavilion (12,314)Los Angeles, CA
January 29, 1981
No. 10
at No. 1 Oregon State
L 67–81
11–4 (5–3)
Gill Coliseum (10,000)Corvallis, OR
January 31, 1981
No. 10
at Oregon
W 75–69
12–4 (6–3)
McArthur Court (10,000)Eugene, OR
February 6, 1981
No. 12
at USC
W 76–62
13–4 (7–3)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (13,277)Los Angeles, CA
February 8, 1981
No. 12
at No. 9 Notre Dame
W 51–50
14–4
Athletic & Convocation Center (11,345)Notre Dame, IN
February 12, 1981
No. 8
Arizona
W 90–79
15–4 (8–3)
Pauley Pavilion (11,910)Los Angeles, CA
February 14, 1981
No. 8
No. 5 Arizona State
W 64–61
16–4 (9–3)
Pauley Pavilion (12,428)Los Angeles, CA
February 19, 1981
No. 6
at California
W 72–66
17–4 (10–3)
Harmon Gym (6,700)Berkeley, CA
February 21, 1981
No. 6
at Stanford
L 72–74
17–5 (10–4)
Maples Pavilion (6,917)Stanford, CA
February 27, 1981
No. 13
Oregon
W 98–75
18–5 (11–4)
Pauley Pavilion (12,074)Los Angeles, CA
March 1, 1981
No. 13
No. 1 Oregon State
L 76–82
18–6 (11–5)
Pauley Pavilion (12,582)Los Angeles, CA
March 5, 1981
No. 13
at Washington State
W 59–50
19–6 (12–5)
Washington State University Performing Arts Coliseum (8,132)Pullman, WA
March 7, 1981
No. 13
at Washington
W 91–72
20–6 (13–5)
Hec Edmundson Pavilion (6,228)Seattle, WA
NCAA Tournament
March 14, 1981
(3 E) No. 10
vs. (6 E) No. 16 BYU Second Round
L 55–78[ 4]
20–7
Providence Civic Center (12,823)Providence, RI
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Pacific Time .
Source[ 5]
[ 6]
Notes
Larry Brown was only at UCLA two years, but made the NCAA Tournament both times. He was 5–2 in NCAA Tournament games while at UCLA.
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics