1980–81 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

1980–81 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
1980–81 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
Record	22–6 (15–3 SEC)
Head coach	Joe B. Hall (9th season);
Home arena	Rupp Arena
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 LSU	17	–	1	.944	31	–	5	.861
No. 8 Kentucky	15	–	3	.833	22	–	6	.786
No. 15 Tennessee	12	–	6	.667	21	–	8	.724
Alabama	10	–	8	.556	18	–	11	.621
Georgia	9	–	9	.500	19	–	12	.613
Ole Miss †	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	15	–	14	.517
Florida	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Auburn	4	–	14	.222	11	–	16	.407
Mississippi State	3	–	15	.167	8	–	19	.296

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

The 1980–81 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Joe B. Hall^[2] and the team finished the season with an overall record of 22–6.^[3]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Dirk Minniefield	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Lexington, Kentucky
G	11	Dicky Beal	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Covington, Kentucky
G	12	Bo Lanter	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Versailles, Kentucky
G	15	Chris Gettelfinger	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Knoxville, Tennessee
G	20	Jim Master	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Fort Wayne, Indiana
F	24	Bret Bearup	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Centerport, New York
F/C	31	Sam Bowie	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	So	Lebanon, Pennsylvania
G/F	32	Derrick Hord	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Bristol, Tennessee
F	34	Chuck Verderber	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Lincoln, Illinois
F/C	40	Fred Cowan	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Sturgis, Kentucky
F	44	Charles Hurt	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Shelbyville, Kentucky
C	54	Melvin Turpin	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Fr	Lexington, Kentucky

Head coach

Joe B. Hall (Kentucky)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and Results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
November 29, 1980*	No. 1	East Tennessee State	W 62–57	1–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
December 3, 1980*	No. 2	No. 9 Ohio State	W 70–64	2–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
December 6, 1980*	No. 2	No. 5 Indiana Rivalry	W 68–66	3–0	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
December 13, 1980*	No. 2	Kansas	W 87–73	4–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
December 19, 1980*	No. 2	Alaska Anchorage	W 91–56	5–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
December 20, 1980*	No. 2	UAB	W 61–53	6–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
December 27, 1980*	No. 2	No. 8 Notre Dame	L 61–67	6–1	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
December 30, 1980*	No. 5	Maine	W 100–54	7–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
January 3, 1981	No. 5	Georgia	W 76–62	8–1 (1–0)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
January 7, 1981	No. 4	Auburn	W 79–66	9–1 (2–0)	Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama
January 10, 1981	No. 4	No. 13 Tennessee	W 48–47	10–1 (3–0)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
January 14, 1981	No. 3	Ole Miss	W 64–55	11–1 (4–0)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
January 17, 1981	No. 3	Alabama	L 55–59	11–2 (4–1)	Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
January 19, 1981	No. 6	No. 5 LSU	L 67–81	11–3 (4–2)	Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
January 21, 1981	No. 6	Florida	W 102–48	12–3 (5–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
January 24, 1981	No. 6	Vanderbilt	W 78–64	13–3 (6–2)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
January 28, 1981	No. 7	Mississippi State	W 71–64	14–3 (7–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
January 31, 1981	No. 7	Georgia	W 71–68 ^2OT	15–3 (8–2)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
February 4, 1981	No. 6	Auburn	W 102–74	16–3 (9–2)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
February 7, 1981	No. 6	No. 10 Tennessee	L 71–87	16–4 (9–3)	Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee
February 11, 1981	No. 11	Ole Miss	W 62–55	17–4 (10–3)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi
February 14, 1981	No. 11	Alabama	W 77–62	18–4 (11–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
February 18, 1981	No. 10	Florida	W 69–56	19–4 (12–3)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
February 21, 1981	No. 10	Vanderbilt	W 80–48	20–4 (13–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
February 25, 1981	No. 9	Mississippi State	W 78–74	21–4 (14–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
March 1, 1981	No. 9	No. 2 LSU	W 73–71	22–4 (15–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
SEC Tournament
March 5, 1981	(2) No. 7	(7) Vanderbilt Second Round	L 55–60	22–5	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama
NCAA Tournament
March 15, 1981	(2 ME) No. 8	(7 ME) UAB Second round	L 62–69	22–6	Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast.

References

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ "1980-1981 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Retrieved November 10, 2013.
^ "1980-1981 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". Retrieved November 10, 2013.

[1] sports-reference.com 1980-81 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[2] "1980-1981 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats". Retrieved November 10, 2013.

[3] "1980-1981 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". Retrieved November 10, 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Centre (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	History under Adolph Rupp Fabulous Five Point-shaving scandal Fiddlin' Five Rupp's Runts The Season Without Celebration "The Shot" Unforgettables Untouchables Comeback Cats John Wall Dance Tweakables Pursuit of Perfection 2011 Indiana game Basketbowl Champions Classic CBS Sports Classic The Rivalry: Red v. Blue The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Big Blue Nation Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 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
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics