1980–81 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

1980–81 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
	† 1981 Big Eight Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

1980–81 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
1980–81 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
Conference	Big Eight Conference
1980–81 record	9–18 (2–12 Big Eight)
Head coach	Johnny Orr (1st season);
Assistant coach	Charlie Harrison
Home arena	Hilton Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Johnny Orr, who was in his 1st season. They played their home games at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

They finished the season 9–18, 2–12 in Big Eight play to finish in eighth place. The Cyclones lost in the first round of the Big Eight Tournament to Missouri, falling 95-70.

Roster[]

1980–81 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

^[2]

Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Year
F	Robert Estes	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr
F	Ron Harris	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So
G	Lefty Moore (C)	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—
C	Ron Falenschek	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	So
G	Jon Ness	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr
C	John Kunnert	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—
G	Malvin Warrick	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—
G	Charles Harris	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr
F	Bill Buchanan	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—
G	Terrence Allen	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Fr
C	Derrick Thomas	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—
	Doug Jones	—	—
	Tony Rasheed	—	—
	Mike Decello	—	—

Head coach

Johnny Orr (Beloit College)

Assistant coach(es)

Charlie Harrison

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
December 1, 1980* 7:30 pm		at Vanderbilt	L 87–97	0–1	Memorial Gymnasium (15,545) Nashville, TN
December 4, 1980* 7:35 pm, Heritage Cablevision		Drake Iowa Big Four	W 74–72	1–1	Hilton Coliseum (13,268) Ames, IA
December 6, 1980* 7:35 pm		Northern Iowa Iowa Big Four	W 83–69	2–1	Hilton Coliseum (8,988) Ames, IA
December 9, 1980* 7:35 pm		at SMU	L 55–58	2–2	Moody Coliseum (3,106) Dallas, TX
December 12, 1980* 7:38 pm, KETV		Creighton	L 73–77	2–3	Hilton Coliseum (9,527) Ames, IA
December 20, 1980* 3:05 pm, Iowa Basketball Network		at No. 16 Iowa CyHawk Rivalry	L 59–85	2–4	Iowa Fieldhouse (13,365) Iowa City, IA
December 23, 1980* 7:35 pm, Hawkeye Cablevision		Alabama-Birmingham	W 71–70	3–4	Hilton Coliseum (6,129) Ames, IA
December 29, 1980* 7:35 pm		vs. East Carolina Elm City Classic Semifinals	W 80–73	4–4	Alumni Hall (1,450) Fairfield, CT^[3]
December 30, 1980* 7:45 pm		at Fairfield Elm City Classic Championship	W 47–46	5–4	Alumni Hall (1,600) Fairfield, CT
January 5, 1981* 7:35 pm, Heritage Communications		Wisconsin-Parkside	W 67–58	6–4	Hilton Coliseum (6,837) Ames, IA
January 10, 1981* 7:35 pm, Heritage Communications/Iowa Cable Network		Western Illinois	W 94–72	7–4	Hilton Coliseum (10,232) Ames, IA
January 14, 1981 8:10 pm, Heritage Communcations/USA		at Kansas	L 58–70	7–5 (0–1)	Allen Fieldhouse (14,850) Lawrence, KS
January 17, 1981 1:30 pm		at Missouri	L 69–92	7–6 (0–2)	Hearnes Center (11,112) Columbia, MO
January 19, 1981* 7:30 pm		at Saint Louis	L 59–61	7–7	Checkerdome (2,556) St. Louis, MO
January 21, 1981 7:35 pm		Oklahoma	W 88–67	8–7 (1–2)	Hilton Coliseum (8,247) Ames, IA
January 24, 1981 3:00 pm		at Oklahoma State	L 75–81	8–8 (1–3)	Gallagher Hall (6,700) Stillwater, OK
January 28, 1981 7:35 pm		Nebraska	L 56–61	8–9 (1–4)	Hilton Coliseum (9,017) Ames, IA
January 31, 1981 7:35 pm		Kansas State	L 62–75	8–10 (1–5)	Hilton Coliseum (11,238) Ames, IA
February 4, 1981 9:05 pm		at Colorado	L 62–75	8–11 (1–6)	Coors Events Center (4,750) Boulder, CO
February 7, 1981 2:38 pm, NBC-TVS Big Eight		Missouri	L 56–70	8–12 (1–7)	Hilton Coliseum (10,018) Ames, IA
February 10, 1981 7:35 pm		at Oklahoma	L 66–78	8–13 (1–8)	Lloyd Noble Center (2,038) Norman, OK
February 14, 1981 7:35 pm		Kansas	L 49–51	8–14 (1–9)	Hilton Coliseum (10,230) Ames, IA
February 18, 1981 7:35 pm		at Nebraska	L 61–81	8–15 (1–10)	Devaney Sports Center (11,118) Lincoln, NE
February 21, 1981 7:35 pm		Oklahoma State	L 69–76	8–16 (1–11)	Hilton Coliseum (7,665) Ames, IA
February 25, 1981 8:05 pm		at Kansas State	L 60–67	8–17 (1–12)	Ahearn Fieldhouse (11,220) Manhattan, KS
February 28, 1981 7:35 pm		Colorado	W 67–56	9–17 (2–12)	Hilton Coliseum (7,826) Ames, IA
Big Eight Tournament
March 3, 1981 8:05 pm	(8)	at (1) Missouri Big Eight Tournament Quarterfinals	L 70–95	9–18	Hearnes Center (7,303) Columbia, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[4]

References[]

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
^ "1980-81 Iowa State Cyclones Roster and Stats".
^ 1. December 29, 1980 (Page 14 of 32). Iowa City, Iowa: , Dec 29, 1980 ProQuest Historical Newspapers: U.S. North Central Collection.
^ "Iowa State Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Iowa State University Athletic Department. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

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

[2] "1980-81 Iowa State Cyclones Roster and Stats".

[3] 1. December 29, 1980 (Page 14 of 32). Iowa City, Iowa: , Dec 29, 1980 ProQuest Historical Newspapers: U.S. North Central Collection.

[4] "Iowa State Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Iowa State University Athletic Department. Retrieved April 18, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
Venues	(1907–1912) State Gymnasium (1913–1947) Iowa State Armory (1947–1971) Hilton Coliseum (1971–present)
Rivalries	Iowa "Big Four" Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)
Culture & lore	Cy the Cardinal "ISU Fights" Iowa State Pep Band ISU Holiday Classic
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	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
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

1980–81 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Missouri	10	–	4	.714	22	–	10	.688
Kansas State	9	–	5	.643	24	–	9	.727
Nebraska	9	–	5	.643	15	–	12	.556
Kansas †	9	–	5	.643	24	–	8	.750
Oklahoma State	8	–	6	.571	18	–	9	.667
Colorado	5	–	9	.357	16	–	12	.571
Oklahoma	4	–	10	.286	9	–	18	.333
Iowa State	2	–	12	.143	9	–	18	.333

† 1981 Big Eight Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]