1980–81 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team

1980–81 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball
1980–81 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball
MVC tournament champion
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	21–9 (11–5 MVC)
Head coach	Tom Apke (7th season);
Home arena	Omaha Civic Auditorium
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team represented Creighton University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bluejays, led by head coach Tom Apke, played their home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. The Jays finished with a 21–9 record (11–5 MVC), and won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament^[2] to earn an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament. As No. 8 seed in the Mideast region, the Jays fell to No. 9 seed Saint Joseph's in the opening round.^[3]

1980–81 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Wichita State	12	–	4	.750	26	–	7	.788
Creighton †	11	–	5	.688	21	–	9	.700
Tulsa	11	–	5	.688	26	–	7	.788
Drake	10	–	6	.625	18	–	11	.621
Bradley	10	–	6	.625	18	–	9	.667
New Mexico State	7	–	9	.438	10	–	17	.370
West Texas State	7	–	9	.438	16	–	11	.593
Indiana State	4	–	12	.250	9	–	18	.333
Southern Illinois	0	–	16	.000	7	–	20	.259

† 1981 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll^[1]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Mark Jones	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	So	Corning	Corning, Iowa
G	30	Kevin McKenna	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr		Palatine, Illinois
F	32	Alex Stivrins	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr		Lincoln, Nebraska
F	41	George Morrow	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr		Memphis, Tennessee
F/C	51	Kevin Ross	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Jr		Kansas City, Kansas

Head coach

Tom Apke (Creighton)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[4]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1980*		Wisconsin–Superior	W 92–59	1–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 2, 1980*		Nebraska–Omaha	W 79–72	2–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 6, 1980*		Nebraska	W 66–61 ^OT	3–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 8, 1980*		at Saint Louis	W 64–57	4–0	St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 9, 1980*		Loyola–Chicago	W 82–74	5–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 12, 1980*		at Iowa State	W 77–73	6–0	Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa
Dec 22, 1980*		Canisius	W 72–52	7–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 28, 1980*		at South Florida	L 62–77	7–1	Sun Dome Tampa, Florida
Jan 3, 1981		Tulsa	W 97–86	8–1 (1–0)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 8, 1981		at Southern Illinois	W 78–62	9–1 (2–0)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 10, 1981		at Indiana State	W 62–61	10–1 (3–0)	Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana
Jan 15, 1981*		Marquette	L 66–76	10–2	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 17, 1981		Bradley	W 54–51	11–2 (4–0)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 19, 1981		at Drake	L 70–71	11–3 (4–1)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 22, 1981		Wichita State	L 72–77	11–4 (4–2)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 24, 1981		West Texas A&M	W 86–69	12–4 (5–2)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 31, 1981		at Tulsa	L 84–87	12–5 (5–3)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 2, 1981		Southern Illinois	W 50–43	13–5 (6–3)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 5, 1981		Indiana State	W 65–62	14–5 (7–3)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 7, 1981		at Bradley	L 80–93	14–6 (7–4)	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Feb 9, 1981*		at No. 3 DePaul	L 57–83	14–7	Rosemont Horizon (16,473) Rosemont, Illinois
Feb 14, 1981		New Mexico State	W 95–83	15–7 (8–4)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 19, 1981		Drake	W 73–69	16–7 (9–4)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 21, 1981		at No. 14 Wichita State	L 70–83	16–8 (9–5)	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Feb 26, 1981		at West Texas A&M	W 90–86	17–8 (10–5)	WT Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas
Feb 28, 1981		at New Mexico State	W 84–78	18–8 (11–5)	Pan American Center Las Cruces, New Mexico
Missouri Valley Conference tournament
Mar 5, 1981*	(2)	(7) Indiana State Quarterfinals	W 64–61	19–8	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Mar 6, 1981*	(2)	(3) Tulsa Semifinals	W 66–64	20–8	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Mar 7, 1981*	(2)	at (1) Wichita State Championship game	W 70–64	21–8	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
1981 NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1981*	(8 ME)	vs. (9 ME) Saint Joseph's First round	L 57–59	21–9	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Central.

^[5]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
^ "Creighton 68, Southwest Missouri State 52". UPI Archives. March 6, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
^ "Bluejays Flatten Feeble Aggies as N.M. Makes Another 1st-Round Exit". Deseret News. March 15, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
^ "1980-81 Creighton Bluejays Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
^ "2019-20 Creighton Men's Basketball Media Guide". Creighton Bluejays. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

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

[mvc-tourney-2] "Creighton 68, Southwest Missouri State 52". UPI Archives. March 6, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.

[ncaa-nmsu-3] "Bluejays Flatten Feeble Aggies as N.M. Makes Another 1st-Round Exit". Deseret News. March 15, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.

[4] "1980-81 Creighton Bluejays Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

[5] "2019-20 Creighton Men's Basketball Media Guide". Creighton Bluejays. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

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