1980–81 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1980–81 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Second round
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	20–11 (8–6 Big East)
Head coach	Rollie Massimino (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Mitch Buonaguro (4th season) Marty Marbach (2nd season) Harry Booth
Home arena	Villanova Field House
Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Boston College	10	–	4	.714	23	–	7	.767
Georgetown	9	–	5	.643	20	–	12	.625
St. John's	8	–	6	.571	17	–	11	.607
Villanova	8	–	6	.571	20	–	11	.645
Connecticut	8	–	6	.571	20	–	9	.690
Syracuse †	6	–	8	.429	22	–	12	.647
Seton Hall	4	–	10	.286	11	–	16	.407
Providence	3	–	11	.214	10	–	18	.357

† 1981 Big East tournament winner As of March 30, 1981^[1] Rankings from AP poll

The 1980–81 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Rollie Massimino. The team played its home games at Villanova Field House in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Big East Conference. The team finished tied for 3rd in the conference regular season standings and received a bid to the NCAA tournament before falling to No. 1 seed and eventual Final Four participant Virginia. Villanova finished with a 20–11 record (8–6 Big East).

Roster

1980–81 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Stewart Granger	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Brooklyn, New York
F	45	John Pinone	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Hartford, Connecticut
G	14	Jeff Sherry	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Macungie, Pennsylvania

Head coach

Rollie Massimino (Vermont)

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
*		Merrimack	W 90–61	1–0	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 2, 1980*		St. Francis (NY)	W 95–73	2–0	Villanova Field House (2,200) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 6, 1980		Providence	W 68–49	3–0 (1–0)	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 9, 1980		at Seton Hall	W 66–65	4–0 (2–0)	Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, New Jersey
Dec 13, 1980		Boston College	W 74–71	5–0 (3–0)	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 6, 1980*		vs. La Salle	L 83–84	5–1	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 28, 1980*		vs. San Francisco	W 93–66	6–1	Special Events Center El Paso, Texas
Dec 29, 1980*		at UTEP	W 43–41	7–1	Special Events Center El Paso, Texas
Jan 3, 1981		St. John's	L 78–90	7–2 (3–1)	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 6, 1981*		Notre Dame	L 65–94	7–3	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 10, 1981		at Syracuse	W 69–65	8–3 (4–1)	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Jan 14, 1981		at St. John's	L 54–56 ^OT	8–4 (4–2)	Alumni Hall Queens, New York
Jan 17, 1981*		at Pennsylvania	W 68–55	9–4	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 19, 1981*		Towson	W 84–64	10–4	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 21, 1981		Connecticut	W 63–59	11–4 (5–2)	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 24, 1981*		at Colgate	W 85–75	12–4	Cotterell Court Hamilton, New York
Jan 26, 1981		at Boston College	L 60–73	12–5 (5–3)	Roberts Center Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Jan 31, 1981*		vs. Temple	L 68–71	12–6	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 4, 1981		at Georgetown	L 54–70	12–7 (5–4)	McDonough Gymnasium (4,504) Washington, D.C.
Feb 7, 1981*		at Maine	W 68–48	13–7	The Pit Orono, Maine
Feb 11, 1981		Seton Hall	W 67–63	14–7 (6–4)	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 14, 1981		at Providence	L 70–82	14–8 (6–5)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 17, 1981		Syracuse	W 88–78	15–8 (7–5)	Villanova Field House Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 21, 1981		vs. Georgetown	L 60–68	15–9 (7–6)	The Palestra (6,228) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 23, 1981		at Connecticut	W 74–73	16–9 (8–6)	Hartford Civic Center Storrs, Connecticut
Feb 28, 1981*		vs. Saint Joseph's	W 72–62	17–9	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Big East tournament
Mar 5, 1981*	(4)	vs. (5) Connecticut Quarterfinals	W 65–54	18–9	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Mar 6, 1981*	(4)	vs. (8) Providence Semifinals	W 58–49 ^OT	19–9	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Mar 7, 1981*	(4)	at (6) Syracuse Championship game	L 80–83 ^{3OT^[2]}	19–10	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1981*	(9 E)	vs. (8 E) Houston First round	W 90–72	20–10	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 15, 1981*	(9 E)	vs. (1 E) No. 5 Virginia Second round	L 50–54^[3]	20–11	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East.

^[4]^[5]

Rankings

^[6]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Big East Conference Season Summary
^ "Syracuse Beats Villanova in 3 Overtimes for Crown". The New York Times. March 8, 1981. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "Virginia Defeats Villanova, Will Face Tennessee". The Washington Post. March 16, 1981. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "1980-81 Villanova Wildcats Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "2019–20 Villanova Men's Basketball Media Guide". Villanova University Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 877–878. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

v t e Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1932–1986) William E. Finneran Pavilion (1986–2017, 2018–present) First Union Spectrum (alternate; 1967–2009) Wells Fargo Center (alternate; 1996–present)
Rivalries	Saint Joseph's
Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) "V for Villanova"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 1999–00 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
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics