1979–80 BYU Cougars men's basketball team

The 1979–80 BYU Cougars men's basketball team represented Brigham Young University in the 1979–80 college basketball season. This was head coach Frank Arnold's 5th season at BYU. The Cougars finished the regular season with a record of 24–5, 13–1 in the Western Athletic Conference. The team's sole conference loss was by a 53–56 score against Wyoming.

1979–80 BYU Cougars men's basketball
WAC champion
NCAA Tournament, First round
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 12
Record	24–5 (13–1 WAC)
Head coach	Frank Arnold
Assistant coaches	Roger Reid Harry Anderson
Home arena	Marriott Center

1979-80 WAC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
BYU	13	–	1		.929			24	–	5		.828
UTEP	10	–	4		.714			20	–	8		.714
Utah	10	–	4		.714			18	–	10		.643
Wyoming	5	–	9		.357			18	–	10		.643
Colorado State	5	–	9		.357			10	–	17		.370
Hawaii	4	–	10		.286			13	–	14		.481
New Mexico	3	–	11		.214			7	–	21		.250
San Diego State	3	–	11		.214			6	–	21		.222
Air Force		–			–			8	–	17		.320
Rankings from AP Poll

Junior Guard Danny Ainge was leading scorer, averaging 19.1 points per game. Center Alan Taylor with 12.5 rebounds per game.

Roster

1979–80 BYU Cougars men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 22 Danny Ainge 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Eugene, Oregon F 34 Fred Roberts 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Riverton, Utah F 35 Devin Durrant 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Provo, Utah C 50 Greg Kite 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Fr Houston, TX	Head coach Roger Reid Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
November 30*		Illinois	L 76–86	0–1	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
December 1*		Baylor	W 100–58	1–1	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
December 7*		at Tulsa	W 73–71	2–1	Tulsa Convention Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
December 8*		at Oral Roberts	W 76–75	3–1	Mabee Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
December 11*		Cal State Fullerton	W 80–64	4–1	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
December 14*		UC-Santa Barbara	W 87–65	5–1	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
December 15*		La Salle	W 108–106	6–1	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
December 18*		at Long Beach State	L 76–78	6–2	Long Beach Arena  Long Beach, California
December 22*		at Utah State	W 89–84	7–2	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum  Logan, Utah
December 26*		vs. Penn State	W 58–50	8–2	Memorial Coliseum  Portland, OR
December 27*		vs. Oregon State	L 71–86	8–3	Memorial Coliseum  Portland, OR
December 28*		vs. Charlotte	W 104–91	9–3	Memorial Coliseum  Portland, OR
January 3		at New Mexico	W 75–63	10–3 (1–0)	The Pit/Bob King Court  Albuquerque, New Mexico
January 5		at UTEP	W 70–69	11–3 (2–0)	Special Events Center  El Paso, Texas
January 12		Utah	W 89–72	12–3 (3–0)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
January 17		Wyoming	L 53–56	12–4 (3–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
January 19		Colorado State	W 104–82	13–4 (4–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
January 24		at San Diego State	W 123–91	14–4 (5–1)	San Diego Sports Arena  San Diego, California
January 26		at Hawaii	W 34–33	15–4 (6–1)	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
January 31		UTEP	W 89–81	16–4 (7–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
February 2		New Mexico	W 89–68	17–4 (8–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
February 9		at Utah	W 83–82	18–4 (9–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
February 12*		Utah State	W 84–83	19–4 (9–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
February 16*		Alaska	W 93–59	20–4 (9–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
February 21		at Colorado State	W 111–86	21–4 (10–1)	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
February 23		at Wyoming	W 39–30	22–4 (11–1)	War Memorial Fieldhouse  Laramie, Wyoming
February 28		Hawaii	W 107–82	23–4 (12–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
March 1		San Diego State	W 114–81	24–4 (13–1)	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
NCAA Tournament
March 8*		at Clemson	L 66–71	24–5 (13–1)	Dee Events Center  Ogden, Utah
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.