1979–80 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

The 1979–80 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Gene Bartow's second season at UAB. The Blazers competed in the Sun Belt Conference and played their home games at the BJCC Arena. They finished the season 18–12, 10–4 in Sun Belt play and lost in the finals of the conference tournament to VCU. They were invited to the 1980 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) only to fall in the first round to Southwestern Louisiana.

1979–80 UAB Blazers men's basketball
NIT, First Round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	18–12 (10–4 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Gene Bartow
Assistant coaches	Oscar Catlin Robert Corn Lee Hunt
Home arena	BJCC Arena
Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

1979–80 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
South Alabama	12	–	2		.857			23	–	6		.793
UAB	10	–	4		.714			18	–	12		.600
Jacksonville	10	–	4		.714			20	–	9		.690
UNC Charlotte	9	–	5		.643			15	–	12		.556
VCU †	8	–	6		.571			18	–	12		.600
Georgia State	4	–	10		.286			6	–	21		.222
New Orleans	2	–	12		.143			5	–	21		.192
South Florida	1	–	13		.071			6	–	21		.222
† 1980 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

Name	Hometown
Tim Almquist	Forest Lake, Minnesota, United States
Raymond Gause	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Chris Giles	Birmingham, Alabama, United States
George Jones	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Greg Leet	Flat River, Missouri, United States
Tony Mabrey	Albertville, Alabama, United States
Glenn Marcus	Alabaster, Alabama, United States
Bill McCammon	Palm Springs, California, United States
Leon Morris	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Oliver Robinson	Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Stan Scales	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Scott Simcik	Simi Valley, California, United States
Donnie Speer	Sylacauga, Alabama, United States
Larry Spicer	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
[1]

Schedule and results

UAB finished the regular season tied for second place in the Sun Belt, and as runner-up in the conference tournament.^[2] The Blazers competed in the postseason for the first time in the history of the program with an appearance in the NIT.^[2]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
12/1/1979* no, no	Whittier	W 90–67	1–0	BJCC Arena (6,283) Birmingham, Alabama
12/5/1979 no, no	at New Orleans	W 82–73	2–0	Human Performance Center (902) New Orleans
12/8/1979* no, no	at Ole Miss	L 66–67	2–1	Tad Smith Coliseum (7,958) Oxford, Mississippi
12/12/1979* no, no	Washington State	W 86–67	3–1	BJCC Arena (6,423) Birmingham, AL
12/15/1979 no, no	at Georgia State	W 100–73	4–1	GSU Sports Arena (570) Atlanta
12/20/1979* no, no	at Oklahoma City	W 89–73	5–1	Frederickson Fieldhouse (2,010) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
12/22/1979* no, no	at Nebraska	L 84–92 4OT	5–2	Bob Devaney Sports Center (6,973) Lincoln, Nebraska
12/28/1979* no, no	Missouri–Rolla UAB Classic	W 100–66	6–2	BJCC Arena (5,179) Birmingham, AL
12/29/1979* no, no	Drexel UAB Classic	W 100–60	7–2	BJCC Arena (3,652) Birmingham, AL
1/3/1980 no, no	Georgia State	W 75–62	8–2	BJCC Arena (4,178) Birmingham, AL
1/5/1980* no, no	Air Force	W 65–51	9–2	BJCC Arena (9,448) Birmingham, AL
1/7/1980 no, no	VCU	W 82–71	10–2	BJCC Arena (4,041) Birmingham, AL
1/10/1980 no, no	at South Florida	W 92–83	11–2	Curtis Hixon Hall (336) Tampa, Florida
1/12/1980* no, no	Iona	L 65–70	11–3	BJCC Arena (8,894) Birmingham, AL
1/16/1980* no, no	at St. Louis	L 76–84	11–4	Kiel Auditorium (3,272) St. Louis, Missouri
1/19/1980 no, no	at Jacksonville	L 52–62	11–5	Jacksonville Coliseum (8,671) Jacksonville, Florida
1/22/1980* no, no	DePaul	L 54–57	11–6	BJCC Arena (17,309) Birmingham, AL
1/24/1980 no, no	at South Alabama	W 70–62	12–6	Mobile Civic Center (10,513) Mobile, AL
1/28/1980 no, no	UNC Charlotte	W 84–76	13–6	BJCC Arena (6,417) Birmingham, AL
2/2/1980 no, no	Jacksonville	W 72–68	14–6	BJCC Arena (9,265) Birmingham, AL
2/5/1980 no, no	at UNC Charlotte	L 68–73	14–7	Independence Arena (4,021) Charlotte, North Carolina
2/10/1980 no, no	at VCU	L 75–90	14–8	Richmond Coliseum (4,600) Richmond, Virginia
2/14/1980 no, no	South Florida	W 78–70	15–8	BJCC Arena (5,046) Birmingham, AL
2/16/1980 no, no	New Orleans	W 86–75	16–8	BJCC Arena (2,547) Birmingham, AL
2/17/1980 no, no	South Alabama	L 65–66	16–9	BJCC Arena (8,352) Birmingham, AL
2/20/1980* no, no	Florida State	L 87–89	16–10	Tully Gymnasium (2,081) Tallahassee, Florida
1980 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
2/23/1980 no, no	vs. New Orleans	W 85–75	17–10	Independence Arena (2,547) Charlotte, North Carolina
2/24/1980 no, no	vs. Jacksonville	W 64–60	18–10	Independence Arena (2,624) Charlotte, North Carolina
2/25/1980 no, no	vs. VCU	L 88–105	18–11	Independence Arena (2,519) Charlotte, North Carolina
1980 National Invitation Tournament
3/6/1980 no, no	at Southwestern Louisiana	L 72–74	18–12	Blackham Coliseum (8,124) Lafayette, Louisiana
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.