Overall: 13-14, .481 W-L% (159th of 264)
Conference: 7-11, 8th in Big Ten (Schedule and Results)
Coach: Jud Heathcote (13-14)
PS/G: 67.7 (165th of 264) ▪ PA/G: 69.7 (121st of 264)
SRS: 6.43 (56th of 264) ▪ SOS: 8.47 (14th of 264)
| G | Date | Type | Opponent | Conf | Tm | Opp | OT | W | L | Streak | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, Nov 28, 1980 | REG | Western Michigan | MAC | W | 89 | 77 | 1 | 0 | W 1 | ||
| 2 | Sat, Nov 29, 1980 | REG | Central Michigan | MAC | L | 66 | 89 | 1 | 1 | L 1 | ||
| 3 | Thu, Dec 4, 1980 | REG | @ | Long Beach State | PCAA | W | 71 | 60 | 2 | 1 | W 1 | |
| 4 | Sat, Dec 6, 1980 | REG | @ | Cal State Fullerton | PCAA | W | 58 | 42 | 3 | 1 | W 2 | |
| 5 | Fri, Dec 12, 1980 | REG | Eastern Michigan | MAC | W | 73 | 63 | 4 | 1 | W 3 | ||
| 6 | Tue, Dec 16, 1980 | REG | @ | Brigham Young | WAC | L | 50 | 82 | 4 | 2 | L 1 | |
| 7 | Fri, Dec 19, 1980 | REG | N | Utah State | PCAA | L | 70 | 74 | 4 | 3 | L 2 | |
| 8 | Sat, Dec 20, 1980 | REG | @ | Providence | Big East | W | 77 | 76 | 5 | 3 | W 1 | |
| 9 | Sat, Dec 27, 1980 | REG | Saint Joseph's | ECC | W | 71 | 67 | 6 | 3 | W 2 | ||
| 10 | Thu, Jan 8, 1981 | REG | @ | Indiana | Big Ten | L | 43 | 55 | 6 | 4 | L 1 | |
| 11 | Sat, Jan 10, 1981 | REG | @ | Iowa | Big Ten | L | 57 | 65 | 6 | 5 | L 2 | |
| 12 | Thu, Jan 15, 1981 | REG | Minnesota | Big Ten | L | 77 | 86 | 6 | 6 | L 3 | ||
| 13 | Sat, Jan 17, 1981 | REG | Northwestern | Big Ten | W | 84 | 70 | 7 | 6 | W 1 | ||
| 14 | Thu, Jan 22, 1981 | REG | @ | Wisconsin | Big Ten | L | 62 | 63 | 7 | 7 | L 1 | |
| 15 | Sat, Jan 24, 1981 | REG | @ | Purdue | Big Ten | W | 74 | 68 | 8 | 7 | W 1 | |
| 16 | Thu, Jan 29, 1981 | REG | Illinois | Big Ten | L | 70 | 71 | 8 | 8 | L 1 | ||
| 17 | Sat, Jan 31, 1981 | REG | Ohio State | Big Ten | W | 60 | 54 | 9 | 8 | W 1 | ||
| 18 | Thu, Feb 5, 1981 | REG | @ | Michigan | Big Ten | L | 77 | 79 | 9 | 9 | L 1 | |
| 19 | Sat, Feb 7, 1981 | REG | @ | Ohio State | Big Ten | L | 62 | 73 | 9 | 10 | L 2 | |
| 20 | Thu, Feb 12, 1981 | REG | Purdue | Big Ten | L | 48 | 63 | 9 | 11 | L 3 | ||
| 21 | Sat, Feb 14, 1981 | REG | Michigan | Big Ten | W | 70 | 66 | 10 | 11 | W 1 | ||
| 22 | Thu, Feb 19, 1981 | REG | Wisconsin | Big Ten | W | 74 | 65 | 11 | 11 | W 2 | ||
| 23 | Sat, Feb 21, 1981 | REG | @ | Illinois | Big Ten | L | 62 | 82 | 11 | 12 | L 1 | |
| 24 | Thu, Feb 26, 1981 | REG | @ | Northwestern | Big Ten | W | 74 | 61 | 12 | 12 | W 1 | |
| 25 | Sat, Feb 28, 1981 | REG | @ | Minnesota | Big Ten | L | 89 | 92 | 12 | 13 | L 1 | |
| 26 | Thu, Mar 5, 1981 | REG | Iowa | Big Ten | W | 71 | 70 | 13 | 13 | W 1 | ||
| 27 | Sat, Mar 7, 1981 | REG | Indiana | Big Ten | L | 48 | 69 | 13 | 14 | L 1 |