1980 Marquette Basketball: The Warning Signs Of Decline
Marquette had been a national power going back to 1968. Under the leadership of the charismatic Al McGuire, the Warriors made the Final Four in 1974 and won a national title in 1977. When McGuire handed the reins to his top assistant, Hank Raymonds, Marquette continued to be a legitimate national contender in 1978 and 1979. But the 1980 season was when slippage started to show.
The Warriors were still a decent team in 1980, they still made the NCAA Tournament in an era when only 48 teams qualified, but a season spent on the margins and an early exit in March foreshadowed more difficult times ahead.
WORTHEN LEADS THE WAY
Sam Worthen was the senior leader at the two-guard spot, and he could do it all. Worthen led the team with 17ppg and also averaged seven assists. At 6’5” he even chipped in a few rebounds. He was joined by junior forward Oliver Lee, who averaged 16 points/7 rebounds. Robert Byrd was at the other forward and was good for a 12/10 line each night. This core trio made the Warriors a threat on any given night, and they opened the season ranked #18 in the polls.
A LOST DECEMBER
Fresno State was a respectable team to open the season at home with, and Marquette won a tough 57-54 game. But then they lost two straight at home to Michigan and Wisconsin, both of whom were mediocre this season. The Warriors bounced back when they went to Illinois, pulling out an 80-78 win against a decent opponent. The problems quickly resurfaced in the Milwaukee Classic. An annual event held during the holidays, it was supposed to be a couple of easy wins. But they dumped a game to so-so Rhode Island and were 3-3 going into the New Year. Marquette was out of the national polls and would not return.
INCONSISTENCY CONTINUES
Cleveland State was on its way to an 18-win season, and the Warriors handed them a 93-69 blowout, and then delivered a predictable smackdown of Brown. But once again, playing an opponent that was adequate, but nothing special, Marquette stumbled. They lost at Long Beach State.
DePaul, one of Marquette’s two big Catholic independent archrivals in the Midwest along with Notre Dame, was ranked #2 in the nation. The Blue Demons came to the MECCA arena (the current home of the UW-Milwaukee program) on the second Saturday of January. The Warriors dropped a 92-85 decision. They were 5-5 and in serious trouble for making the NCAA Tournament.
A MAKE-OR-BREAK STRETCH
Perfunctory wins over Maine and Xavier boosted confidence in time for a key stretch of the season against teams that were bound for the NCAA field. It was make-or-break time for Marquette.
It started with a Saturday afternoon game against Florida State, who ultimately reached the Round of 32 in March. Worthen scored 18 points and Byrd grabbed 18 rebounds. In their best performance of the season to date, the Warriors led by as many as 21 in the second half and closed out a 74-64 win.
Louisville was the eventual national champion, and Marquette dropped a 76-63 decision on the road. The next four games–South Carolina, Oral Roberts, Creighton and Loyola, were all against opponents that were winning teams, but in this more stringent era, not quite NCAA Tournament-caliber. Marquette won three, only losing a 102-101 thriller to Oral Roberts.
The Warriors were 11-7 and were showing signs of life, but there was a lot more work needed. It was in that context that they played Duke in a home-neutral game in Madison on the second Sunday of February. The Blue Devils were en route to a 4-seed in the NCAA field and an Elite Eight trip. It was the kind of win Marquette desperately needed.
MU came roaring out of the gate and still led by as many 19 in the second half. Duke stormed back and tied the game 75-75. Worthen fouled out. The afternoon—and the season—were looking bleak.
It was Byrd who stepped up. He came up with a steal with 1:30 left, and Lee later scored the go-ahead basket. Byrd closed out the next defensive possession with a big rebound. He finished with 21 points. Marquette pulled out an 80-77 win.
SUNDAY SHOWDOWN IN SOUTH BEND
After cruising through Xavier and Dayton to push their record to 14-7, Marquette inexplicably dumped a game to Stetson. The Warriors were again up against it, as they traveled to face 10th-ranked Notre Dame.
It was Sunday, February 24, 1980. It’s a date that lives in American sports lore, because the nation was focused on the “Miracle On Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team securing a historic gold medal by beating Finland. Marquette’s game was never going to match that, but they got their own special moment in South Bend. Worthen dropped 30 points, including scoring ten straight in the second half. Lee scored 20, including a couple of big free throws in the final minute. The Warriors got a huge 77-74 win.
The wins over Notre Dame and Duke were exactly what Raymonds’ team needed. They were able to end the season with wins over Detroit and Air Force to finish 17-8. They had won eight of their last nine, and their schedule had been consistently competitive throughout the season. It was enough to put them in the NCAA Tournament as the #9 seed in the East.
VILLANOVA SLAMS THE DOOR
Future legends were in the building when Marquette went to Providence for the first night of the NCAA Tournament. Their opponent was 8-seed Villanova, coached by Rollie Massimino. The other game scheduled for this venue involved Iona, who was then coached by Jim Valvano. Massimino and Valvano would both win historic Cinderella national championships in the first part of the 1980s.
From the Marquette perspective, that’s about all that was notable. The first half against Villanova went fine, and the Warriors led 33-32 at the half. But in a sloppy game where both teams were turning the ball over a lot, Marquette couldn’t make shots. They ended up 39 percent from the field, compared to Villanova’s 53 percent. The Warriors were outrebounded 31-25. Most damaging was the frequency with which each team got to the free throw line. Villanova got 32 free throw attempts against just 10 for Marquette. That translated into a 29-7 scoring edge. Pretty tough to win that way, and the Warriors were blown out in the second half, losing 77-59.
THE BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE
There were some good moments in the 1980 Marquette basketball season and Raymonds continued to produce competitive teams until his retirement in 1983. But this ’80 campaign was the beginning of the end for the program as a whole.
College basketball was changing. It was becoming more difficult for independents to recruit, and the development of the new Big East Conference was making it harder for Midwest independents in particular to do what McGuire had done so well, and that was get great players out of Eastern cities. McGuire himself, as a national TV analyst on NBC, said that under the emerging landscape, he couldn’t have done what he did in Milwaukee in the 1970s.
The result was that in 1981, Marquette’s string of making NCAA Tournaments came to an end. While they made it back to the March stage for Raymonds’ final two seasons, they were never higher than a 7-seed and would not make a Sweet 16 or be a national contender again for over a decade.