1980 Oregon State Basketball: A Breakthrough Pac-10 Championship

Ralph Miller inherited a program in 1971 that had frequently been competitive, but had slipped under .500 in recent years, and was buried underneath John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty in either case. By 1975, Oregon State was good enough to take advantage of the NCAA Tournament’s slight expansion to include some non-conference champions, and the Beavers made the Sweet 16. Entrance to the NCAA field was still much stricter than it is today, so even though Miller’s teams went 68-43 over the next four years, they failed to get a bid. But the 1980 Oregon State basketball team broke through—they not only got into the NCAA field, but they won the Pac-10 championship.

Steve Johnson was the cornerstone of the team. The 6’10” center averaged 17 points/7 rebounds per game. Ray Blume was a good guard, knocking down 15ppg and also averaging five assists. Mark Radford and Jeff Stoutt chipped in double-digit averages. Oregon State was ranked #17 to start the season.

The Beavers went to Hawaii where they opened the season with two games on a Friday and Saturday. After barely surviving the first one 75-74, Oregon State put down a 96-62 pounding in the second game. But a week later, they took a 94-86 loss to a respectable Portland team. The optimism of the preseason national ranking took a hit.

Victories over Portland State and Montana State got the Beavers back on track. They went to cross-state rival Oregon on December 22 for an early start to conference play. Oregon State won 75-66. That set the stage for the Far West Classic, an eight-team event played in Portland between Christmas and New Year’s.

It was here that the Beavers really started to emerge. They dropped 100 points on an Idaho team that would win 17 games. They beat BYU, who was ranked #20 and ultimately made the NCAA field. And Oregon State won the Classic with a 72-67 win over a Clemson team that had future pro Larry Nance Sr. in the lineup and would eventually make the Elite Eight. All of it was enough to get the Beavers to #14 in the polls as they pivoted into January and the regular Pac-10 schedule.

A couple of quick wins were highlighted by beating UCLA 76-67. While Wooden may have retired, the Bruins had still come within a game of the Final Four in 1979 and were led by Kiki Vandeweghe, another player with a bright NBA future ahead of him.

Oregon State went to Arizona State on January 12. The Sun Devils had tremendous talent, with Alton Lister, Fat Lever, and Byron Scott all headed for the pros. The Beavers got out of Tempe with a 63-59 win. Five days later they came home and beat Washington State, who had the eventual Pac-10 MVP in Don Collins, 65-63. Victories over Washington and Cal saw the Beavers roll up 175 combined points.

Perhaps that rapid offensive pace inspired what happened at Stanford on January 28. In an era before the shot-clock and three-point line, an undermanned team had incentive to stall. That’s what the Cardinal did. Oregon State won, but the final score was 18-16—it took until midway through the second half for the Beavers to get the lead. Then, not wanting to take any chances, Miller had his own team stall the rest of the way.

A road trip to UCLA followed, and Oregon State couldn’t regain their mojo. They were blown out of Westwood 93-67 for their first league loss. But they were still 17-2 overall, and up to #4 in the national polls.

Arizona State came north, and Oregon State handed the Sun Devils an 82-75 loss. The Beavers went on to beat Arizona and Washington. But Collins and Washington State got a measure of revenge, handing Oregon State a 69-57 loss. Stanford came to Corvallis for the return trip, and this time there was no funny business—the Beavers dropped an 85-57 beatdown on the Cardinal.

With two games to play, Oregon State and Arizona State were tied for the league lead at 14-2. There was no postseason tournament, so the Beavers’ head-to-head sweep wouldn’t give a seeding advantage. Washington State was still alive at 12-4. While UCLA would make the NCAA field—in fact, they would get hot in March and make the Final Four—they were only 10-6 in conference games going into the final week.

Oregon State got a big scare on the final Monday of the season, barely escaping lowly Cal, 52-51. But they got good news elsewhere—Washington State knocked off Arizona State. The Beavers controlled their own destiny for the outright conference crown. And they got it on their home floor with a 67-55 win over Oregon.

The NCAA field was 48 teams, so the top four seeds in each region got byes into the Round of 32. Oregon State got the 2-seed in the West and was placed in Ogden, UT for the opening weekend.

Lamar was the 10-seed, and they won a fast-paced 87-86 thriller over Weber State, to become Oregon State’s opponent on Saturday. Lamar was coached by Billy Tubbs, who turned his success here into the Oklahoma job, where he eventually took a team to the Final Four. Unfortunately for Oregon State, part of Tubbs’ resume became what happened in Ogden.

Blume and Johnson played exceptionally well. The former got 22 points/6 rebounds/7 assists. The latter controlled the interior with a 24 points/18 rebounds performance. But they didn’t have help beyond that, and Lamar was getting broad-based contributions. Moreover, Lamar was getting to the free throw line. The Cardinals attempted 36 free throws against just eight for the Beavers. It was too much to overcome. Oregon State’s season ended with an 81-77 loss.