1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers basketball
1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers basketball
SEC Regular season co-champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	East
Record	20–10 (13–5 SEC)
Head coach	Don DeVoe (4th season);
Home arena	Stokely Athletic Center

1981–82 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 15 Kentucky	13	–	5	.722	22	–	8	.733
	13	–	5	.722	20	–	10	.667
No. 13 Alabama †	12	–	6	.667	24	–	7	.774
Ole Miss	11	–	7	.611	18	–	12	.600
LSU	11	–	7	.611	14	–	14	.500
Georgia	10	–	8	.556	19	–	12	.613
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	15	–	13	.536
Auburn	7	–	11	.389	14	–	14	.500
Mississippi State	4	–	14	.222	8	–	19	.296
Florida	2	–	16	.111	5	–	22	.185

† 1982 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1981–82 college basketball season. Led by fourth-year head coach Don DeVoe, the team played their home games at the Stokely Athletic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers finished with a record of 20–10 (13–5 SEC, T-1st) and received an at-large bid to the 1982 NCAA tournament as the 9 seed in the Mideast region. After an opening round win over Southwestern Louisiana, Tennessee was defeated by No. 1 seed Virginia for the second straight season.^[2]

This was the fourth of five straight seasons of NCAA Tournament basketball for the Tennessee men's program. Junior Dale Ellis was named the SEC Player of the Year – an award he would take home the next season as well.

Roster

1981–82 Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Tyrone Beaman	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	So	Niagara Falls, New York
G	12	Ed Littleton	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Jr	Paris, Tennessee
F	14	Dale Ellis	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Marietta, Georgia
G	21	Michael Brooks	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Memphis, Tennessee
G	22	Jerald Hyatt	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Knoxville, Tennessee
G	23	Myron Carter	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Madison, Tennessee
C	24	Walter Evans	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Fr	Morristown, Tennessee
F	25	Seth McDonald	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So	Tullahoma, Tennessee
G	30	Gary Carter	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr	Johnson City, Tennessee
F	31	Kevin Woods	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Fr	Baltimore, Maryland
F	32	Kirk Naler	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Fr	Gadsden, Alabama
C	33	Dan Federmann	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	So	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	40	Willie Burton	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Millen, Georgia
F	53	Steve Ray	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr	Collinsville, Illinois
F/C	54	Randy Bates	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Old Hickory, Tennessee

Head coach

Don DeVoe (Ohio State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1981*		at Purdue	L 68–82	0–1	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 8, 1981*		at Colorado	W 64–63	1–1	Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado
Dec 12, 1981		Auburn	W 86–79	2–1 (1–0)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 14, 1981		Cleveland State	W 74–58	3–1	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 18, 1981		American Volunteer Classic	W 59–58	4–1	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 19, 1981		California Volunteer Classic	W 80–48	5–1	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 26, 1981		at Portland Far West Classic	L 62–71	5–2	Howard Hall Portland, Oregon
Dec 27, 1981		Wisconsin Far West Classic	W 79–67	6–2	Howard Hall Portland, Oregon
Dec 28, 1981		Pittsburgh Far West Classic	L 54–55	6–3	Howard Hall Portland, Oregon
Jan 2, 1982		No. 12 Alabama	W 88–67	7–3 (2–0)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 6, 1982		at Ole Miss	W 62–55	8–3 (3–0)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi
Jan 9, 1982		No. 3 Kentucky	W 70–66	9–3 (4–0)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 13, 1982		at Florida	W 69–66	10–3 (5–0)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 16, 1982		Vanderbilt	W 71–69	11–3 (6–0)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 20, 1982	No. 20	at Mississippi State	W 54–44	12–3 (7–0)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 23, 1982	No. 20	LSU	W 77–67	13–3 (8–0)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 27, 1982	No. 15	at Georgia	W 66–64	14–3 (9–0)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Jan 30, 1982	No. 15	at No. 13 Alabama	L 72–77	14–4 (9–1)	Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Feb 3, 1982	No. 16	Ole Miss	L 53–55	14–5 (9–2)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 6, 1982	No. 16	at No. 9 Kentucky	L 67–77	14–6 (9–3)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 10, 1982		Florida	W 90–75	15–6 (10–3)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 13, 1982		at Vanderbilt	W 59–55	16–6 (11–3)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 17, 1982		Mississippi State	W 50–48	17–6 (12–3)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 20, 1982		at LSU	W 54–53	18–6 (13–3)	Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 24, 1982		Georgia	L 63–64	18–7 (13–4)	Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 27, 1982		at Auburn	L 54–56	18–8 (13–5)	Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama
SEC tournament
Mar 4, 1982 TVS	(2)	(7) Vanderbilt Quarterfinals	W 57–54	19–8	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Mar 5, 1982 TVS	(2)	(3) No. 18 Alabama Semifinals	L 50–56	19–9	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1982*	(9 ME)	vs. (8 ME) Southwestern Louisiana First round	W 61–57	20–9	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
Mar 14, 1982*	(9 ME)	vs. (1 ME) No. 3 Virginia Second round	L 51–54^[2]	20–10	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4] ^[5]

Rankings

^[6]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1981-82 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ ^a ^b "Virginia Wins, 54-51, As Tennessee Fades Out". The Washington Post. March 15, 1982. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "1981-82 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "1981-82 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "2019-20 Tennessee Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] sports-reference.com 1981-82 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[UVA-2] "Virginia Wins, 54-51, As Tennessee Fades Out". The Washington Post. March 15, 1982. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[3] "1981-82 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[4] "1981-82 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[5] "2019-20 Tennessee Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[ESPN-6] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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