1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 1980–81 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by first year head coach Bill Mulligan and played their home games at the Crawford Hall. They were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished the season 17–10 and 9–5 in PCAA play.

Previous season
The 1979–80 Anteaters finished the season with a record of 9–18 and 1–13 in PCAA play. They anteaters were invited to the PCAA tournament where they lost in the first round against the. Coach Tim Tift announced his resignation as coach of the anteaters with 6 games remaining in the season. Saddleback College coach Bill Mulligan was announced as the new coach on March 1.

1980 recruiting class
Source:

Schedule
!colspan=9 style="background:#002244; color:#FFDE6C;"| Non-Conference Season

!colspan=9 style="background:#002244; color:#FFDE6C;"| Conference Season

!colspan=9 style="background:#002244; color:#FFDE6C;"| PCAA tournament

Source

Awards and honors

 * Kevin Magee
 * AP First Team All-American
 * PCAA Player of the Year
 * PCAA First Team All-Conference
 * Ben McDonald
 * PCAA Freshman of the Year
 * PCAA All-Freshman Team