1981–82 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 1981–82 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by second 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 23–7 and 10–4 in PCAA play.

Previous season
Under first year coach Bill Mulligan, the 1979–80 Anteaters archived their first winning season as a division 1 program with a record of 17–10 and was 3rd in conference play with a record of 9–5. The anteaters averaged 86.4 points per game and led the country in scoring.

Incoming transfers
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1981 recruiting class
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Schedule
!colspan=9 style=|Non-Conference Season

!colspan=9 style=|Conference Season

!colspan=9 style=| PCAA tournament

!colspan=9 style=| NIT

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Awards and honors
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 * Kevin Magee
 * AP First Team All-American
 * USBWA First Team All-American
 * NABC Second Team All-American
 * PCAA Player of the Year
 * PCAA First Team All-Conference
 * Ben McDonald
 * PCAA Second Team All-Conference

Team players drafted into the NBA
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