: ''For information on all Lamar University sports, see

Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals The Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals (variously Cardinals or Cards) refers to the college athletics teams of Lamar University, in Beaumont, Texas, Beaumont, Texas. The Cardinals and Lady Cardinals teams compete in seventeen NCAA Division I spor ...

'' The 1979–80 Lamar Cardinals basketball team represented

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

during the

1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 17, 1979, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on Mar ...

. The Cardinals were led by fourth-year head coach

Billy Tubbs Billy Duane Tubbs (March 5, 1935 – November 1, 2020) was an American men's college basketball Coach (sport), coach. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native was the head coach of his alma mater Lamar University (1976–1980, 2003–2006), the University of O ...

and played their home games at

McDonald Gym McDonald Gym, built in 1958, is located on the campus of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. The building was completely renovated in 2006-07 as part of the $17.8-million, 126,000 sq ft Sheila Umphrey Recreational Center project. The gym's sea ...

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

as members of the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

. The Cardinals won the regular season conference championship to receive an invitation to the

1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1980 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship ...

where they defeated No. 7 seed Weber State in the first round and No. 2 seed

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

in the second round to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first and only time in program history. Lamar fell to Clemson to finish the season with a record of 22–11 (8–2 Southland).

Roster

Sources:

Schedule and results

Sources: , - !colspan=12 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, Southland Conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 Lamar Cardinals basketball team Lamar Cardinals basketball seasons Lamar Lamar

Lamar Cardinals basketball The Lamar Cardinals basketball team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Cardinals currently play in the Southland Conference following a return from the Western Athletic Conference on July 11, 2022. T ...