The 1980-81 Beavers flirted with perfection, going 26-0 before suffering a shocking 20 point home loss to Alton Lister, Fat Lever, and the 24-3 Arizona State Sun Devils to close the year. The season would then end in unmitigated disaster with a crushing early loss to Kansas State, 50-48, in the 1981 NCAA Tournament. Conner would finish the year fourth on the team in scoring, with an average of 7.0 points per game, and pulling down 119 rebounds — second on the Beavers to star 6'11" center Steve Johnson.