1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Houston Cougars men's basketball
1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Fourth place
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
1967–68 record	31–2
Head coach	Guy Lewis
Assistant coach	Harvey Pate
Home arena	Delmar Fieldhouse

The 1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team played its home games at Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston for the second consecutive season. This season marked the team's ninth year as an independent member of the NCAA's University Division. Houston was led by twelfth-year head coach Guy Lewis.

During the regular season, the Elvin Hayes-fronted Cougars team would beat the Lew Alcindor-led UCLA Bruins on January 20, 1968, in what was known as the Game of the Century. Houston obtained a perfect 28–0 record for regular season play, and eventually finished with a 31–2 overall record. It was the first time in the program's history that at least 30 wins were achieved. The team finished as number one in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. The team was invited to the 1968 NCAA Men's University Division Basketball Tournament, and finished as a semifinalist. It was the second Final Four appearance in Houston's history.

Following the season, Elvin Hayes was drafted into the National Basketball Association by the San Diego Rockets as the first overall draft pick in the 1968 NBA Draft. Don Chaney was also taken as the twelfth overall draft pick by the Boston Celtics.

Schedule

Houston's Elvin Hayes is carried in celebration after the victory over UCLA in the 1968 Game of the Century

Houston's regular season included the notable Game of Century against #1 UCLA. With an attendance of 52,693, the game had the highest attendance of any basketball game at any level at the time. It was also the first national broadcast of an NCAA basketball game in prime-time.

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
12/02/1967 no	No. 2	Sacramento State	W 110–79	1–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
12/04/1967 no	No. 2	Abilene Christian	W 90–75	2–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
12/07/1967 no	No. 2	North Dakota State	W 121–88	3–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
12/09/1967 no	No. 2	at Illinois	W 54–46	4–0	Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois
Bluebonnet Classic
12/13/1967 no	No. 2	George Washington	W 86–61	5–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
12/14/1967 no	No. 2	Montana State	W 113–67	6–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
Regular season
12/16/1967 no	No. 2	BYU	W 102–69	7–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
12/18/1967 no	No. 2	Minnesota	W 103–65	8–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
12/22/1967 no	No. 2	at Arizona	W 81–76	9–0	Bear Down Gym Tucson, Arizona
12/23/1968 no	No. 2	at UNLV Las Vegas	W 94–85	10–0	Las Vegas Convention Center
Rainbow Classic
12/28/1967 no	No. 2	vs. Bradley	W 69–52	11–0	Honolulu International Center Arena Honolulu
12/29/1967 no	No. 2	vs. Marquette	W 77–65	12–0	Honolulu International Center Arena Honolulu
12/30/1967 no	No. 2	vs. North Texas	W 69–52	13–0	Honolulu International Center Arena Honolulu
Regular season
01/02/1968 no	No. 2	Michigan	W 91–65	14–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
01/06/1968 no	No. 2	Centenary	W 118–81	15–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
01/13/1968 no	No. 2	West Texas A&M	W 98–53	16–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
01/20/1968 no, TVS	No. 2	vs. No. 1 UCLA Game of the Century	W 71–69	17–0	Astrodome Houston
01/27/1968 no	No. 1	Lamar	W 112–79	18–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
01/29/1968 no	No. 1	Fairfield	W 108–76	19–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
02/01/1968 no	No. 1	vs. Marshall	W 102–93	20–0	Madison Square Garden New York City
02/10/1968 no	No. 1	at Centenary	W 107–56	21–0	? Shreveport, Louisiana
02/15/1968 no	No. 1	Miami	W 106–64	22–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
02/17/1968 no	No. 1	Air Force	W 106–82	23–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
02/22/1968 no	No. 1	Texas–Arlington Houston	W 130–75	24–0	Delmar Fieldhouse
02/24/1968 no	No. 1	Valparaiso	W 158–81	25–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
02/26/1968 no	No. 1	at Hardin–Simmons	W 105–82	26–0	? Abilene, Texas
03/02/1968 no	No. 1	Virginia Tech	W 120–79	27–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston
03/04/1968 no	No. 1	at West Texas A&M	W 107–76	28–0	WT Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas
NCAA Division I Tournament
03/09/1968 no	No. 1	vs. Loyola First round	W 94–76	29–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City
03/15/1968 no	No. 1	vs. No. 9 Louisville Sweet Sixteen	W 91–75	30–0	WSU Fieldhouse Wichita, Kansas
03/16/1968 no	No. 1	vs. TCU Elite Eight	W 103–68	31–0	WSU Fieldhouse Wichita, Kansas
03/22/1968 no, SNI	No. 1	vs. No. 2 UCLA Final Four	L 69-101	31–1	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles
03/23/1968 no	No. 1	vs. Ohio State Third place game	L 85–89	31–2	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Roster

1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Vernon Lewis	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Houston, Texas
G	12	Larry Anderson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Drumright, Oklahoma
C	14	Ken Spain	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Houston, Texas
G	20	Tom Gribben	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Berwyn, Illinois
G	22	Niemer Hamood	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Dearborn, Michigan
G	24	Don Chaney	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
F	30	Larry Cooper	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Houston, Texas
G	32	Billy Bane	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	Jr	Charlotte, North Carolina
C	34	Mars Evans	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	New York City
F	40	Theodis Lee	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Monroe, Louisiana
G	42	George Reynolds	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Newark, New Jersey
F	44	Elvin Hayes	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Rayville, Louisiana
G	50	Kent Taylor	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Houston, Texas
G	52	Bobby Van Landingham	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	La Marque, Texas
F	54	Carlos Bell	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Clinton, Oklahoma
F	54	Melvin Bell	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Clinton, Oklahoma

Head coach

Guy Lewis (Houston)

Assistant coach(es)

Harvey Pate (Oklahoma State)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2010-07-29

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
Elvin Hayes	1	1	San Diego Rockets
Don Chaney	1	12	Boston Celtics

^[1]

References

↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-10-04.

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[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-10-04.

Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Hofheinz Pavilion/Fertitta Center (1969–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice
Culture & lore	History Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Head coaches Retired numbers
Seasons	1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics