1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball
1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Fourth place
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
1967–68 record	31–2
Head coach	Guy Lewis (12th season);
Assistant coach	Harvey Pate
Home arena	Delmar Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 1966–67 →

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 defeated the Lew Alcindor-led UCLA Bruins on January 20 in what was known as the Game of the Century. Houston attained a perfect 28–0 record for regular season, and finished with a 31–2 overall record, the first thirty-win season in program history. The Cougars finished first in both major polls, were invited to the NCAA Tournament, and finished as a semifinalist. It was Houston's second consecutive Final Four appearance.

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.

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

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
12/2/1967	No. 2	Sacramento State	W 110–79	1–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/4/1967	No. 2	Abilene Christian	W 90–75	2–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/7/1967	No. 2	North Dakota State	W 121–88	3–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/9/1967	No. 2	at Illinois	W 54–46	4–0	Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois
Bluebonnet Classic
12/13/1967	No. 2	George Washington	W 86–61	5–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/14/1967	No. 2	Montana State	W 113–67	6–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
Regular season
12/16/1967	No. 2	BYU	W 102–69	7–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/18/1967	No. 2	Minnesota	W 103–65	8–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/22/1967	No. 2	at Arizona	W 81–76	9–0	Bear Down Gym Tucson, Arizona
12/23/1968	No. 2	at UNLV	W 94–85	10–0	Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada
Rainbow Classic
12/28/1967	No. 2	vs. Bradley	W 69–52	11–0	Honolulu International Center Arena Honolulu, Hawaii
12/29/1967	No. 2	vs. Marquette	W 77–65	12–0	Honolulu International Center Arena Honolulu, Hawaii
12/30/1967	No. 2	vs. North Texas	W 45–43	13–0	Honolulu International Center Arena Honolulu, Hawaii
Regular season
1/2/1968	No. 2	Michigan	W 91–65	14–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/6/1968	No. 2	Centenary (LA)	W 118–81	15–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/13/1968	No. 2	West Texas A&M	W 98–53	16–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/20/1968 TVS	No. 2	vs. No. 1 UCLA Game of the Century	W 71–69	17–0	Astrodome Houston, Texas
1/27/1968	No. 1	Lamar	W 112–79	18–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/29/1968	No. 1	Fairfield	W 108–76	19–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Houston
2/1/1968	No. 1	vs. Marshall	W 102–93	20–0	Madison Square Garden New York City, New York
2/10/1968	No. 1	at Centenary (LA)	W 107–56	21–0	Haynes Gymnasium Shreveport, Louisiana
2/15/1968	No. 1	Miami (FL)	W 106–64	22–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/17/1968	No. 1	Air Force	W 106–82	23–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/22/1968	No. 1	Texas–Arlington	W 130–75	24–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/24/1968	No. 1	Valparaiso	W 158–81	25–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/26/1968	No. 1	at Hardin–Simmons	W 105–82	26–0	Rose Fieldhouse Abilene, Texas
3/2/1968	No. 1	Virginia Tech	W 120–79	27–0	Delmar Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
3/4/1968	No. 1	at West Texas A&M	W 107–76	28–0	WTAMU Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas
NCAA Tournament
3/9/1968	No. 1	vs. Loyola First round	W 94–76	29–0	Nielsen Fieldhouse Salt Lake City, Utah
3/15/1968	No. 1	vs. No. 9 Louisville Sweet Sixteen	W 91–75	30–0	WSU Fieldhouse Wichita, Kansas
3/16/1968	No. 1	vs. TCU Elite Eight	W 103–68	31–0	WSU Fieldhouse Wichita, Kansas
3/22/1968 SNI	No. 1	vs. No. 2 UCLA Final Four	L 69–101	31–1	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
3/23/1968	No. 1	vs. Ohio State Third place game	L 85–89	31–2	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Coaches	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

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

Source:^[1]

References[]

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-10-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-10-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

v t Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Fertitta Center (1969–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice SMU
Culture & lore	Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Statistical leaders
Seasons	1945–46 1946–47 1955–56 1966–67 1967–68 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1989–90 1991–92 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics