1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

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.

1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Fourth place
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	31–2
Head coach	Guy Lewis (12th season)
Assistant coach	Harvey Pate
Home arena	Delmar Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1966–67 1968–69 →

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

Main article: 1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.

	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

1. . Archived from the original on 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-10-04.