1977–78 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team

The 1977–78 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Southwest Conference. They finished the season 26-5 overall, tied for the SWC regular season title with a 14–2 record and won the 1978 National Invitation Tournament. They were coached by Abe Lemons in his second season as head coach of the Longhorns. They played their home games at the Special Events Center in Austin, Texas.^[1]

1977–78 Texas Longhorns men's basketball
SWC Regular Season Co-Champions
National Invitation Tournament, Champions
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 17
Record	26–5 (14–2 SWC)
Head coach	Abe Lemons (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Barry Dowd Steve Moeller
Home arena	Special Events Center
Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

1977–78 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Arkansas	14	–	2		.875			32	–	4		.889
No. 17 Texas	14	–	2		.875			26	–	5		.839
Houston †	11	–	5		.688			25	–	8		.758
Texas Tech	10	–	6		.625			19	–	10		.655
Baylor	8	–	8		.500			14	–	13		.519
SMU	6	–	10		.375			10	–	18		.357
Texas A&M	5	–	11		.313			12	–	15		.444
Rice	2	–	14		.125			4	–	22		.154
TCU	2	–	14		.125			4	–	22		.154
† 1978 SWC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

Name^[2]	#	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Home Town	High School
Ron Baxter	12	Guard-Forward	6–4	205	Sophomore	Los Angeles	Dorsey
Brent Boyd	4	Guard	6–3	185	Sophomore	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Catholic University
Tyrone Branyan	31	Forward	6–7	220	Junior	Placentia, California	El Dorado
Rob Cunningham	35	Forward-Center	6–8	215	Freshman	Westport, Connecticut	Staples
John Danks	32	Forward	6–6	190	Sophomore	Beaver Dam, Kentucky	Ohio County
Ovie Dotson	15	Guard	6–5	200	Junior	San Antonio, Texas	Sam Houston
Gary Goodner	42	Forward	6–7	220	Senior	Denton, Texas	Denton
Henry Johnson	33	Forward	6–6	190	Freshman	Los Angeles	Manual Arts
Jim Krivacs	11	Guard	6–1	160	Junior	Indianapolis	Southport
John Moore	00	Guard	6–1	170	Junior	Altoona, Pennsylvania	Altoona
Mike Murphy	41	Forward	6–8	215	Senior	Austin, Texas	Crockett
Tom Nichols	55	Center	6–10	230	Senior	Houston, Texas	Sharpstown
Dave Shepard	44	Guard	6–4	205	Freshman	Los Angeles	Manual Arts
Keith Stephens	52	Forward	6–8	210	Freshman	Pasadena, California	Pasadena
Phillip Stroud	30	Forward	6–7	220	Junior	Houston, Texas	Wheatley

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 26, 1977*		at USC	L 64–65	0–1	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
November 29, 1977*		Oklahoma	W 83–76	1–1	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
December 3, 1977*		Mississippi State	W 81–69	2–1	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
December 5, 1977*		LSU	W 82–66	3–1	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
December 7, 1977*		at Oklahoma State	W 108–87	4–1	Gallagher Hall  Stillwater, OK
December 10, 1977*		Alaska Anchorage	W 87–65	5–1	Special Events Center  Austin, Texas
December 17, 1977*		at Centenary	W 87–65	6–1	Gold Dome  Shreveport, LA
December 20, 1977*		Oklahoma City	W 88–71	7–1	Special Events Center  Austin, Texas
December 26, 1977*		vs. Army Milwaukee Classic	W 74–73	8–1	MECCA Arena  Milwaukee, WI
December 27, 1977*		at No. 5 Marquette Milwaukee Classic	L 56–65	8–2	MECCA Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 5, 1978		at TCU	W 90–41	9–2 (1–0)	Daniel–Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, TX
January 7, 1978		Texas Tech	W 90–41	10–2 (2–0)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
January 10, 1978		at Houston	W 100–89	11–2 (3–0)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, TX
January 14, 1978		No. 3 Arkansas	W 100–89	12–2 (4–0)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
January 17, 1978	No. 15	Rice	W 78–64	13–2 (5–0)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
January 23, 1978	No. 15	at Texas A&M	W 79–77 ^OT	14–2 (6–0)	G. Rollie White Coliseum  College Station, TX
January 25, 1978	No. 15	Baylor	W 78–76	15–2 (7–0)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
January 28, 1978	No. 15	at SMU	W 85–80	16–2 (8–0)	Moody Coliseum  University Park, TX
January 30, 1978	No. 15	Houston	W 73–72	17–2 (9–0)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
February 1, 1978	No. 12	at No. 2 Arkansas	L 71–75	17–3 (9–1)	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, AR
February 4, 1978	No. 12	TCU	W 87–60	18–3 (10–1)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
February 7, 1978	No. 12	at Rice	W 102–86	19–3 (11–1)	Rice Gymnasium  Houston, TX
February 13, 1978	No. 12	Texas A&M	W 90–66	20–3 (12–1)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
February 4, 1978	No. 12	at Baylor	L 77–79	20–4 (12–2)	Heart O' Texas Fair Complex  Waco, TX
February 18, 1978	No. 12	at Texas Tech	W 78–63	21–4 (13–2)	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum  Lubbock, TX
February 21, 1978	No. 14	SMU	W 82–74	22–4 (14–2)	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
SWC tournament
March 4, 1978	(1) No. 12	vs. (3) Houston Final	L 90–92	22–5	The Summit  Houston, TX
NIT
March 10, 1978	No. 16	Temple First Round	W 72–58	23–5	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
March 15, 1978	No. 17	Nebraska Quarterfinal	W 67–48	24–5	Special Events Center  Austin, TX
March 19, 1978	No. 17	vs. Rutgers Semifinal	W 96–76	25–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
March 21, 1978	No. 17	vs. NC State Final	W 101–93	26–5	Madison Square Garden  Houston, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[3][4]

Rankings

Main article: 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. "1977–78 Texas Longhorns Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
2. 1977–78 SWC men's basketball media guide, p. 36
3. Pennington, Richard. Longhorn Hoops: The History of Texas Basketball. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998. ISBN 0-292-76585-1.
4. McConnell, Scott. 2006–07 Texas Basketball Media Guide. Austin: UT Athletics, 2006.