1970–71 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Marquette		–		–	28	–	1	.966
No. 9 Fordham		–		–	26	–	3	.897
No. 11 Jacksonville		–		–	22	–	4	.846
No. 15 Duquesne		–		–	21	–	4	.840
Hawaii		–		–	23	–	5	.821
No. 19 Villanova		–		–	27	–	7	.794
St. Bonaventure		–		–	21	–	6	.778
No. 14 Houston		–		–	22	–	7	.759
Utah State		–		–	20	–	7	.741
Syracuse		–		–	19	–	7	.731
Georgia Tech		–		–	23	–	9	.719
Providence		–		–	20	–	8	.714
Fairleigh Dickinson		–		–	16	–	7	.696
Rutgers		–		–	16	–	7	.696
Holy Cross		–		–	18	–	8	.692
No. 12 Notre Dame		–		–	20	–	9	.690
Dayton		–		–	18	–	9	.667
St. John's (NY)		–		–	18	–	9	.667
Denver		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Florida State		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Loyola (LA)		–		–	16	–	10	.615
Marshall		–		–	16	–	10	.615
Colgate		–		–	15	–	10	.600
Saint Francis (PA)		–		–	15	–	10	.600
Pittsburgh		–		–	14	–	10	.583
Boston College		–		–	15	–	11	.577
Northern Illinois		–		–	13	–	10	.565
Southern Illinois		–		–	13	–	10	.565
Creighton		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Virginia Tech		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Manhattan		–		–	13	–	11	.542
Cincinnati		–		–	14	–	12	.538
Detroit		–		–	14	–	12	.538
Niagara		–		–	14	–	12	.538
West Virginia		–		–	13	–	12	.520
Centenary		–		–	13	–	13	.500
Pan American		–		–	13	–	13	.500
Navy		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Air Force		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Georgetown		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Seattle		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Army		–		–	11	–	13	.458
Saint Peter's		–		–	11	–	13	.458
Iona		–		–	10	–	12	.455
Penn State		–		–	10	–	12	.455
George Washington		–		–	11	–	14	.440
Seton Hall		–		–	11	–	15	.423
Long Island		–		–	10	–	15	.400
Butler		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Canisius		–		–	8	–	13	.381
Fairfield		–		–	9	–	15	.375
Hardin–Simmons		–		–	9	–	16	.360
Oklahoma City		–		–	9	–	16	.360
Xavier		–		–	9	–	17	.346
DePaul		–		–	8	–	17	.320
St. Francis (NY)		–		–	8	–	17	.320
Tulane		–		–	8	–	18	.308
Boston University		–		–	7	–	18	.280
Miami (FL)		–		–	7	–	19	.269
NYU		–		–	5	–	20	.200
Portland		–		–	5	–	21	.192
Loyola (IL)		–		–	4	–	20	.167

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970–71 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in NCAA University Division competition in the 1970–71 season.

Houston, coached by Guy Lewis, played its home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then an Independent.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	12	Dwight Jones	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Wheatley HS	Houston, Texas
G	24	Poo Welch	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr	Tyler JC	Lake Charles, Louisiana
F	42	Dwight Davis	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Worthing HS	Houston, Texas
F	52	Steve Newsome	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So		Columbia, Missouri

Head coach

Guy Lewis (Houston)

Assistant coach(es)

Harvey Pate (Oklahoma State)
Don Schverak (Houston)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 3, 1970	No. 17	Northwestern State	W 81–68	1–0	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 5, 1970	No. 17	at Tennessee	L 58–79	1–1	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 7, 1970		at Florida	W 61–60	2–1	Florida Gymnasium Gainesville, Florida
Dec 11, 1970		Tulane Bluebonnet Classic	W 91–60	3–1	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 12, 1970		No. 18 Oregon Bluebonnet Classic	W 81–68	4–1	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 18, 1970		vs. No. 10 Villanova Jayhawk Classic	W 99–84	5–1	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
Dec 19, 1970		at No. 12 Kansas Jayhawk Classic	L 73–89	5–2	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
Dec 21, 1970		Auburn	W 79–76	6–2	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 29, 1970		vs. No. 10 Tennessee Trojan Classic	W 68–65	7–2	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Dec 30, 1970		at No. 4 USC Trojan Classic	L 64–77	7–3	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Jan 4, 1971		Dayton	W 106–80	8–3	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jan 6, 1971		Creighton	W 83–76	9–3	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jan 9, 1971		West Texas State	W 90–71	10–3	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jan 13, 1971		at Lamar Tech	W 106–88	11–3	McDonald Gym Beaumont, Texas
Jan 16, 1971		at Centenary (LA)	W 74–68	12–3	Gold Dome Shreveport, Louisiana
Jan 20, 1971		UNLV	W 130–73	13–3	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jan 23, 1971		at Kansas State	W 73–71	14–3	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
Jan 25, 1971		Centenary (LA)	W 80–69	15–3	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Feb 4, 1971	No. 18	at LIU	W 81–75	16–3	Schwartz Athletic Center New York City, New York
Feb 6, 1971	No. 18	Seattle	W 93–92	17–3	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Feb 13, 1971	No. 15	at Loyola (LA)	L 89–92	17–4	Loyola Field House New Orleans, Louisiana
Feb 20, 1971		at Miami (FL)	W 99–93	18–4	Miami Beach Convention Center Miami Beach, Florida
Feb 22, 1971		at No. 7 South Carolina	L 71–88	18–5	Carolina Coliseum Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 25, 1971		Lamar Tech	W 93–74	19–5	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Feb 27, 1971		No. 6 Jacksonville	W 83–82	20–5	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Mar 1, 1971	No. 15	at West Texas State	L 77–86	20–6	West Texas State Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1971	No. 18	New Mexico State Regional quarterfinals – First round	W 72–69	21–6	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Mar 18, 1971	No. 14	vs. No. 4 Kansas Regional semifinals – Sweet Sixteen	L 77–78	21–7	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Mar 20, 1971	No. 14	vs. No. 12 Notre Dame Regional third-place game	W 119–106	22–7	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

^[1]

Rankings

^[2]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	17	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	18	15	—	—	15	18	14
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	17	18	—	14	15	18

References

^ "1970-71 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Houston Athletics. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 846–847. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] "1970-71 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Houston Athletics. Retrieved December 29, 2024.

[ESPN-2] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 846–847. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Fertitta Center (1969–2017; 2018–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	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of 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 1999–2000 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 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics