# 1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 1981–82 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in NCAA Division I competition in the 1981–82 season. This was the first of Houston's famous Phi Slama Jama teams, led by Rob Williams, Michael Young, Larry Micheaux, and future Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler. Another future Hall of Famer, Akeem Olajuwon, played sparingly off the bench that season.
Houston, coached by Guy Lewis, played its home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then a member of the Southwest Conference.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 30, 1981* | | West Texas State | W 84–73 | 1–0 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 4, 1981* | | vs. Seton Hall | L 85–87 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | Brendan Byrne Arena (10,648) East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| Dec 6, 1981* | | Biscayne | W 106–74 | 2–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 8, 1981* | | Texas Lutheran | W 145–78 | 3–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 12, 1981* | | UTSA | W 105–69 | 4–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 15, 1981* | | UC Santa Barbara | W 74–68 | 5–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 18, 1981* | | Mississippi State Kettle Classic | W 96–49 | 6–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 19, 1981* | | No. 6 Iowa Kettle Classic | W 62–52 | 7–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 28, 1981* | No. 18 | vs. Purdue Sugar Bowl Classic | W 59–58 | 8–1 | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Dec 29, 1981* | No. 18 | vs. LSU Sugar Bowl Classic | W 73–69 | 9–1 | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 4, 1982 | No. 18 | Rice | W 63–61 | 10–1 (1–0) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 9, 1982 | No. 14 | at Texas Tech | W 78–68 | 11–1 (2–0) | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas |
| Jan 12, 1982 | No. 10 | No. 19 Texas | L 83–95 | 11–2 (2–1) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 16, 1982 | No. 10 | SMU | L 66–67 | 11–3 (2–2) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 23, 1982 | No. 19 | at No. 15 Arkansas | L 66–67 | 11–4 (2–3) | Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Jan 26, 1982 | | at TCU | L 82–85 | 11–5 (2–4) | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, Texas |
| Jan 30, 1982 | | Baylor | W 99–78 | 12–5 (3–4) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 1, 1982 | | at Texas A&M | L 77–95 | 12–6 (3–5) | G. Rollie White Coliseum College Station, Texas |
| Feb 3, 1982 | | Texas Tech | W 83–80 | 13–6 (4–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 6, 1982 | | at SMU | W 73–71 $^{OT}$ | 14–6 (5–5) | Moody Coliseum University Park, Texas |
| Feb 8, 1982 | | at No. 12 Texas | W 77–63 | 15–6 (6–5) | Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas |
| Feb 13, 1982 | | No. 8 Arkansas | W 55–53 | 16–6 (7–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 16, 1982 | | TCU | W 74–65 | 17–6 (8–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 20, 1982 | | at Baylor | W 78–74 | 18–6 (9–5) | Heart O' Texas Coliseum Waco, Texas |
| Feb 23, 1982 | | at Rice | W 75–69 | 19–6 (10–5) | Rice Gymnasium Houston, Texas |
| Feb 27, 1982 | | Texas A&M | W 96–93 | 20–6 (11–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| SWC tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1982* | (2) | vs. (3) Texas A&M Semifinals | W 89–76 | 21–6 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| Mar 6, 1982* | (2) | vs. (1) No. 14 Arkansas Championship | L 69–84 | 21–7 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1982* | (6 MW) | vs. (11 MW) Alcorn State First round | W 94–84 | 22–7 | Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mar 13, 1982* | (6 MW) | vs. (3 MW) No. 10 Tulsa Second round | W 78–74 | 23–7 | Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mar 19, 1982* | (6 MW) | vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Missouri Sweet Sixteen | W 79–78 | 24–7 | Checkerdome St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 21, 1982* | (6 MW) | vs. (8 MW) Boston College Elite Eight | W 99–92 | 25–7 | Checkerdome St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 27, 1982* | (6 MW) | vs. (1 E) No. 1 North Carolina Final Four | L 63–68 | 25–8 | Louisiana Superdome (61,612) New Orleans, Louisiana |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

### NCAA tournament

* Midwest
** Houston 94, Alcorn State 84
** Houston 78, Tulsa 74
** Houston 79, Missouri 78
** Houston 99, Boston College 92
* Final Four
** North Carolina 68, Houston 63

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | 18 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | 17 | 17 | 16 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |

## Awards and honors

* Rob Williams, 1st Team All-Southwest Conference
* Rob Williams, Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player
* Rob Williams, All-SWC Tournament team
* Clyde Drexler, 2nd Team All-Southwest Conference
* Larry Micheaux, All Midwest Regional

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Year | Player | Round | Pick | NBA club |
| 1982 | Rob Williams | 1 | 19 | Denver Nuggets |
| 1982 | Lynden Rose | 6 | 136 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1983 | Clyde Drexler | 1 | 14 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1983 | Larry Micheaux | 2 | 29 | Chicago Bulls |
| 1984 | Akeem Olajuwon | 1 | 1 | Houston Rockets |
| 1983 | Michael Young | 1 | 24 | Boston Celtics |
| 1985 | Reid Gettys | 5 | 103 | Chicago Bulls |