# 1955–56 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 1955–56 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 1955–56 season of college basketball. It was their eleventh year of season play. The head coach for the Cougars was Alden Pasche, who was serving in his 11th year in that position. The team played its home games at Public School Fieldhouse on-campus in Houston and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Houston captured its fourth conference regular season title, and competed in the postseason in the 1956 NCAA basketball tournament where they were defeated by SMU and Kansas State. It was Houston's first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.
After the season, Pasche retired. He was 135–116 in eleven seasons, and was replaced by assistant coach Guy Lewis.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 12/1/1955* | | Sam Houston State | W 77–55 | 1–0 | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/7/1955* | | Texas A&I | W 86–59 | 2–0 | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/9/1955* | | vs. Valparaiso Birmingham Classic | L 80–84 | 2–1 | Unknown Birmingham, Alabama |
| 12/10/1955* | | vs. TCU Birmingham Classic | W 101–58 | 3–1 | Unknown Birmingham, Alabama |
| 12/14/1955* | | at Texas A&M | W 78–44 | 4–1 | G. Rollie White Coliseum College Station, Texas |
| 12/16/1955 | | Detroit Mercy | W 89–76 | 5–1 (1–0) | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/17/1955 | | Detroit Mercy | W 86–84 | 6–1 (2–0) | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 12/21/1955* | | Kansas State | W 86–79 | 7–1 | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/2/1956 | | Wichita | W 82–77 | 8–1 (3–0) | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/7/1956 | | Saint Louis | L 73–76 | 8–2 (3–1) | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/9/1956* | | No. 16 Oklahoma City | W 78–64 | 9–2 | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/12/1956 | | at Tulsa | W 69–60 | 10–2 (4–1) | Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 1/14/1956 | | at Oklahoma A&M | L 44–63 | 10–3 (4–2) | Gallagher Hall Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| 1/23/1956 | | Tulsa | W 71–62 $^{OT}$ | 11–3 (5–2) | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/25/1956* | | at Miami (FL) | W 95–77 | 12–3 | Unknown Coral Gables, Florida |
| 1/28/1956* | | Trinity (TX) | W 104–62 | 13–3 | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 1/30/1956* | | at Sam Houston State | W 87–59 | 14–3 | Unknown Huntsville, Texas |
| 2/4/1956* | | Texas A&M | W 105–74 | 15–3 | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 2/9/1956 | | at Bradley | W 82–70 | 16–3 (6–2) | Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois |
| 2/11/1956 | | at No. 11 Saint Louis | W 67–66 | 17–3 (7–2) | Kiel Auditorium St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2/18/1956 | No. 18 | Oklahoma A&M | W 62–60 | 18–3 (8–2) | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 2/20/1956 | No. 14 | Bradley | W 68–53 | 19–3 (9–2) | Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 2/25/1956 | No. 14 | at Wichita | L 72–82 | 19–4 (9–3) | University of Wichita Field House Wichita, Kansas |
| 2/27/1956* | No. 18 | at No. 16 Oklahoma City | L 67–76 | 19–5 | Municipal Auditorium Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/16/1956* | | vs. No. 7 SMU Regional semifinals – Sweet Sixteen | L 74–89 | 19–6 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| 3/17/1956* | | vs. Kansas State Regional third-place game | L 70–89 | 19–7 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## 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 |
| Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | 14 | 18 | 17 | — |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 19 | 14 | 18 | — |