# 1971–72 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 1971–72 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in NCAA University Division competition in the 1971–72 season.
Houston, coached by Guy Lewis, played its home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then an Independent.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1971 | No. 7 | at Stanford | W 87–67 | 1–0 | Maples Pavilion Stanford, California |
| Dec 2, 1971 | No. 7 | at California | L 81–82 $^{2OT}$ | 1–1 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Dec 4, 1971 | No. 7 | Tennessee | W 67–65 | 2–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 6, 1971 | No. 12 | at Southwestern Louisiana | L 88–97 | 2–2 | Blackham Coliseum Lafayette, Louisiana |
| Dec 10, 1971 | No. 12 | No. 17 Arizona State | L 97–98 | 2–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 11, 1971 | No. 12 | No. 17 Arizona State | W 88–76 | 3–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 20, 1971 | | Washington State | W 84–73 | 4–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 27, 1971 | | LSU Bluebonnet Classic | W 100–66 | 5–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 28, 1971 | | Michigan State Bluebonnet Classic | W 106–73 | 6–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 3, 1972 | | at Dayton | L 69–73 | 6–4 | UD Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Jan 6, 1972 | | Colorado | W 70–66 | 7–4 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 8, 1972 | | vs. Rice | W 101–73 | 8–4 | Houston Astrodome Houston, Texas |
| Jan 16, 1972 | | at No. 12 Florida State | L 79–86 | 8–5 | Tully Gymnasium Tallahassee, Florida |
| Jan 17, 1972 | | at Southern Miss | W 115–84 | 9–5 | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi |
| Jan 27, 1972 | | Southern Miss | W 102–63 | 10–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 29, 1972 | | LIU | W 104–79 | 11–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 4, 1972 | | No. 12 Florida State | W 94–86 | 12–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 7, 1972 | | Denver | W 98–69 | 13–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 10, 1972 | | Centenary (LA) | W 100–83 | 14–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 14, 1972 | | Loyola (LA) | W 104–86 | 15–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 17, 1972 | | at Centenary (LA) | W 93–82 | 16–5 | Gold Dome Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Feb 19, 1972 | | No. 7 South Carolina | W 95–85 | 17–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 24, 1972 | No. 16 | Texas A&I–Corpus Christi | W 105–81 | 18–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 26, 1972 | No. 16 | Houston Baptist | W 96–79 | 19–5 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 28, 1972 | No. 13 | at Jacksonville | L 108–110 $^{OT}$ | 19–6 | Jacksonville Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida |
| Mar 4, 1972 | No. 13 | at Denver | W 94–91 | 20–6 | DU Fieldhouse Denver, Colorado |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1972 | No. 19 | vs. Texas Regional quarterfinals – First round | L 74–85 | 20–7 | Pan American Center Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## 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 | 7 | 12 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | 13 | 19 | — |
| Coaches | 6 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 19 | 17 | 14 | 15 | — |