# 1986–87 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston as a member of the Southwest Conference during the 1986–87 NCAA men's basketball season. Following the 30-year tenure of legendary coach Guy Lewis, the team was led by first-year head coach Pat Foster and the team played its home games at the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas.
The Cougars played in the NCAA tournament for the first time in three seasons, and lost in the opening round to Kansas, 66–55. Houston finished with a record of 18–12 (9–7 SWC).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 28, 1986* | | St. Mary's | W 80–68 | 1–0 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 1, 1986* | | Minnesota | W 86–72 | 2–0 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 5, 1986* | | vs. Mississippi Valley State Kactus Classic | W 78–70 | 3–0 | ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona |
| Dec 6, 1986* | | at Arizona State Kactus Classic | W 83–66 | 4–0 | ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona |
| Dec 9, 1986* | | at Long Beach State | L 65–71 | 4–1 | The Gold Mine Long Beach, California |
| Dec 13, 1986* | | New Orleans | W 83–75 | 5–1 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Dec 20, 1986* | | at West Texas State | L 66–68 | 5–2 | WTAMU Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas |
| Dec 28, 1986* | | vs. Villanova Sugar Bowl Classic | L 60–63 | 5–3 | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Dec 29, 1986* | | vs. Vanderbilt Sugar Bowl Classic | W 73–72 | 6–3 | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 3, 1987 | | Texas Tech | W 68–45 | 7–3 (1–0) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 5, 1987* | | Pan American | W 87–37 | 8–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 10, 1987 | | at Rice | W 71–36 | 9–3 (2–0) | Rice Gymnasium Houston, Texas |
| Jan 17, 1987 | | Arkansas | W 60–55 | 10–3 (3–0) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 19, 1987 | | at Texas A&M | L 45–57 | 10–4 (3–1) | G. Rollie White Coliseum College Station, Texas |
| Jan 21, 1987 | | at SMU | W 75–65 | 11–4 (4–1) | Moody Coliseum University Park, Texas |
| Jan 24, 1987 | | No. 19 TCU | L 56–62 | 11–5 (4–2) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 26, 1987 | | Baylor | L 62–67 | 11–6 (4–3) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 28, 1987 | | Texas | W 65–59 | 12–6 (5–3) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Jan 31, 1987 | | at Texas Tech | L 55–56 $^{OT}$ | 12–7 (5–4) | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas |
| Feb 3, 1987* | | Southwestern Louisiana | W 72–51 | 13–7 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 7, 1987 | | Rice | W 75–62 | 14–7 (6–4) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 11, 1987 | | at Arkansas | W 57–54 | 15–7 (7–4) | Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Feb 14, 1987 | | at Baylor | L 57–63 $^{OT}$ | 15–8 (7–5) | Heart O' Texas Coliseum Waco, Texas |
| Feb 18, 1987 | | Texas A&M | W 67–46 | 16–8 (8–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 22, 1987 | | SMU | L 73–79 | 16–9 (8–6) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| Feb 25, 1987 | | at No. 15 TCU | W 84–65 | 17–9 (9–6) | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, Texas |
| Feb 28, 1987 | | at Texas | L 64–65 | 17–10 (9–7) | Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas |
| SWC tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1987* | (3) | vs. (6) Texas Quarterfinals | W 59–49 | 18–10 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| Mar 6, 1987* | (3) | vs. (2) Baylor Semifinals | L 52–54 | 18–11 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1987* | (12 SE) | vs. (5 SE) No. 20 Kansas First Round | L 55–66 | 18–12 | Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast region. ||||||

## NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 23 | Greg "Cadillac" Anderson | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2 | 28 | Rickie Winslow | Chicago Bulls |