# 1970–71 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

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.

## 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. ||||||

## 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 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | 15 | — | — | 15 | 18 | 14 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 18 | — | 14 | 15 | 18 |