Houston Cougars and Kansas Jayhawks have met on college basketball’s biggest stage
Big 12 newcomer Houston, which has played Kansas in men’s basketball seven times throughout the years, will be matched against the Jayhawks on Saturday for the first time since 2001.
Tipoff for the game against a pair of Top Ten-ranked teams, is 3 p.m., at Allen Fieldhouse, with a live telecast on ESPN.
KU has a 5-2 record all-time versus the Cougars with three of the seven games contested in the all-important NCAA Tournament.
Houston, in fact, handed KU one of its most disappointing losses in school history in the 1967 NCAAs. The Cougars, who were directed by 11th-year head coach Guy Lewis, tripped the Jayhawks 66-53 on March 17, 1967, in a Midwest Regional semifinal game at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU, which was led by third-year coach Ted Owens, trailed 32-29 at halftime. The Jayhawks were outscored 34-24 in the final half as Houston advanced to its first ever Final Four, where it lost to UCLA 73-58 in the national semifinals. That loss to the Bruins put an end to a dazzling 27-4 season.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Jo Jo White scored 18 points on 9-of-24 shooting, Vernon Vanoy 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting with nine rebounds and Rodger Bohnenstiehl 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting and eight boards for KU, which finished the 1966-67 season with a 23-4 record, 13-1 in the Big Eight. KU in fact ran away with the league title as Colorado and Nebraska tied for second at 10-4.
Houston was led by Don Chaney, who scored 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He grabbed five rebounds. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes had 19 points on 9-of-18 shooting with 10 rebounds and Melvin Bell 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting for the Cougars, who hit 44.3% of their shots to KU’s 36.5%. The Jayhawks, who had trouble conquering Houston’s zone, went 7-of-9 from the free throw line compared to Houston’s 12-of-21 mark..
“The Jayhawks and Cougars parried through the first half, neither team forging more than a 5-point lead as Houston took a 32-29 advantage into the intermission. Guy Lewis took that opportunity to refine his zone defense, and the Cougars extended their lead to 40-31 in four minutes,” read the game recap at celticslife.com.
“White sparked Kansas’s last hope with back-to-back steals and conversions to pull within 55-51 with about five minutes to go. But the Jayhawks could add but two points from there and fell 66-53.”
“I never want to play a better guard than Jo Jo White. When Ted Owens says that kid is a competitor, you better believe it,” Houston coach Lewis said after the game.
Of Houston’s Chaney, KU’s White said: “He does everything well and he’s a devil on defense. And he shot well. I hear he hasn’t been shooting so hot. Boy, he sure did tonight. He’s a really great guard.”
The Jayhawks, whose on-court leader was team captain Ron Franz, concluded that season by winning the regional’s third place game over Louisville, 70-68, in Allen Fieldhouse.
Here’s a look at the other two NCAA Tournament games between KU and Houston — both Jayhawk victories:
Kansas 78, Houston 77, Midwest Regional semifinals, March 18, 1971, Wichita: Owens and Lewis once again were the head coaches as the teams met in the Sweet 16 in Wichita.
The Jayhawks, who fielded one of their finest teams in school history (27-3 overall and 14-0 in the Big Eight) trailed 37-36, at halftime, but were two points better than UH in the final half. Dave Robisch had a game for the ages with 29 points (10-of-23 shooting; 9-of-14 from line), 16 rebounds, six blocks and four steals.
Bud Stallworth scored 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting (5-of-7 from line) with eight rebounds. Aubrey Nash, Pierre Russell and Roger Brown, KU’s other three starters, had nine, six and three points.
Poo Welch scored 28 points, while Dwight Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Bob Hall 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Cougars. Steve Newsome contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Robisch scored the last of his game-high 29 points with 34 seconds remaining to give the Jayhawks a 78-73 lead.
The Jayhawks went on to beat Drake, 73-71, in the Midwest Regional finals, then fell to UCLA, 68-60, in the national semifinals before also losing to Western Kentucky in the consolation game, 77-75.
The 70-71 Jayhawks were led by Robisch and Stallworth, who averaged 19.2 and 16.9 points per game, respectively.
“How I’d describe that team is to use a line of Jerry Tarkanian,” Owens said. “At that time, Jerry was at Long Beach State. We’d beaten them at Allen (69-52 in season opener) and later they lost by one to UCLA. Somebody before the Final Four asked Jerry how to compare Kansas and UCLA. He said, ‘If it’s a basketball game, UCLA will win. If it’s an alley fight, Kansas will win.’ I took it as a real compliment. That’s what our guys were ... fighters.”
The 1970-71 Houston team finished the season 22-7 compared to KU’s 27-3 mark,
Kansas 66, Houston 55, first round Southeast Regional, March 13, 1987, Atlanta: KU, which had four players score in double figures, raced to a 34-21 halftime lead en route to an 11-point victory in the first round of the NCAAs.
Kevin Pritchard scored 17 points and dished three assists, while Danny Manning had 12 points and seven rebounds and Cedric Hunter 12 points, eight assists and four steals. Chris Piper had 10 points and five rebounds for the Jayhawks.
Ricky Winslow scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting and Greg Anderson 18 points and six rebounds for the Cougars, who were led by first-year coach Pat Foster.
KU was coached by Larry Brown, who the following year, in Manning’s senior season and Brown’s fifth season in Lawrence, directed KU to the national title.
After beating Houston, KU defeated SW Missouri State, 67-63, then lost to Georgetown in the Sweet 16, 70-57, in Louisville. Houston finished that season with an 18-12 record. KU finished 25-11 overall and 9-5 in the league.
In other games between KU and Houston ... KU won, 95-78, in a losers bracket game at the 2001 Maui Invitational. The Jayhawks also won, 87-75, on Dec. 15, 1984 in Lawrence; and, 89-73, on Dec. 19, 1970 in Lawrence. Houston in addition to the 1967 tourney win, prevailed, 91-76, on Nov, 26, 1983 in Houston.
Saturday’s game will feature the No. 4-ranked Cougars (19-2, 6-2) and No. 8-ranked Jayhawks (17-4, 5-3). The two teams also will play on March 9 in Houston.
