1955–56 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

1955–56 Houston Cougars men's basketball
1955–56 Houston Cougars men's basketball
Missouri Valley Conference regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	19–7 (9–3 MVC)
Head coach	Alden Pasche (11th season);
Assistant coach	Ned Thompson
Home arena	Jeppesen Gymnasium
	Seasons ← 1954–55 1956–57 →

1955–56 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Houston	9	–	3	.750	19	–	7	.731
Saint Louis	8	–	4	.667	18	–	7	.720
Oklahoma A&M	8	–	4	.667	18	–	9	.667
Wichita	7	–	5	.583	14	–	12	.538
Tulsa	4	–	8	.333	16	–	10	.615
Detroit	3	–	9	.250	13	–	12	.520
Bradley	3	–	9	.250	13	–	13	.500

Rankings from AP Poll

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 Jeppesen Gymnasium 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.^[1]

After the season, Pasche retired. He was 135–116 in eleven seasons, and was replaced by Guy Lewis.^[2]

Roster

1955–56 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	34	Arthur Helms	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	So
C	40	Don Boldebuck	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	—	So

Head coach

Alden Pasche (Rice)

Assistant coach(es)

Ned Thompson (Stephen F. Austin)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2021-05-18

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
12/1/1955		Sam Houston State	W 77–55	1–0	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/7/1955		Texas A&I	W 86–59	2–0	Jeppesen 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)	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/17/1955		Detroit Mercy	W 86–84	6–1 (2–0)	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
12/21/1955		Kansas State	W 86–79	7–1	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/2/1956		Wichita	W 82–77	8–1 (3–0)	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/7/1956		Saint Louis	L 73–76	8–2 (3–1)	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/9/1956		No. 16 Oklahoma City	W 78–64	9–2	Jeppesen 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)	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
1/25/1956		at Miami (FL)	W 95–77	12–3	Unknown Coral Gables, Florida
1/28/1956		Trinity	W 104–62	13–3	Jeppesen 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	Jeppesen 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)	Jeppesen Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
2/20/1956	No. 14	Bradley	W 68–53	19–3 (9–2)	Jeppesen 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	L 74–89	19–6	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
3/17/1956		vs. Kansas State Regional 3rd-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
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	18	14	18	17		—
Coaches	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	19	14	18		—

References

^ Charleston, Christopher (13 June 2020). "History of the Powerhouse: UH men's basketball program". thedailycougar.com. The Daily Cougar. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
^ "Alden Pasche, the first University of Houston basketball coach".

[1] Charleston, Christopher (13 June 2020). "History of the Powerhouse: UH men's basketball program". thedailycougar.com. The Daily Cougar. Retrieved 18 May 2021.

[2] "Alden Pasche, the first University of Houston basketball coach".

[1]

[2]

v t e Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Fertitta Center (1969–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice SMU
Culture & lore	Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics