On this day in 1980, the Cougars lost a road game to Texas A&M, 92-79. It was the most points given up all season by the Aggies. They went on to win the SWC title and the SWC Postseason Classic.
That game is noteworthy because of the date it happened: January 28th. For whatever reason, UH has been pretty good on this day: the Coogs are 19-4 on 1/28 since 1950. The two schools that took the L on January 28th more than any other the most are the Aggies (4) and the Baylor Bears (3). Combined, UH is 7-1 all-time against the two schools on this date.
So 40 years ago today is the only time either beat UH on January 28. Here are some of the best January 28th games against Baylor and A&M.
1964: Houston 73, Texas A&M 65
This was a big win for the Cougars at Sam Houston Coliseum. Jack Margenthaler scored 13 points in the 2nd half to help the Cougars score the upset. The Aggies were the defending SWC champions and the Cougars were playing with a limited Don Schverak, who had a broken hand but still played in spots.
It was the third-straight time that the Cougars had beaten the Aggies in Houston after losing in College Station earlier in the season. It never stopped being fun.
1965: Houston 80, Baylor 78
“I told the team that I thought we would receive an invitation to the National Collegiate Tournament if we could win at least 17 games.” – Guy V. Lewis after the 1964-65 season.
The most important was three-game stretch was in late January against TCU, Baylor, and Texas A&M at Delmar. But it wasn’t just three-straight games – it was 3 games in 3 days against SWC talent.
As he usually did, Guy V. got his guys up and won all three games. The closest of the three was the January 28 game vs. Baylor. The Cougars squeaked by and ended up in the NCAA Midwest Region in Lubbock.
There, the Coogs beat Notre Dame, 99-98, to avenge a 30-point thrashing from the Irish in early January.
1966: Houston 97, Texas A&M 85
In describing this game, The Houstonian yearbook called the Aggies the “perennial enemy.” With the win, UH had gone 7-5 against the Aggies in a five-year stretch. That’s why the Ags ended the home-and-home agreement. They would play the Coogs just 3 times over the next 9 years.
1969: Houston 85, Aggies 71
One of those 3 times was also on January 28, 1969. This time, the Cougars came into the game struggling. UH had been embarrassed by UCLA at Pauley Pavilion just 10 days before and had even lost to Centenary in Shreveport the previous weekend.
One again, the Aggies came through for Cougar fans. The Aggie game was the start of UH’s best week of the season: a blowout win over A&M followed by an upset of Notre Dame at the Astrodome.
1981 Houston 76, Texas A&M 71
It took 12 more years for another 1/28 encounter, but the Aggies and Coogs met again on this date. Freshman Clyde Drexler had his coming out party against the Aggies. He scored 18 points, pulled down 15 rebounds, and had 7 assists in the game. He would go on to be named SWC Newcomer of the Year.
Other January 28 Games
A few other wins for the Coogs on this day:
1957: It was the second win of the year over MVC rival Drake, this one coming at Jeppesen Field House.
2017: Rob Gray had 28 points and 7 boards while Damyean Dotson had 20 and 10 in a 79-66 win over Temple.
2018: UH beats USF, 63-40. It was the lowest point total for a UH opponent since 1987. The Cougar defense held USF to 1/14 from three while Fabian White was 7/10 from the floor for 16 points and 11 boards. Kelvin Sampson moves to 3-0 on January 28th in his UH tenure.
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