1945–46 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1945–46 Houston Cougars men's basketball

Lone Star Conference champions
NAIA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Lone Star Conference
Record	10–4 (8–2 LSC)
Head coach	Alden Pasche (1st season)
Assistant coach	Ned Thompson
Home arena	Public School Fieldhouse
Seasons1946–47 →

The 1945–46 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the college basketball 1945–46 season. It was their inaugural year of season play. The head coach for the Cougars was Alden Pasche, who was serving in his 1st year in that position. The team played its home games at Public School Fieldhouse on-campus in Houston and were members of the Lone Star Conference. Houston captured its first conference regular season title, and competed in the postseason in the 1946 NAIA basketball tournament where they were defeated by eventual national runner-up Indiana State in the second round.

Roster

Charlie Manichia also served as Houston's first starting quarterback. Guy Lewis served as an assistant for Houston from 1953 to 1956, and as head coach from 1956 to 1986.

1945–46 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
	31	Charlie Manichia	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Houston, Texas
	31	Bill McPhail	—	—
	32	Bobby Dwyer	—	—
F	33	Charlie Carpenter	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	So
G	34	Simon Wiederman	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Sr
	36	Bill Swanson	—	—
C	37	Guy Lewis (C)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Arp, Texas
	38	Billy Graham	—	—
F	39	Willie Wells (C)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Jr	Houston, Texas
F	40	Dick Pratt	—	—
G		Louis Brown	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Fr

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: 2011-02-09

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
01/10/1946	North Texas State	W 62–35	1–0 (1–0)	Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
01/17/1946	Sam Houston State	L 40–41	1–1 (1–1)	Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
02/02/1946	Southwest Texas State	W 62–57	2–1 (2–1)	Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
02/04/1946*	at Southwestern	W 42–40	3–1	Unknown Georgetown, Texas
02/08/1946	at Sam Houston State	L 39–40	3–2 (2–2)	Unknown Huntsville, Texas
02/09/1946	at Stephen F. Austin State	W 45–38	4–2 (3–2)	Shelton Gymnasium Nacogdoches, Texas
02/16/1946	East Texas State	W 54–51	5–2 (4–2)	Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
02/19/1946*	Southwestern	L 57–58	5–3	Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
02/20/1946	at Southwest Texas State	W 62–55	6–3 (5–2)	Unknown San Marcos, Texas
02/23/1946	Stephen F. Austin State	W 65–39	7–3 (6–2)	Public School Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
03/01/1946	at North Texas State	W 61–56	8–3 (7–2)	Unknown Denton, Texas
03/02/1946	at East Texas State	W 61–54	9–3 (8–2)	Whitley Gymnasium Commerce, Texas
NAIA Tournament
03/11/1946*	vs. High Point First Round	W 63–34	10–3	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
03/13/1946*	vs. Indiana State Second Round	L 43–62	10–4	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

"Houston U. Enters Playoffs". Victoria Advocate. March 5, 1946. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
"Post Season Tourneys on Sked". St. Petersburg Times. March 11, 1946. Retrieved February 9, 2011.

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 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Categories: