The 2022–23 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

in the

2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2022. The regular season ended on March 12, 2023, with the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 14 and ending with th ...

. The Cougars were led by ninth-year head coach

Kelvin Sampson Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the Big 12 Conference. Early life Sampson was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, to parents who were m ...

. The team played their home games at the

Fertitta Center The Fertitta Center, formerly known as Hofheinz Pavilion, is a 7,100-seat multi-purpose arena on the University of Houston campus in Houston. Located at 3875 Holman Street, it is home to the Houston Cougars men's and women's basketball teams and ...

as members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. In September 2021, Houston and fellow conference members Cincinnati and UCF accepted bids to join the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. They finished the season 33–4, 17–1 in AAC play, to win the AAC regular season championship. They defeated East Carolina and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

to advance to the AAC tournament championship game where they lost to

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the #1 seed in the Midwest Regional. They defeated

Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky is an urban area in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky consisting of the southern part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The three main counties of the area are Boone County, Kentucky, Boone, Kent ...

and Auburn to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth consecutive year. There they lost to Miami (FL). On November 28, 2022, the team reached the number one ranking in the AP poll, marking the first time they had held the top spot since

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. The season marked Houston's last as a member of the AAC. They became a member of the

on July 1, 2023.

Previous season

The

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, '' KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild ...

finished the 2021–22 season 26–5, 15–3 in AAC play, to win the AAC regular season championship. They defeated

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

and

to win the AAC tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the South region. They defeated UAB and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive season. There they defeated

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

before losing to Villanova in the Elite Eight.

Offseason

Departing players

Incoming transfers

2022 recruiting class

2023 recruiting class

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 12, The American released the preseason poll and other preseason awards.

Preseason awards

* Player of the Year – Marcus Sasser * Rookie of the Year – Jarace Walker * All-AAC First Team – Marcus Sasser * All-AAC Second Team – Jamal Shead

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, AAC Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style=, AAC tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament Source

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.

Awards and honors

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

*Marcus Sasser – AP (1st), USBWA (1st), NABC (1st), ''SN'' (2nd)

Jerry West Award

*Marcus Sasser

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC Awards

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

: Marcus Sasser *

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

: Kelvin Sampson * Freshman of the Year: Jarace Walker *Defensive Player of the Year: Jamal Shead *Most Improved Player: J'Wan Roberts *Sixth Man of the Year: Reggie Chaney

All-AAC First Team

*Marcus Sasser

All-AAC Second Team

*Jamal Shead *J'Wan Roberts *Jarace Walker

All-Freshman Team

*Jarace Walker *Terrance Arceneaux *Emanuel Sharp Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Houston Cougars men's basketball seasons