For the first time in the history of the University of Houston basketball program, ushers at the Cougars’ home stadium had to be instructed as to where fans could stand on the concourse.
Not too long ago, fans who showed up at UH games could not only stand wherever they wanted, but they could also sit wherever they pleased.
It was a room with a lot of open views.
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The Cougars have flipped that world upside down in 2024. They are ranked No. 1 in the country and there isn’t enough room for all the fans who want to come to home games.
Saturday was not just a good day for the record, standing-room-only crowd of 7,933 at Fertitta Center, it was one of the best days in UH sports history.
RELATED: UH wins Big 12 in first year in conference.
Senior Day. Jim Nantz Day. Big 12 Championship Day.
Almost perfect on and off the court, Houston rolled Kansas 76-46, to win its 22nd straight home game and claim the Big 12 Conference championship in the school’s first season in the league.
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The winningest senior class in school history went out in style with Jamal Shead leading the way with 13 points and eight assists.
The Cougars didn’t need Saturday’s win to finish first in the conference. They were already guaranteed at least a tie for the crown then sole possession of it was secured when Iowa State lost to Kansas State just after the UH game tipped off.
But the Cougars wanted to win the title on the court, and they did just that, pounding the 14th-ranked Jayhawks who never stood a chance.
“I said we wanted to earn it by winning and we did,” said Shead, who was named a finalist for the Wooden Award on Saturday. “We could not have finished any better.”
UH coach Kelvin Sampson said he knew his team would play hard, regardless of the Iowa State outcome.
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“Our program deals in facts,” he said. “The fact is when you play a basketball game and they keep score, we’re going to try to win like hell. That’s what we do.”
Kansas has bullied the Big 12 for so long that it isn’t even frowned upon.
The Jayhawks’ dominance of the conference is like a long-running Saturday Night Live skit. Comical.
Under Bill Self, they had won 16 of 20 regular season titles.
That was before UH joined the conference.
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Houston (28-3, 15-3 in the Big 12) is the league’s bully now. It demonstrated that in a strong way on Saturday, outmuscling and outhustling one of the Big Bad Bluebloods of college basketball.
Kansas, which had not trailed by more than 10 points at halftime this season, barely managed to keep from being behind by 20 points or more for just the fifth time in 728 games under Self.
Hoping to fight back from a 19-point hole at the break, Kansas never got any closer than 18 against the hungry Cougars.
After UH honored graduate Jim Nantz, the famed broadcaster who retired from calling the Final Four a year ago, they came out just as determined in the second half and kept the rout going.
UH, which sports the country’s top-rated defense, held Kansas to 33-percent shooting, a paltry 3-of-21 from 3-point range, and a season-low point total. And the Cougars outscored the Jayhawks 17-1 on second-chance points.
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To honor crowd favorite Ryan Elvin, Sampson gave the senior guard the first start of his career.
With just under two minutes left in the game, with the crowd on its feet, Elvin drained a 3-pointer to give UH its biggest lead of the contest at 74-42 and the stadium erupted.
It was that kind of day.
The Cougars, who will finish the year as the country’s No. 1-ranked team for the first time since 1983, did not lose a game at the Fertitta Center this season.
Most of the crowd was still on hand well after Saturday’s blowout win, as the team raised the championship trophy and cut down the nets.
Sampson’s Cougars have been up on that ladder for five conference regular season championships in the last six years.
This one hit different, though. This is the Big 12, the best basketball conference in the country.
An hour after the game ended, Cougars’ family, friends, fans, were still standing on the court soaking it all in, posing for pictures with players and coaches, celebrating the special day that was.
Perfection.
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