Kelvin Sampson’s True Tales Of Hilton Coliseum Horrors and Heroes — Mayor Fred Hoiberg Mania, Hollis Price 3 Sprees and Top 6 Ghosts For Houston v. Iowa State

AMES, Iowa —University of Houston assistant Hollis Price knows both sides of the Hilton Coliseum experience. He’s seen a big Oklahoma lead seemingly disappear in a flash in a win snatched away. He’s also hit nine threes there three seasons later, really 10 (with one make wiped out by a Kelvin Sampson timeout call), in one of his sweetest college basketball wins ever.

“My freshman year we played there, I think Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley were on that team,” Price, who starred for Sampson at Oklahoma, tells PaperCity. “Shoot, we were winning first half. I think we were up a good amount. And then all of a sudden guys who wasn’t supposed to hit threes — Jamaal Tinsley was hitting threes from almost half court. It was kind of like that little Hilton Magic that they always talk about.

“We end up losing that game by 15 points probably. My senior year, we actually won. That was the game I hit nine threes. Actually 10 threes. Coach (Sampson) called a timeout. It would have set a Hilton record if that last three would have counted.”

Sampson and Hollis are coming back to Hilton again as coach and assistant coach, trying to see if this Houston team with its mix of veterans and freshmen future stars is ready to get a win like that in a Top 6 Big Monday showdown (8 pm, ESPN). One the people on the team will talk about decades later amongst each other. Even after the final score’s long faded from view. Whether this Iowa State (22-3, including a perfect 14-0 at home) stays undefeated at Hilton or this (23-2, 11-1 Big 12) Houston team adds another Big 12 trophy road win to its incredible three-year best conference resume, this Top 6 matchup is destined to be largely forgotten nationally before the NCAA Tournament even arrives.

“Let’s face it, that’s more important. Winning the regular season is great for the record books,” Sampson says. “But the NCAA Tournament is what everybody wants.”

But that does not mean those wins along the way cannot be a whole lot of fun and maybe even a lifetime memory for those in the arena.

“You get more locked in,” Price says of big-time road matchups. “Because it’s just the 14 that you came with — whatever amount you came with — and you’re playing against those guys. That crowd. Their whole team. The whole arena. I think it’s special when you you go on the road and you can quiet a crowd up.”

When Hollis Price Couldn’t Miss and a Referee Cried

Hollis Price and his old Oklahoma teammates certainly remember those Iowa State Hilton games, still talk about the night when he could not seem to miss and raucous Hilton lost its voice. Kelvin Sampson can conjure up the feelings from many of his own visits to Hilton, which measure in the double digits.

“My first time we went to Hilton Coliseum, it was Fred Hoiberg’s Senior Night,” Sampson says when I ask him if he remembers his first ever visit to Iowa State. “And they called him Mayor. They were lobbing roses from the upper deck at Hilton Coliseum. I mean they loved him. . .

“They had a really good team. So we go in there on Senior Night and win. Who wins at Iowa State on Senior Night? Nobody. But we did. And that’s. . . Winning at Iowa State on Senior Night. Winning at Oklahoma State the last game ever played at old Gallagher-Iba (arena). . .”

Some games, some special wins, just stay with you decades later. For a lifetime. Even if you have more than 800 wins like Kelvin Sampson.

“In the big picture those aren’t going to be remembered as the greatest wins I’ve had,” Sampson says. “But they were the hardest. It’s hard to win at Iowa State.”

Sampson laughs. “Especially on Fred Hoiberg’s Senior Night. The referees were standing there on half court where they stand. One of them was crying. I said ‘We’re screwed. This guy’s crying. . . I said, ‘Get ahold of yourself there, Hoss.’ ”

The Mayor’s pull and the Hilton Magic could not prevent an Iowa State loss on that night. But Kelvin Sampson appreciates that win during his Oklahoma run because of how hard it was.

“Who wins at Iowa State on Senior Night? Nobody. But we did. And that’s. . . Winning at Iowa State on Senior Night. Winning at Oklahoma State the last game ever played at old Gallagher-Iba (arena). . . In the big picture those aren’t going to be remembered as the greatest wins I’ve had. But they were the hardest. It’s hard to win at Iowa State.” — Kelvin Sampson

Monday night’s Top 6 matchup will not be decided by ghosts. It will be Iowa State’s deep, physical, defensive team of Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson,  Killyan Toure and Blake Buchanan versus Houston’s deep, physical defensive team of Emanuel Sharp, Kingston Flemings, JoJo Tugler, Chris Cenac Jr. and Milos Uzan.

On the kind of stage that brings out the best or worst in players. What are you made out of? Games like No. 2 Houston vs. No. 5 Iowa State at the Hilton Coliseum can be more revealing than any lie detector test.

“I think that’s what college basketball is about,” Cenac says. “Is going on the road, playing with your team, everybody rooting against you. That’s actually a lot of fun for me. So I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

What will the story be from Cenac and Kingston Flemings’ first trip to Iowa State? Every Hilton game seems to have one.