[1] The UCLA Bruins were the dominant NCAA men's basketball program of the era, having won Division I championships in 1964, 1965, and 1967.

Lew Alcindor of UCLA was a talented player who was credited with reviving interest in college basketball, with Bruin games selling out arenas.

[2] Houston Cougars coach Guy Lewis wanted to prove his program's worth to his critics, so he decided to schedule UCLA.

[4] UCLA sports information director J. D. Morgan talked Bruin head coach John Wooden into the game by explaining how great it would be for college basketball.

[4] The second half saw the tension between the squads highlighted within the matchup of Houston's Elvin Hayes and UCLA's Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

Hayes, a 6-foot-9 forward, was not directly matched against the 7-foot-2 Alcindor, but he did block three of Alcindor's shots, and the crowd roared his nickname, "Big E."[4] With two minutes remaining in the game, the score was tied at 69 after the Bruins' Lucius Allen made a pair of free throws.

[11] The broadcast drew a vast television audience in addition to the 52,693 fans who had filled the Astrodome for its first basketball game.

Alcindor—who had sustained an eye injury at a game against Cal a week earlier—had the worst performance of his college career.

Upset with Wooden's public comments implying that he did not want back into the game, Lacy quit the team.

[3][16] Assistant coach Jerry Norman was credited by Wooden for devising the diamond-and-one defense that the Bruins used to contain Hayes, who was averaging 37.7 points per game but was held to only 10.

[19] The 1971 NCAA Tournament was held at the Astrodome following the success of the game and drew more than 31,000 spectators for both the semifinals and championship.

Lewis led his Phi Slama Jama teams to three consecutive Final Fours (1982–1984), advancing to the national championship game in 1983 and 1984.

[22] In 2006, Hayes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) and Wooden were inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame,[23] followed by Lewis in 2007.