2009 – 10 Houston Cougars men 's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the college basketball 2009-10 season . It was their 65th year of season play . The head coach for the Cougars was Tom Penders , who was serving in his 6th year in that position . The team played its home games at Hofheinz Pavilion on-campus in Houston and were members of Conference USA . The Cougars finished the season 19 &ndash; 16 , 7 &ndash; 9 in CUSA play . They won the 2010 Conference USA Tournament , earning them a place in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992 . They earned a 13 seed in the Midwest Region where they were defeated by Maryland in the first round . Head coach Tom Penders retired at the end of the season
2010 Conference USA Tournament
2010 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament
2009–10 Houston Cougars men's basketball team