# 2009–10 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

The 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 19–16, 7–9 in C-USA 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.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 2009/11/17* 7:00PM | | Nicholls State | W 92–60 | 1–0 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2009/11/21* 10:05PM | | at Nevada | L 99–112 | 1–1 | Lawlor Events Center Reno, Nevada |
| 2009/11/26* 10:30PM, CSS | | vs. No. 25 Oklahoma Great Alaska Shootout | W 100–93 | 2–1 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| 2009/11/27* 10:30PM, CSS | | vs. San Diego Great Alaska Shootout | L 65–72 | 2–2 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| 2009/11/28* 7:30PM, CSS | | vs. Alaska Anchorage Great Alaska Shootout | W 73–57 | 3–2 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| 2009/12/06* 2:00PM | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 83–76 | 4–2 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2009/12/14* 7:00PM | | Troy | W 93–85 | 5–2 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2009/12/19* 1:00PM, CSS | | Mississippi State | L 64–70 | 5–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2009/12/21* 7:00PM | | The Citadel | W 81–58 | 6–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2009/12/23* 7:00PM | | TCU | W 105–81 | 7–3 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2009/12/29* 7:00PM | | Louisiana Tech | L 94–99 | 7–4 | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/01/01* 1:00PM | | at UTSA | L 82–83 | 7–5 | Convocation Center San Antonio, Texas |
| 2010/01/03* 1:00PM | | at Iowa State | L 75–82 | 7–6 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| 2010/01/06 8:00PM, CSS | | at Rice Bayou Cup | W 83–66 | 8–6 (1–0) | Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, Texas |
| 2010/01/09 6:00PM, CBS CS | | Tulsa | L 80–86 | 8–7 (1–1) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/01/13 6:00PM | | UTEP | W 75–65 | 9–7 (2–1) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/01/16 6:00PM | | at East Carolina | W 74–55 | 10–7 (3–1) | Minges Coliseum Greenville, North Carolina |
| 2010/01/20 7:00PM | | UCF | L 71–78 | 10–8 (3–2) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/01/23 7:00PM, ESPN2 | | at Memphis | L 77–92 | 10–9 (3–3) | FedEx Forum Memphis, Tennessee |
| 2010/01/30 5:00PM, CSS | | Marshall | W 81–66 | 11–9 (4–3) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/02/03 9:00PM, CBS CS | | at UTEP | L 58–65 | 11–10 (4–4) | Don Haskins Center El Paso, Texas |
| 2010/02/06 5:00PM, CSS | | Southern Miss | L 55–57 | 11–11 (4–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/02/10* 7:00PM | | at Western Kentucky | W 74–72 | 12–11 | Diddle Arena Bowling Green, Kentucky |
| 2010/02/13 4:00PM | | SMU | W 66–60 | 13–11 (5–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/02/16 6:00PM, CSS | | at UCF | L 65–68 | 13–12 (5–6) | UCF Arena Orlando, Florida |
| 2010/02/20 7:00PM | | at UAB | L 66–75 | 13–13 (5–7) | Bartow Arena Birmingham, Alabama |
| 2010/02/24 7:00PM | | Memphis | W 92–75 | 14–13 (6–7) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/02/27 7:00PM | | at SMU | L 83–94 | 14–14 (6–8) | Moody Coliseum Dallas, Texas |
| 2010/03/03 7:00PM | | Rice Bayou Cup | W 78–70 | 15–14 (7–8) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas |
| 2010/03/06 7:00PM | | at Tulane | L 76–79 | 15–15 (7–9) | Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| C-USA tournament ||||||
| 2010/03/10* 12:00PM | (7) | vs. (10) East Carolina First round | W 93–80 | 16–15 | BOK Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 2010/03/11* 12:00PM, CBS CS | (7) | vs. (2) Memphis Quarterfinals | W 66–65 | 17–15 | BOK Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 2010/03/12* 5:30PM, CBS CS | (7) | vs. (6) Southern Miss Semifinals | W 74–66 | 18–15 | BOK Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 2010/03/13* 10:30AM, CBS | (7) | vs. (1) No. 25 UTEP Championship game | W 81–73 | 19–15 | BOK Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| NCAA Division I tournament ||||||
| 2010/03/19* 9:34PM, CBS | (13 MW) | vs. (4 MW) No. 20 Maryland First round | L 77–89 | 19–16 | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Spokane, Washington |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest region. All times are in Central Standard Time. ||||||