Houston, Texas--When Texas Southern finally wins a basketball game, the Tigers do it in style and keep it right in the neighborhood.

A one-mile trek to the University of Houston's Hofheinz Pavilion paid off for the foul-plagued Tigers on Saturday night as they won their first game of the season after nine consecutive losses with a 71-68 decision over the Cougars.In dealing UH its fifth consecutive loss, TSU survived 32 fouls and the disqualification on personals of three players.

"This was a perfect scenario for us," TSU coach Robert Moreland said. "Usually we start out slow for the game and in both halves; tonight, we started slow but came back at the end of the first half and then played well and made big shots and big stops when we had to make them in the second half after we took the lead.

"The best thing about it is finally getting a win and getting a break in the schedule (until Jan. 2 when the Tigers visit Baylor), and I can get away from them and they can get away from me."

Houston (2-7) never found a way to handle 6-3 sophomore Chris Miller, whose 14 rebounds were three more than the combined efforts of the Cougars' 6-8 George Williams and 6-10 Alton Ford. The UH duo totaled 11 rebounds as the Cougars were outrebounded 36-30 by the shorter Tigers.

"In the second half, we got the feeling this was a game we could win," said TSU sophomore guard Ricky Bennett, who scored a game-high 24 points with three assists and three steals. "We kept our poise and our intensity level went up and we pulled it out."

Added Moreland: "But I don't know about our patience and discipline. Those were things we had tonight when we needed them the most."

Supported by a sizable portion of the crowd of 2,358, the Tigers uncharacteristically made 21 of 22 free throws -- "That's not like us," Moreland said -- and shot 52 percent in the second half after overcoming a 15-point first-half deficit and 10-point halftime margin.

"They came in and got the job done," UH coach Ray McCallum said. "We seemed to be in control in the first half when we had the big lead, but they went into halftime with some confidence and came out of halftime with confidence.

They made big shots after that and beat us off the dribble. We wanted to get to the free-throw line, and we did that, but we didn't make enough shots in the second half."

Let the record show that the Cougars made 34 of 45 free-throw tries but missed 14 of 19 field-goal attempts in the second half and never led in the closing nine minutes.

Rahmeen Underwood's shot from out front sent TSU ahead to stay 53-52 with 8:41 remaining, and then Gregory Grady added two free throws. UH closed within one twice in the final 1:43, the last time on Williams' layup with 7.3 seconds left to make it 69-68. But Rakim Hollis, who sat out most of the second half with a muscle cramp, sank two free throws for a 3-point lead with 6.8 seconds left. Then Dominic Smith's potential game-tying 3-pointer in the last second never touched the iron.

Williams and Smith each scored 18 points for the Cougars, with Chad Hendrick adding 11 points and Ford 10. Patrick Okafor did not play because he missed practice, McCallum said.

"We still have not learned how to put teams away," UH's Bernard Smith said. "Until we do, things like this are going to keep happening. When we have a 15-point lead, we have to push it to 20, then 25. Teams are trying to do that to us, and we're too tentative to do it to them."

TSU kept up the pace to start the second half, with Bennett's 3-pointer and Underwood's basket helping the Tigers pull within 41-38. TSU finally went ahead 45-43 on Bennett's 3-pointer with 13:06 to go.

Miller's 3-pointer and two free throws gave the Tigers a 51-49 lead as the game went back and forth until Underwood's 15-footer, two free throws by Grady and two more by Underwood provided the Tigers with a 57-52 lead with 7:47 to play.

Texas Southern opens the new millennium, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 2, 2001 against Baylor in Waco, Texas.