Recap: Houston vs. UAB

Houston, TX (Sports Network) - TaShawn Thomas tallied 17 points and nine rebounds as the Houston Cougars held off the UAB Blazers, 66-61, in a Conference USA showdown at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Joseph Young scored 14 points for Houston (13-6, 2-4 C-USA), while Jherrod Stiggers came off the bench to net 11 points. The Cougars snapped a season- long four-game losing streak with the triumph.

For UAB (8-12, 0-5), Jordan Swing led all scorers with 20 points off the bench, and Terence Jones had 14 points. Swing also dished out seven assists for the Blazers, who have lost six straight.

UAB (.435) and Houston (.433) put up nearly identical field goal percentages in the first half, but the Cougars took a 33-26 lead into intermission by generating seven more shot attempts in the first 20 minutes.

The Blazers climbed back in the game by shooting 50 percent from the field in the second half, and they held a 55-54 lead with 4:28 left to play. Leon Gibson scored what proved to be the game-winning basket for Houston a minute later, and it finished the game on a 12-6 run to capture the victory.

Houston won both the rebounding (30-27) and turnover (18-14) battles on the night.