Brendan Plavich hit nine threes to help him tie his career-best with 31 points. (file photo) |
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Charlotte Rallies in Overtime To Upend TCU, 94-86
Feb. 25, 2004
Ft. Worth, Texas - Charlotte's inside-out game came in handy as the 49ers defeated TCU, 94-86, in overtime at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
With Brendan Plavich raining in nine threes and C-USA Player of the Year candidate Curtis Withers heating up inside in overtime, Charlotte picked up yet another hard-fought road victory in Conference USA.
The win improves the 49ers record to 18-6; 10-3 in C-USA. Charlotte is tied for second in the league with Cincinnati, one game behind league leader Memphis (11-2). Charlotte hosts Cincinnati, Saturday, in a game that is already sold out.
The win gives Charlotte a 9-4 record on the road, establishing a new school record for wins in true road games (neutral sites not included).
Charlotte raced back from an early 10-point deficit, 21-11, to take a slight 38-37 halftime lead, thanks to Plavich's 13 points on 4-of-7 three-pointers. Neither team could take command in the second half. Charlotte's six-point 66-60 lead with 10:58 to play was the largest lead of the half, and following that point there were five more ties down the stretch.
Withers, who was held in check for the first 32 minutes (8 points), roared home with seven points in the final seven minutes and then added six points as Charlotte took command in overtime.
"We've got a lot of guys who can score for us, " said Plavich. "A lot of teams have to decide what to stop, whether it's Curt inside or the guys outside. And our team's unselfish. In the overtime, we made a run all on our defense. Eddie (Basden) and (Butter Johnson) came up with steals and that got us running, which is how we like to play. Our defense was the key in overtime."
Charlotte came up with three steals on TCU's first three possessions of overtime and Withers scored the 49ers first four points of the extra time. Plavich's final three, at 3:55 of the overtime period, helped Charlotte score the first nine points of overtime and Plavich and Withers both hit a pair of free throws in the final 33 seconds to cement the win.
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Plavich matched his career-high with 31 points, the same amount he poured in at Syracuse earlier in the year. Withers finished with 21 points and seven rebounds and Johnson added 13 points, with four assists, a block and a steal.
