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Niners Have Won Six Straight At Home; Basden Named C-USA Player of the Week

Feb. 8, 2005

Halton Arena -

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The News: The Charlotte 49ers (15-4; 6-2) host Houston (14-9; 5-4), Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (Radio: WFNZ, 610 SportsRadio, Matt Swierad), after posting wins in each of their last six home games. Most recently, the Niners downed #18/#17 Cincinnati, 91-90, at Halton Arena for their second win over a top 25 team in their last four outings. (Charlotte won at #25/#25 Marquette, Jan. 22). Charlotte senior Eddie Basden was named the league's Player of the Week after a stat-stuffing 20-point; 11-rebound; seven-assist; four-steal performance in the win over the Bearcats. It was Basden's third 20-point game in the last four contests and his fourth double-double of the year.
Charlotte is 9-1 all-time vs. Houston, including a 5-0 record at Halton Arena. Head coach Bobby Lutz is 6-1 vs. the Cougars, 3-0 at home. Notes: The 49ers are 2-2 in games against nationally-ranked foes (W: at #25/#25 Marquette; vs. #18/#17 Cincinnati; L: 3ot vs. #22/#22 Alabama; at #20/#18 Cincinnati); 7-2 vs. Top 100 RPI teams.

20-20:
Six different 49ers have scored at least 20 points in game, including Brendan Plavich, who leads the team with six 20+ games (5 on road; season-high 26 in win vs. Cincinnati) and Eddie Basden who has netted 20+ in three of the last four games. Curtis Withers (3), Leemire Goldwire, Mitchell Baldwin and E.J. Drayton have all scored 20 or more at least once. Eight different Niners (add Martin Iti and Chris Nance to above group) have scored at least 15 points in game and all eight have had at least two double-figure outings. Basden leads the team with 17 games in double figures.

Basden is One of a Kind:
"If the league ended today, he's probably the MVP." -- Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins, of 49er senior Eddie Basden, prior to the 49ers game at Cincy.

"Eddie Basden dominated the game." -- Cincinnati's Bob Huggins, after Basden's 20-pt; 11-reb.; 7-ast; 4-stl outing in win over Bearcats.

While C-USA has several versatile athletes (i.e. UL's Francisco Garcia; UAB's Donell Taylor; DePaul's Quemont Greer), senior Eddie Basden is the only one in the league that ranks in the Top 15 in scoring (13th - 14.8); rebounding (7th - 8.2), assists (10th - 3.6) and steals (1st - 3.2). And he shoots .505 (10th in C-USA) and .439 3FG%.

Man of Steal:
Senior Eddie Basden has tied the Conference USA all-time record with 231 career steals. His 231 career steals are 2nd all-time in school history (236, Keith Williams, 1983-87). He leads C-USA and ranks 5th in the NCAA with 60 steals, becoming the first player in school history to record three straight 60-steal seasons. Basden has had at least three steals in 15 games.

Shooting the Lights Out, Even at Home:
"Brendan I think is the best three-point shooter on the road in America." -- Bobby Lutz NCAA 3-pt. leader Brendan Plavich notched his first 20-point game at Halton Arena in his two-year 49er career, scoring a season-high 26 on a Halton Arena-record eight three-pointers in the win over #18/#17 Cincinnati. Plavich has scored 20 or more points six times this year -- and the other five have come on the road (21 @ Valpo; 23 @ Davidson; 21 @ Indiana; 22 @ Cincinnati; 20 @ Marquette). He hit 7-of-9 threes at both Valpo and Davidson, nailed a game-winning halfcourt buzzer beater at Indiana and hit six treys at Cincinnati. In true road games, Plavich averages 20.5 points with a .507 3FG% (36-71), averaging 6.0 threes. In his four-year career Plavich has 307 career threes (173 @ Cha.; 134 @ Vandy)

National Player of the Year Candidate Curtis Withers:
Junior forward Curtis Withers, a third-team all-America, last season, by Basketball Times and a starter on USA Basketball's 2004 World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Team, is a preseason candidate for each of the National Player of the Year Awards. Withers is on the Wooden Watch, the Naismith Trophy list and the Rupp Watch. In addition, the preseason third team all-America (Street & Smith's) was listed as one of the Sporting News' Top 30 players. The Cable Car Classic MVP, Withers has seven double-doubles in the last 13 games, including a 17-point; 15-rebound double-up at #25 Marquette. He's scored in double digits in 13 of the last 14 with a season-high 24 vs. #22 Alabama and 23 (13 rebs) at ECU. He's averaging a team-best 14.9 points and 8.4 boards.

Big Numbers:
999 - Career points for Curtis Withers (19th all-time for the 49ers) 906 - Career points for Eddie Basden (25th all-time for the 49ers) 307 - Career three-pointers from Brendan Plavich (173 @ Cha.; 134 @ Vandy) 231 - Career steals for Eddie Basden (T1st all-time in C-USA; 2nd all-time for 49ers) 76 - Single-season threes for Plavich, this year (1st in C-USA; 1st in NCAA) 60 - Single-season steals for Basden, this year (1st in C-USA; 4th in NCAA)

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