Feb. 15, 2002

Halton Arena -

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The series: Charlotte (15-8, 9-3, RPI: 32) can clinch its fifth C-USA season with at least 10 league wins against DePaul (9-14, 2-9, RPI: 182), Saturday at noon (TV: ESPN+, locally on WAXN-TV) ... senior Jobey Thomas will tie the 49ers all-time games played record with his 124th career game (124, Diego Guevara) ... Thomas has not missed a game in his four-year career and already holds the consecutive games played (123) ... the 49ers defeated DePaul, 97-83, in Chicago ... either Charlotte or DePaul has swept the season series, each year, since divisional play began ... the 49ers are 9-3 at home this year and have never lost more than three home games in a season at Halton.

The News: Jobey Thomas (28 pts., 5-9 3FG) notched his 11th game (10-1) with 20 or more points (7th vs. C-USA), and his fifth C-USA game with 25 or more points to lead the 49ers to a 75-63 victory over Memphis (22 second half points) ... the 49ers (9-3 in C-USA) have beaten each of the top three teams in C-USA's National Division (Memphis, South Florida, Houston) and boast wins over every American Division team except Cincinnati ... The February issue of Basketball times rated each school's non-conference schedule ... the 49ers non-con was ranked 18th toughest in the nation and the best in Conference USA ... Jobey Thomas, who broke the school's all-time three-point record last week, is averaging 20.2 points in league competition (.444 3FG%) ... Cam Stephens has notched 10 double-doubles, with six coming in league play ... the loss at Saint Louis is the 49ers only loss to a team outside RPI's top 100 ... five of the 49ers losses have come to teams with an RPI in the Top 20 ... the 54 points scored at SLU is the second lowest scoring output this season (52 vs. Florida) ... during the 49ers recent seven-game win streak, they averaged 83.7 points ... in the current two-game losing streak, they are averaging 60.0 points ... the 49ers boast a team that includes just one player (Jobey Thomas) with more than one year of experience as a 49er ... each of the 49ers last four opponents (2-2) have shot 50% or better.

Thomas Breaks Trey Record, Cracks Top 10: Senior academic all-America candidate Jobey Thomas broke the 49ers' 10-year old school record for career threes when he hit four vs. Cincinnati (2/6/02). Thomas has hit 318career threes, besting the record of 308 set by Henry Williams (1988-92). With 1619 career points, Thomas ranks 9th in school history and 7th in C-USA history. Thomas is the first player in C-USA history to reach 300 career three-pointers.

49ers Non-Con Ranked 18th in the Country: In Basketball Times ranking of non-conference schedules, the 49ers slate ranked 18th in the nation and tops in Conference USA.