GAME NOTES: Charlotte Hosts South Florida
Feb. 17, 2004
Halton Arena -
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Charlotte Hosts South Florida (Wed., Feb. 18 - 7:30 p.m.) Radio: WFNZ, SportsRadio 610am (Mattt Swierad) The Charlotte 49ers (15-6; 7-3; #29 RPI (Feb. 16) host South Florida (7-14; 1-9), Wednesday night (7:30). The game will be the 49ers 100th in Halton Arena. The 49ers are 80-19 overall since opening the facility eight years ago for the 1996-97 season. Charlotte is 8-2 in Halton Arena this year and has won at least 10 home games in six of the previous seven years at Halton. The 49ers had their recent four-game win streak snapped this past weekend at Saint Louis, losing 46-45. The 49ers are in the middle of a crucial stretch that sees them playing on the road in five of seven games. Charlotte is 3-1 so far (W: @ #8/#7 Cincinnati, @ East Carolina, vs. Louisville; L: @ Saint Louis.) Following the USF game, Charlotte plays its next two games on the road to complete the stretch. USF picked up its first league win, 68-60 vs. Southern Miss, Friday.
Charlotte v. South Florida: Charlotte trails its series with South Florida, 24-27, in the longest running series in 49ers history. The teams have met for 26 straight years (Since 1977-78). They have been league members in the Sun Belt; Metro and Conference USA. Lutz is 3-3 vs. the Bulls. USF has been to Halton twice (49ers, 2-0). Last year, USF won 67-64 in Tampa.
A Balanced Diet: Known for a dangerous perimeter game, Charlotte has been successful, this year, thanks to a balanced attack that conjures memories of NCAA teams past. Of the 49ers 67 double-figure outings, 26 (or 39%) have been from the frontcourt (Withers 19; Clemmons 3; Iti 3; Pigford); 27 (or 40%) have been from the backcourt (Plavich 11; Brown 10; Baldwin 6) and 14 (21%) have been from the wings (14 - Basden 12; Johnson 2). Four players are averaging double figures. The last two times that happened: 1988 (NCAA); 2002 (NCAA). See chart (page 2) for recent 49er NCAA teams and the corresponding inside-out stars.
Quick Synopsis: At 7-3 in league play, Charlotte is a 1.5 games back of Memphis (9-2) and 1.0 games back of second-place Cincinnati and UAB (8-2). The 49ers are #29 in the Feb. 16 RPI and own a school record three Top 10 victories and four wins over RPI Top 31. The 49ers are 15-6, overall; 3-0 vs. Top 10 teams; 2-0 vs. 2003 NCAA Final Four participants. The 49ers sport Top 10 road wins at #7/#7 Syracuse and at #8/#7 Cincinnati. Key wins include the road wins at defending national champ Syracuse (1st time in NCAA that a defending champ lost its home opener); at Southern Illinois (snapped the Salukis 31-game home win streak), at DePaul (to open C-USA play), at Top 10 Cincinnati (Bearcats were 62-5 in C-USA home games) and vs. #9/#9 Louisville, Marquette and Saint Louis at home. All five losses are to Top 100 RPI teams with three coming to Top 30 teams (@ Alabama (24); @ Memphis (27) and UAB (30). Charlotte has been led by the trio of Curtis Withers (16.9 ppg; 9.9 rpg), Demon Brown (12.2 ppg; 4.4 apg) and Brendan Plavich (11.3 ppg; 62 3FGM). All three have had a 25+ scoring night and all have been named C-USA Player of the Week. In addition, defensive specialist Eddie Basden has scored in double figures in five straight and seven of the last eight. Basden is second to Withers with 12 double-figure games and he leads C-USA with 51 steals.
"Curtis Withers is the best power forward in our league" -- UC head coach Bob Huggins: Curtis Withers leads C-USA in double-doubles (13), is fourth in scoring, second in rebounding and first in offensive rebounding. Withers is averaging 17.9 points and 9.8 rebounds in C-USA play and has posted six double-doubles in league play. Last year, the 49ers had three as a team (all by Withers). Withers has scored in double figures in all but one game played this year with at least 7 boards in each. He's also shooting .504 from the floor, best in C-USA among players with 10 attempts per game.
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