GAME NOTES: #23 Charlotte Travels to Tulane, Saturday

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Withers Leads C-USA in Scoring in League Games

Feb. 18, 2005

New Orleans, La. -

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The News:
The #23/#23 Charlotte 49ers (18-4; 9-2) travel to Tulane (9-13; 3-8), Saturday at 8:00 p.m. (TV: C-SET, Steve Martin; Henry Williams; Radio: WFNZ, Matt Swierad). Charlotte, which has cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time this season, has won six of its last seven and is a half-game behind Louisville (22-4; 10-2) atop the Conference USA standings. Louisville defeated Marquette, Thursday night and hosts Saint Louis, Sunday. Charlotte picked up a key 66-62 victory over DePaul, Wednesday, to pull a full game ahead of the Blue Demons in the standings. Conference USA Player of the Week Curtis Withers, leads the league with a 17.7 scoring average in C-USA games. He averaged 30.0 points and had a career-high 39 points in the 83-78 OT victory at Saint Louis, last week and led the 49ers against DePaul with 18 points. Senior Eddie Basden notched his fifth double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Withers has scored 15 or more points in each of the last seven games (6-1), averaging 21.2 points and 9.3 rebounds over that span. Over the last four games (4-0), Basden has averaged 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds.

C-USA Player of the Week Withers Posts Monster Game vs. Saint Louis:
Curtis Withers scored a career-high 39 points with 14 rebounds in Charlotte's 83-78 victory at Saint Louis. The 39 points are the most scored by a 49er in 23 years (Bobby Potts, 40 points vs. Jacksonville, 1982) and the fifth-most points all-time. The 39 points are also the fourth-most scored in the history of Conference USA, including the most scored in the league, this year. Withers hit 13-of-25 shots and 11-of-13 free throws, including an offensive tip-in with 16 seconds left that helped force overtime and seven points in overtime. "It was the best performance by an individual in an individual game that I`ve seen as head coach," said 49ers mentor Bobby Lutz.

Niners Enter AP Poll at #23:
For the first time since the final poll of 1999, the 49ers are ranked in the national AP poll. The 49ers crack the 2004-05 AP poll at #23, the program's highest ranking since Nov. 18, 1997 (#17). The 49ers have now been ranked in five different seasons (1977, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2005) for a total of 18 weeks. The 49ers highest ranking was #17 (three times: 1976-77, 1991-92, 1997-98). The 49ers spent a school-record 10 weeks in the poll during the 1991-92 season. The 49ers are also ranked #23 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll.

Notes:
The 49ers own a 9-2 record vs. the RPI Top 100 ... only eight schools (Kansas, Wake Forest, Illinois, Boston College, Duke, Washington, North Carolina and Arizona) have won more Top 100 games ... the 49ers are 2-2 in games against nationally-ranked foes (W: at #25/#25 Marq.; vs. #18/#17 Cincy; L: 3ot vs. #22/#22 Alabama; at #20/#18 Cincy) ... Brendan Plavich leads the nation in 3FG/gm (3.9/gm) and Eddie Basden is 3rd in the NCAA in steals per game (3.2) ... Basden was named C-USA's Player of the Week, Feb. 6, after a stat-stuffing 20-point; 11-rebound; seven-assist; four-steal performance vs. #18/#17 Bearcats.

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 Gold-Medal winning 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. Withers, who was named C-USA Player of the Week, Feb. 14, scored 39 points with 14 rebounds at Saint Louis -- the most points scored by a 49er since 1982. He has posted a league-best eight double-doubles and scored 15 or more points in each of the last seven games. He's averaging a team-best 16.5 points (5th in C-USA) with 8.2 rebounds (6th C-USA). He's scored 20 or more points five times, including 24 vs. #22 Alabama and has hit 20+ in three of the last five games. He's scored in double figures in 17 of the last 18. He was MVP of the Cable Car Classic.

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