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Niners Have Won Five in a Row; Basden, Withers Power Charlotte in February

Feb. 22, 2005

Halton Arena -

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The News:
The #21/#21 Charlotte 49ers (19-4; 10-2) host Memphis (16-10; 9-3), Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (TV: C-SET, Steve Martin, Matt Doherty, Shannon Spake; Radio: WFNZ, Matt Swierad). Charlotte, which is ranked 21st in the latest AP poll, has won five in a row in an unbeaten February (5-0) and seven of its last eight. The 49ers are a half-game behind Louisville (23-4; 11-2) atop the Conference USA standings and lead third-place Memphis by one game. Curtis Withers, who leads C-USA with an 18.4 scoring average in league games, has averaged 21.9 points and 9.1 rebounds while shooting 50% (60-of-120) over the last eight games (7-1), scoring 15 or more points in each game. He was named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week, Feb. 14 after averaging 30.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in a pair of wins. Senior Eddie Basden notched his third double-double in the last five games and his sixth of the season with 27 points and 14 rebounds at Tulane. Over the last five games (5-0), Basden has averaged 19.2 points and 10.4 rebounds. Charlotte is 5-6 all-time vs. Memphis, but have won each of the four meetings at Halton Arena.

Basden Wins Niners 3rd Straight C-USA Player of the Week Honor:
Senior Eddie Basden, dubbed by ESPN's Jay Bilas of College Gameday as the National Defensive Player of the Year, was named the C-USA Player of the Week, Feb. 21. He averaged a double-double of 21.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in a pair of wins, adding nine steals (4.5/gm) and eight assists (4.0/gm) while shooting .533 (16-of-30) from the field. He matched his career-high with 27 points at Tulane. It is Basden's second award in three weeks and the 49ers third straight honor. Curtis Withers, who scored a career-high 39 points at Saint Louis and 21 vs. Houston won the award, lastweek, averaging 30.0 points in two wins -- he was also named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week (Katz).

National Recognition:
ESPN.com National Player of the Week:
Curtis Withers, Feb. 14
National Def. Player of the Year*:
Eddie Basden * - According to ESPN's Jay Bilas

Three Straight C-USA Players of the Week:
Feb 7: Eddie Basden
20 pts; 11 rebs; 7 asts; 4 steals in win
over #18/#17 Cincinnati
Feb. 14: Curtis Withers
ESPN.com National Player of the Week (Katz)
30.0 pts; 9.0 reb; .553 FG% (21-38) in two wins
39 pts; 14 rebs. vs. SLU; 21 pts vs. Houston
Feb. 21: Eddie Basden
Two dbl-dbls in wins over DePaul; Tulane
21.0 ppg; 12.0 rpg; .533 FG% (16-of-30)
15 pts; 10 reb; 5 ast; 5 stl vs. DePaul
27 pts; 14 reb; 3 ast; 4 stl at Tulane

Notes:
The 49ers are 9-2 record vs. the RPI Top 100 ... only eight schools (Kansas, Wake, Illinois, Boston College, Duke, Washington, North Carolina and Arizona) have won more Top 100 games ... 49ers are 2-2 in games against nationally-ranked foes ... Brendan Plavich leads the nation in 3FG/gm (3.9/gm) and Eddie Basden is 3rd in the NCAA in steals per game (3.3) ... Basden needs two steals to tie the 49ers single-season record of 77 ... Charlotte could post its 2nd straight 20-win regular season.

National Player of Year Candidate:
Junior 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: Wooden Watch, the Naismith Trophy list and the Rupp Watch. In addition, the preseason third team all-America (Street & Smith's) was one of the Sporting News' Top 30 players. Withers, who was named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week and 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 scored 15 or more points in each of the last eight games. He's averaging a team-best 16.9 points (5th in C-USA) with 8.2 rebounds (7th C-USA) and has posted eight double-doubles. He's scored 20 or more points six times, including four of the last six games. He's scored in double figures in 18 of the last 19. He was MVP of the Cable Car Classic.

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