Charlotte 49ers bounced in wild 1st-round C-USA tournament loss to Alabama-Birmingham
Jon Davis carried Charlotte back into its first-round Conference USA tournament game, but his last shot just missed its mark as the 10th-seeded 49ers fell to host and No. 7 seed Alabama-Birmingham 74-73 at Legacy Arena on Wednesday.
Davis’ missed 3 from the top of the key capped off a crazy final two minutes where the lead changed hands five times. William Lee dunked in a Hakeem Baxter miss with six seconds left for the final margin.
This was after Davis stole a ball from Dirk Williams with 24 seconds left and got it to Andrien White, who hit a 3 from the left corner to give Charlotte a brief 73-72 lead with 12 seconds left.
Charlotte ended head coach Mark Price’s second season at 13-17. UAB (17-15) plays No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Three who mattered
Jon Davis: The 49ers sophomore dazzled with 25 points and 10 assists, hitting two big 3s in the final minutes and 9-of-12 from the line.
Andrien White: He was even hotter off the bench from long range, hitting 5-of-7 threes and scoring 24.
Chris Cokley: UAB had a big advantage down low and the Blazer forward was a big reason, scoring 18 with 13 rebounds.
Observation
▪ Jon Davis would like to have the first half back, where he scored just four points on 0-of-7 from the floor.
▪ Charlotte stayed in the game by getting to the free throw line 20 times and forcing seven early second-half fouls on UAB.
▪ Just like in the regular season matchup, Cokley and William Lee (19 points, 7 rebounds) dominated down low.
Worth mentioning
▪ Charlotte went the final 8:59 of the first half without a field goal, but trailed just 29-25.
▪ Top forward Anthony VanHook (9.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg) was suspended for a violation of team rules.
▪ Hudson Price scored seven for Charlotte in just his second start of the season.
They said it
“I felt like we were battle-tested. Things just didn’t fall our way.” – Charlotte’s Jon Davis
“Consistency wasn’t there for us this year as a whole. Hopefully this last two weeks, us playing against this competition and playing well, it will be a motivator for showing how close we really are.” – Charlotte coach Mark Price on the season.
“Who else am I going to put the ball in their hand at that point? Jon’s won games for us all year. He’s a big-shot player.” – Price on the final shot
UAB 74, CHARLOTTE 73
CHARLOTTE (13-17): Garvin 1-6 2-2 4, Davis 7-16 9-12 25, Ajukwa 2-5 0-0 5, Price 3-7 0-0 7, Ogbueze 2-7 0-0 6, Aube 0-0 0-0 0, Griciunas 1-2 0-0 2, White 7-10 5-6 24, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 16-20 73.
UAB (17-15): Lee 7-11 4-5 19, Cokley 7-8 4-4 18, Watts 2-4 0-0 6, D.Williams 6-12 1-3 16, Baxter 1-7 0-0 2, Mehinti 1-4 0-2 2, J.Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Madison 0-0 0-0 0, Darling 4-6 1-1 11, Lavender 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 10-15 74.
Halftime—UAB 29-25. 3-Point Goals—Charlotte 11-25 (White 5-7, Ogbueze 2-6, Davis 2-7, Ajukwa 1-2, Price 1-3), UAB 8-17 (D.Williams 3-6, Darling 2-2, Watts 2-4, Lee 1-2, Baxter 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Charlotte 20 (Davis 5), UAB 38 (Cokley 13). Assists—Charlotte 11 (Davis 10), UAB 19 (Cokley 4). Total Fouls—Charlotte 18, UAB 16.
This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers bounced in wild 1st-round C-USA tournament loss to Alabama-Birmingham."