Even as injuries drain roster, Charlotte 49ers put a scare into Middle Tennessee

On a night when the injury news kept coming and kept getting worse, the Charlotte 49ers nearly pulled the surprise of the Conference USA basketball season.

In the end, however, first-place Middle Tennessee had enough to hold off last-place Charlotte 78-73 at Halton Arena on Saturday.

It was the eighth consecutive loss for the 49ers (5-16, 1-9 C-USA), who learned earlier in the day that reserve guard Ryan Murphy had broken his foot during a pregame shootaround and will miss the rest of the season. That came on top of the earlier news that freshman forward Milos Supica would miss the game with a back injury.

Then, as the 49ers went toe-to-toe with the Blue Raiders (18-5, 10-1), junior guard Andrien White – who had only recently returned to the lineup after missing three games with a thumb injury – left the game at halftime after suffering a possible concussion.

Still, the 49ers managed to make it interesting against Middle Tennessee, which led by as many as 12 points in the first half. It wasn’t until Charlotte guard Jon Davis (20 points) missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds left that the Blue Raiders were able to escape.

Davis’ shot came from well outside the 3-point arc and it appeared he had ample time to maneuver for a better shot.

“That was my fault,” Davis said. “I had glanced up at (the clock) and read it wrong and thought there was way less time than there actually was.”

Three who mattered

Nick King, Middle Tennessee: King, C-USA’s second-leading scorer, scored 24 points (on 25 shots) and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Davis: Charlotte’s point guard played 40 minutes, scoring 20 points and handing out four assists.

Austin Ajukwa, Charlotte: 49ers guard also played the whole game, scoring 12 points and pulling down seven rebounds.

Observations

▪  Murphy was averaging 6.7 points for the season, but he was starting to really contribute in recent games. He averaged 17.0 over the previous three games, including a career-high, 27-point outburst against Old Dominion. Counting the absence of guard Hudson Price, who left the program in December after his father and former coach Mark Price was fired, and the 49ers were without four rotation players they had at the start of the season.

▪  It was 49ers basketball alumni day Saturday, with an old-timers game played earlier in the afternoon. The 49ers celebrated the 30^th anniversary of their 1988 Sun Belt Conference championship at halftime. Coach Jeff Mullins and league Most Valuable Player Byron Dinkins both attended. The 49ers lost 98-92 to No. 4 seed Brigham Young in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

▪  The 49ers shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first half, but still trailed 42-33 at halftime. Middle Tennessee dominated the boards 17-7 in the first half and outscored the 49ers 20-10, with 11 points off nine Charlotte turnovers.

▪  The 49ers had two shot-clock violations in the first half.

▪  The Blue Raiders ended up outrebounding the 49ers 37-21 and outscored Charlotte 15-5 on second-chance points. Middle Tennessee’s edge in the paint, however, was only 32-28.

▪  The 49ers head out on a two-game road trip next week, against Louisiana Tech on Thursday and Southern Mississippi on Saturday. Middle Tennessee is home to Rice on Thursday and North Texas on Saturday.

Quoting

“The first thought that comes to mind is pride, how proud of how I am of those guys. We’re not looking for moral victories, but we could have turned and run.” – 49ers interim coach Houston Fancher.

“Everybody knows we’re nowhere without this guy. What he does on the floor is irreplaceable.” – Fancher, pointing to Davis, after hinting that Davis unnecessarily hurried the potential tying 3-pointer.

“We thought his contact had fallen out.” – White, on the team’s reaction when White was injured.

This story was originally published February 3, 2018 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Even as injuries drain roster, Charlotte 49ers put a scare into Middle Tennessee."