Why time is running short for Charlotte 49ers’ postseason quest

Time is running short for the Charlotte 49ers to qualify for the Conference USA men’s basketball tournament.

Tied for last place with Texas-El Paso (8-17, 3-11) in the 14-team league, the 49ers (6-19, 3-11) have just four games remaining in the regular season to make up a two-game difference between them (and the Miners) and two other teams (Middle Tennessee and Rice) for a spot in the 12-team tournament.

And if that kind of stress isn’t enough for the 49ers, they will have to wait eight days after Saturday’s game with Middle Tennessee (8-19, 5-9) before they play again (March 3 at home against UTEP). Then there are two games against Rice (10-17, 5-7) to wrap up the regular season: March 6 at Halton Arena and March 9 in Houston.

This is all part of C-USA’s new “bonus play” schedule for Conference USA, which usually only sends one team to the NCAA tournament. Under the new schedule, teams have been seeded and broken into three groups for the final two weeks of the season. In theory, it will help the at-large NCAA tournament selection chances for teams in Group 1, because they will only be playing each other (although that’s not likely since just one conference team, No. 78 Old Dominion, is even ranked inside the top 100 of the NCAA’s new Net rankings).

But it could help a team like Charlotte, which will try to make up ground against teams also near or at the bottom of the league. That’s the encouraging news. What’s not so encouraging is that Charlotte has gone winless against UTEP, Middle Tennessee and Rice thus far.

The 49ers have little room for error. They can’t be eliminated with a loss against the Blue Raiders on Saturday, but it would place each of their final three games in the must-win category.

“All we need is a chance, anything can happen,” said coach Ron Sanchez. “We’re not that far behind. We want to extend our season as long as we can.”

The 49ers won’t be 100 percent healthy against Middle Tennessee, which beat Charlotte 71-53 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Feb. 7. Starting shooting guard Jaylan McGill (concussion) won’t play and freshman guard Brandon Younger (back) is day-to-day. Sanchez said freshman guard Malik Martin is still feeling the effects of a knee injury that cost him six games earlier in the season.

Football assistant added

New 49ers football coach Will Healy has added Zachary Alley to his staff as nickels coach. Alley, a graduate of Charlotte Country Day and Clemson, has been a grad assistant with the Tigers the past four seasons.

This story was originally published February 22, 2019 at 3:10 PM.