Charlotte 49ers basketball team opens ‘bonus play’ Saturday: Here’s what to look for
The Charlotte 49ers tip off the “bonus play” portion of their Conference USA schedule Saturday with a game at Western Kentucky.
Here’s three things to know about the game between the 49ers (14-11, 8-6 C-USA) and Hilltoppers (18-8, 11-3):
1. Bonus play: C-USA’s method to help its top teams improve their postseason résumés by playing only against each over the final two weeks of the regular season hasn’t really served its purpose in the two seasons it has been in existence. None of the five teams in top group — of which Charlotte and WKU are included — has a shot at making the NCAA tournament unless they win the league tournament and qualify with an automatic bid, however successful they might be in bonus play. 49ers coach Ron Sanchez has said bonus play allows the top teams the chance to sharpen their games because they’re playing only the best teams in the league.
Upside of bonus play: Fourth-place Charlotte and the four other group one teams are locked into the top-five seeds in the conference tournament in Frisco, Texas.
Downside: The 49ers, who haven’t played since last Saturday, won’t play again until March 1 at home against Florida International. That, in turn, starts a three-games-in-six-days stretch (also March 4 against North Texas and March 7 at Louisiana Tech).
2. The 49ers have struggled for much of the season away from Halton Arena. After winning their first road game of the conference season against Marshall, the 49ers have lost six in a row on the road, including an 80-63 defeat against WKU. The 49ers are 7-0 in the league at home and have won 12-1 overall, tying a program record for home victories in one season.
3. The second-place Hilltoppers have stayed near the top of the C-USA standings despite the loss of sophomore center Charles Bassey, last season’s league defensive player of the year who suffered a season-ending knee injury in December. Like Charlotte has in freshman guard Jahmir Young (who averages a team-high 5.3 rebounds), guard Jared Savage leads WKU in rebounding (7.2 per game).
4. The 49ers will be without sophomore guard Luka Vasic, who hurt his knee last week against North Texas and will miss the rest of the season. Vasic, who was averaging 3.9 points and 1.4 rebounds, missed the entire 2018-19 season with an injured knee, the same one that’s hurt now. Vasic was averaging 10.9 minutes per game and had become a solid member of the rotation.
Charlotte at Western Kentucky
When: 7 p.m., Saturday
Where: Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Ky.
Watch: CBS Sports Network Facebook
Listen: 730-AM
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 3:59 PM.