Charlotte 49ers clinch a bye in Conference USA tournament — and they’re not done yet
Three days after one of their more disappointing games of the season, the Charlotte 49ers turned things around in a big way in a 56-43 Conference USA victory Wednesday against North Texas at Halton Arena.
The triumph against the Mean Green allowed the 49ers (16-12, 10-7 C-USA) to clinch fourth place and a first-round bye in next week’s league tournament in Frisco, Texas — an event the 49ers will be playing in for the first time in three seasons. It was a program-record 13th victory at Halton Arena and also ensured the 49ers of their first winning season since 2013-14.
And that the 49ers were able to shake off a desultory 67-52 loss Sunday against Florida International — the team with which the 49ers were competing for that fourth seed in the tournament — made Wednesday’s victory against regular-season champion North Texas (20-11, 14-4) that more impressive.
“After the last game, we wanted to come in and prove we’re one of the (conference’s) best teams,” said junior guard Jordan Shepherd, who led the 49ers with 18 points. “We came in fired up; we were upset with how we played. We didn’t play united the last time. This time we were together.”
The 49ers put the clamps on a North Texas team that was averaging 72.0 points per game, holding the Mean Green scoreless over the final five minutes and to 31.3 percent shooting (4-of-19 from 3-point range). Charlotte forced 16 turnovers, turning them into 22 points.
“That’s what happens when you’re connected out there,” Shepherd said. “Defense is our identity all the time. The last game we didn’t show it. We wanted to come in and show it again.”
The 49ers weren’t great themselves offensively, making only 39.1 percent of their shots and even fell to 29.4 percent from the field late in the first half. Freshman guard Jahmir Young was the only other Charlotte player in double figures with 10 points.
The 49ers led for much of the game, and went up by 11, 44-33, on two Shepherd free throws with 10 minutes, 2 seconds left. But Charlotte’s defense was the difference down the stretch. When North Texas’ Javion Hamlet hit a pair of free throws with with 5:10 left to cut Charlotte’s lead to 50-43, those would be the Mean Green’s last points.
Charlotte is having its best season in years, but some of that felt like it had perhaps slipped away against FIU, which handed the 49ers their first home loss since Dec. 3 against UNC Asheville.
Beating North Texas showed the 49ers, in the second season of coach Ron Sanchez’s rebuilding effort, aren’t done. They’re 2-1 playing in the top group of Conference USA’s “bonus play” schedule and finish the regular season Saturday at Louisiana Tech.
After the FIU loss, Sanchez said he didn’t think his team was prepared to play meaningful games in March. That changed against the Mean Green.
“Communication,” Sanchez said of the difference between the FIU and North Texas games. “Sometimes as coaches you assume too much. We just have to make sure we’re all on the same page, that we all know what’s at stake and what we’re playing for this time of year. There’s still a lot of basketball left. We have to embrace where we are and lay it on the line. The effort should be what we showed today.”