Charlotte 49ers basketball team continues to round into form as postseason approaches
Coach Ron Sanchez loves to refer to the Charlotte 49ers’ basketball season as a journey or a climb. It has been a long trip — bumpy at times, rewarding at others — but it’s ultimately going to stretch into territory that this program hasn’t seen in several seasons.
The 49ers (16-12, 10-7 Conference USA) wrap up their regular season Saturday at Louisiana Tech (21-8, 12-5) and will then turn their attention to the league tournament next week in Frisco, Texas.
It’s the first time that Charlotte — mired in college basketball’s netherworld for several seasons — has qualified for the league tournament since 2017. And not only are the 49ers back in the postseason during Sanchez’s second season in charge, they’re doing so as the tournament’s fourth seed.
“Our joy is in the journey, true joy comes in days like today,” Sanchez said Wednesday after the 49ers beat C-USA regular-season champion North Texas 56-43 at Halton Arena.
It was Charlotte’s 13th home victory of the season, a program record, and ensured the 49ers of a winning record for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
“We’re on a bit of a mountain top, if that’s what you want to call it,” Sanchez said. “It can be short-lived, though. It’s only for rent. You can’t live there. There’s no house to sell there. Enjoy it while you can, because when the next resident has to have it, you have to give it to them. But our joy is in the climb.”
Although the 49ers don’t technically have anything to play for Saturday to stay on the peak of this particular mountain (they’re locked into fourth place), Louisiana Tech does.
The second and third seeds in the C-USA tournament remain up for grabs between Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech, which are tied at 12-5 heading into Saturday’s games. WKU plays Florida International at 7 p.m. Top-seed and regular-season champ North Texas (14-4) wrapped up its regular season after losing at Charlotte on Wednesday.
The 49ers, with a bye into the quarterfinals, will play on Thursday in the Ford Center in Frisco, potentially in a rematch against fifth-seed FIU, against whom Charlotte has split this season.
The second of those games was a 67-52 victory by the Owls last Sunday at Halton Arena. It had been important to Sanchez that his team recognize what it didn’t do right in that game and make the necessary corrections Wednesday against North Texas.
“We didn’t play well (against FIU),” Sanchez said. “But it’s only failure if you look at through that scope. It was an opportunity for us to grow. How quickly they moved on shows what kind of a team they are.
“Now we go on the road and try to replicate that. Are we peaking? I don’t know if I’d use that word. But this time of year, you’re finding ways to improve. When you’re through improving, you’re through.”
Charlotte at Louisiana Tech
When: 7 p.m., Saturday.
Where: Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, La.
Watch: CUSA.TV.
Listen: 730-AM.