The Charlotte 49ers basketball team has a bad habit it needs to break

The Charlotte 49ers have established a pattern early in the Conference USA men’s basketball season.

They have lost all three Friday conference games and won all three Saturday contests.

And with the conference’s format this season of playing the same team on back-to-back days, it means a series of split series.

49ers’ coach Ron Sanchez says it’s not a case of the team playing poorly on Fridays and then stepping it up a notch on Saturdays — not entirely, at least.

“I think we’ve actually played good basketball on Fridays — outside of the UAB game,” he says.

The 49ers start another of those back-to-back series with a 6 p.m. Friday contest in Halton Arena against Florida International. The two teams play again at 4 p.m. Saturday.

On the weekend of Jan. 1-2, Charlotte lost 67-63 to Western Kentucky on Friday, then recovered with a 75-71 overtime victory Saturday.

Two weekends ago, there was a 61-37 blowout loss on Friday to UAB, followed by a 70-55 victory a day later. And last weekend, at Florida Atlantic, the 49ers fell 66-53 in overtime Friday before winning 74-71 on Saturday.

Obviously, Sanchez wants the 49ers to take a step forward and sweep a series. But he says two of those Friday losses were due to the little things.

“The phrase ‘learning how to win’ is not just lip service,” he says. “It’s a real part of coaching. In most games, there are a few plays that determine the outcome.”

Pointing to last Friday’s game, which was tied 51-51 after regulation, Sanchez said: “We played one of our best defensive games of the year. We made some offensive mistakes. But to hold a team like that in the 50s? That’s solid defense.”

He says the 49ers will grow when they learn to adjust when things aren’t going right.

“You can’t start pressing, when the ball isn’t going in the basket,” he said . “You have to adjust, and do what you have to do to win.”

Sanchez said the 49ers have the same game plan on Fridays and Saturday, for the most part. Coaches and players make adjustments but he added: “Our mindset isn’t different from Friday to Saturday.”

This weekend’s games: Despite the win-loss routine, the 49ers are in good shape in Conference USA’s East Division. They are 3-3 (7-7 overall) and part of a three-way tie for second place, just a game behind Old Dominion (4-2). Florida International is tied for fifth, at 2-4 (8-8 overall).

Sanchez said the Panthers prefer to confuse opponents with their defenses.

“They’ll run multiple defenses at you,” he says. “They try to keep you guessing.”

Antonio Daye Jr., a 6-foot-3 guard, leads the Panthers with 17.4 points a game. He is a nephew of Jawad Williams, who was part of North Carolina’s 2004 NCAA championship team.