Charlotte 49ers’ 2nd-half rallies can’t overcome slow start in 83-70 loss to Syracuse

Another slow start was too much for the Charlotte 49ers to overcome in an 83-70 loss Wednesday against Syracuse in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Imperial Arena.

The 49ers fell behind by 25 points in the first half, a similar hole in which they found themselves in a season-opening loss against Elon.

But as they did against the Phoenix, the young 49ers rallied in the second half to at least make the score respectable, this time against the ACC’s Orange (4-0). Syracuse did most of its damage from the 3-point line, where the Orange made 14-of-28 shots.

“It was a rough start to the first half,” said 49ers first-year coach Mark Price. “We were never able to contain them from the 3-point line. They shot it really well.”

The 49ers will face the loser of Wednesday’s Connecticut-Michigan first-round game at 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Syracuse will play the Huskies-Wolverines winner at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

Trailing 50-27 at halftime, the 49ers opened the second half with 15-3 run, trimming the Syracuse lead to 11 points on a 3-pointer by senior guard Braxton Ogbueze (15 points). After Syracuse stretched the lead again, Charlotte again rallied, cutting the lead to 79-70 with 1 minute, 14 seconds left on a follow by forward Joseph Uchebo (16 points, 12 rebounds).

“We showed resiliency,” said Ogbueze. “We faced adversity in the first half, but we fought back. We have to build on that and pay attention to the details.”

Three who mattered

Joseph Uchebo: Came off Charlotte’s bench to score 16 points and grab 12 rebounds, providing some much-needed toughness and helped neutralize Syracuse’s pronounced size advantage. It was a career high for Uchebo, a 6-foot-10 graduate transfer from Pittsburgh.

Michael Gbinije: Syracuse’s 6-foot-7 guard was deadly from beyond the arc, making 6-of-8 3-pointers and scoring 26 points.

Bernard Sullivan: 49ers’ 6-foot-8 senior forward used his quickness inside against bigger Orange players to score 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Observations

▪  The 49ers could have been buried in this one. But they showed a lot of grit in making a game of it, especially during the second half, when they outscored Syracuse 43-33.

▪  One factor was the 49ers’ difficulty in figuring out Syracuse’s famed 2-3 zone defense. The 49ers had trouble shooting over it, but were able to outscore the Orange 42-30 in the paint. The 49ers were 27-of-71 overall for the game, 38.0 percent.

▪  Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney, who passed the 1,000-point mark for his career during the game, had a nice hustle sequence in the second half. After he saved a ball from going out of bounds (crashing into a table on press row), he got back on the court fast enough to apparently block a 49ers shot. The scorekeeper must not have been paying attention, though, because Cooney wasn’t credited with the block.

▪  Imperial Arena is actually a ballroom in one of the hotels at the Atlantis resort. As a basketball arena, it’s dark, but the court is lit well enough for television. The low ceiling also made for weird depth perception. If there’s a full-court shot needed at the end of a half or game, that ceiling might come into play.

Worth mentioning

▪  Syracuse, which had bigger players at just about every spot on the floor, only outrebounded Charlotte 44-40. Much of that was because of Uchebo’s 12 rebounds (six offensive and six defensive). Guard Jon Davis also had six rebounds.

▪  The NCAA announced Wednesday it had reduced Syracuse’s number of scholarships lost to eight over four years rather than 12. The school had appealed sanctions imposed in March after an investigation of the athletic department. The NCAA upheld its decision to vacate all men's basketball wins in which an ineligible player participated from 2004 through 2012. Coach Jim Boeheim’s appeal of a nine-game suspension that begins with the start of ACC is still pending.

▪  Charlotte’s Uchebo and Syracuse’s Chinonso Obokoh are both from the town of Enugu, Nigeria.

They said it

“They’re a really long team. You definitely have to move the ball and shift it, get into the middle of it and get your shot.” -- Ogbueze on facing Syracuse’s 2-3 zone.

“When we shoot it like that, we’re going to beat a lot of people.” -- Boeheim.

“I saw Charlotte’s first game and their improvement has been tremendous. I think (Price) has a lot of guys and it’s always difficult when you have a lot of guys, in terms of finding the right combinations.” – Boeheim.

“Our guys have to grow as a team. I told them it’s about details and even though we’re a new group and a young group, we have to be better with details.” -- Price.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers’ 2nd-half rallies can’t overcome slow start in 83-70 loss to Syracuse."