Charlotte 49ers beat Southern Miss for first Conference USA win

After relying on the 3-pointer for much of the game, Charlotte finished off Southern Miss with several easy baskets in the frontcourt to pick up the first Conference USA win of the Mark Price era Thursday night.

Jon Davis led five different Charlotte players who scored in double digits with 18 points as the 49ers earned an 82-76 victory over USM at Reed Green Coliseum.

“It’s great,” Price said of the road win. “It’s something we’ve been working for all year, to be competitive in our conference.

“I’m proud of the guys. We fought back and played well in the second half. We missed 15 free throws and were still able to win the game.”

Junior forward Anthony Vanhook had the most efficient game of the night for Charlotte with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds.

Vanhook, who entered the game hitting 40.9 percent from the field, said he took the court with much more confidence in his shot.

“I’ve been giving up a lot of shots, but my shot felt good coming in,” Vanhook said. “I give it up to my teammates. They gave the ball to me in my spots.”

Price was thrilled with the production he got out of the 6-foot-4 Vanhook.

“Anthony played more like the Vanhook we thought we were going to get,” Price said. “He really gets guys involved. He can pass it. I don’t know where those two 3-pointers came from. I’ll take more of that any day.”

Charlotte (4-10, 1-1) has won three of its last five games after starting the season 1-8.

“We’re getting there,” Vanhook said. “We had a rough start to the season. Effort was the question. Guys understand now and they’re playing hard. Everybody is in their spots and we’re just clicking right now.”

Charlotte hit seven 3-pointers in the first half to help keep the Southern Miss advantage to 36-31 at halftime. The 49ers finished 11-of-25 from behind the arc.

The 49ers did a better job of working the ball inside in the final 10 minutes of the game and 6-foot-10 center Joseph Uchebo finally received his chances around the basket against the much smaller USM forwards.

After scoring just two points in the first half, Uchebo finished with 14 points. He was 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-10 on free throws.

“We started making adjustments on their screens,” Price said. “They were switching, which allowed mismatches inside. We tried to take advantage of it.”

Southern Miss held its biggest lead at 45-36 following a 3-pointer by Kourtlin Jackson at the 17:01 mark of the third quarter.

The 49ers responded with a 10-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Davis with 13:40 remaining.

It was a back-and-forth contest until Charlotte began to convert on its free throws in the final minute of the game, including the last six attempts.

Southern Miss, which was led by Jackson’s 16 points, drops to 3-10 and 0-2.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers beat Southern Miss for first Conference USA win."