Charlotte loses 17-point lead, loses 8-game win streak in wild finish at South Florida
Charlotte’s eight-game win streak is gone.
The 49ers had some serious chances, in front of a national television audience, to show that it was a real contender for an NCAA Tournament bid Tuesday night at South Florida.
Charlotte controlled the game early, but appeared to run out of steam late, falling 72-69 at USF.
“This was a tough one,” 49ers’ coach Aaron Fearne said. “The guys battled really hard and that’s awesome to see. It was pretty wild in here (at the Yuengling Center) which was awesome. We talked about they would make some runs in the second half and they just made the last play when they needed to.”
South Florida began to make some plays near the end, but down the stretch, about everything that could’ve gone wrong for Charlotte, did.
Consider:
▪ Charlotte was outscored 11-1 in the final 4:41, and 6-0 in the final 72 seconds. The 49ers led by as many as 17 points during the game and had a double-digit lead in the second half.
▪ With 49.1 seconds left, with Charlotte leading 69-68, 49ers’ point guard Lu’Cyce Patterson was called for his fifth foul trying to drive for a basket. On the same play, he was called for a flagrant on South Florida’s Brandon Stroud. Stroud missed both free throws, but South Florida got the ball back.
When it did, Stroud came off a ball screen. Two Charlotte players chased the screener and Stroud had a clear path to the goal. He took it, scored and was fouled. He missed the free throw but South Florida had its first lead of the game, 70-69 with 29.5 seconds left.
▪ After a timeout with 21.7 seconds left, Fearne drew up a play for Igor Milicic Jr., who has been one of the conference’s best players in recent weeks. Milicic got a good look from near the top of the key, but his shot was short, falling out of bounds.
▪ Down one, Charlotte fouled Selton Miguel, who made his 12th and 13th free throws of the game with 12.4 seconds left. Charlotte struggled on its final possession, but point guard Nik Graves got off a hanging 3-point try that nearly went in. Milicic rebounded the ball as he was falling down, but was ruled out of bounds.
▪ South Florida then ran the clock out and won its eighth straight game.
“We’ll grow from it, we’ll have to learn some things,” Fearne said. “The locker room is pretty (upset) right now.”
Three who made a difference
Dishon Jackson, Charlotte: Jackson had 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting. He made 8-of-10 free throw attempts and added seven rebounds.
Selton Miguel, South Florida: Miguel didn’t shoot well, making just 4-of-13 attempts, but he had a game-high 22 points because he made 13-of-14 free throws to go with five assists and two rebounds.
Igor Milicic, Jr., Charlotte: Milicic made 6-of-10 field goals and 3-of-6 3-point attempts. He finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Notes
▪ Charlotte had won three straight road games before Tuesday’s loss.
▪ The 49ers missed their final six field goal attempts and two of their last 10. Charlotte didn’t score in the final 2:27.
▪ South Florida is now alone in first place in league play at 16-5, 9-1. Florida Atlantic (18-4, 8-1) is next and Charlotte (14-8, 8-2) is in third.
▪ The 49ers are off until Super Bowl Sunday when they travel to Temple for a 2 p.m. game. Temple (8-14, 1-8) is tied with Wichita State (9-13, 1-8) at the bottom of the league standings.
They said it
“We just didn’t score enough in the second half… We just weren’t good enough offensively against a really good team and we have to be that on the road. We didn’t make enough plays.” — Charlotte coach Aaron Fearne
