Charlotte’s American Conference tournament outlook

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte guard Lu'Cye Patterson and his 49ers teammates exceeded expectations by finishing third in the American Athletic Conference. Charlotte earned a double bye in this week's conference tournament.

The Charlotte 49ers secured a coveted double-bye in their first American Conference tournament.

Charlotte (19-11, 13-5 AAC) — picked to finish second to last in preseason polling — finished third in the conference and won’t play until the quarterfinal round.

“For us to be third [seed], I am really proud of the guys,” coach Aaron Fearne said. “[We] were a game away probably from being second, and not that far from being first. But also the flip side of it, you could also finish eighth, ninth, or 10th – that is how good [the conference] has been, so really proud of the guys.”

The 49ers’ first game is March 14 at 9 p.m.

Quarterfinal matchups

The 49ers could get a rematch with sixth seed Southern Methodist assuming the Mustangs advances in the prior round leading up to the quarterfinals. The 11 seed Temple will play No. 14 Texas San Antonio on March 12, with the winner advancing to play SMU.

In the regular season, Charlotte beat Texas-San Antonio twice and beat Temple 73-70. The 49ers lost their regular season game to SMU in January on the road.

Charlotte closed the regular season by sweeping in-state rival East Carolina with guard Lu’Cye Patterson breaking out of a scoring slump with 27 points on 7-for-13 shooting and 11-for-13 from the free throw line.
Patterson’s backcourt mate Nik Graves also poured in 20 points to lift the 49ers to a 10-point win.

Patterson scored 19 points in the 49ers’ loss to SMU and another big performance will likely be needed if the 49ers want to advance to the semifinals no matter who stands in the 49ers’ way.

Semifinal possibilities

Charlotte’s semifinal opponent could be one of three teams including No. 10 seed Tulane, 7 seed North Texas, or No. 2 Florida Atlantic. The 49ers beat all three in the regular season.

FAU beat Tulane and North Texas in the regular season, knocking off the Mean Green twice. The outlook is that Charlotte will face FAU again in the semifinal round. The two battled to a narrow two-point 49er win back in January inside Halton Arena.

That win was a key turning point for the 49ers in the regular season as they would rattle off seven more wins before losing again to South Florida, the conference’s top seed.

Championship Sunday

If Charlotte gets to the title game, the most likely opponent will likely be conference-leading USF. The Bulls had been on a tear, winning 15 straight games before losing to Tulsa in the regular season finale with the top seed already secured. 

The 49ers dropped both regular season games against USF. One was a close game on the road where the 49ers led until the final minute. The second meeting was a bit more comfortable for the Bulls, a 76-61 win.

Fearne said after the second meeting against USF that the Bulls were the AAC’s most consistent team, especially on defense.

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