Charlotte cruises past Tulane into American quarterfinals

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte guard Dezayne Mingo scored 19 points and a career-best 11 assists in the 49ers' 74-60 win against Tulane in the American Conference tournament.

Charlotte is through to the quarterfinals of the American Conference tournament. 

The 49ers rinsed away a rough first half and turned it into the best second half shooting percentage in the tournament’s history at 77.3% from the field and 72.7% from three-point range in a 74-60 win against Tulane. 

“I find that when you get to these tournaments… for some reason when you play that first game, it always seems to be a little bit difficult for the guys to kind of find an eye for shooting the ball,” 49ers coach Aaron Fearne said. I don’t know if we could have shot the ball much worse in the first half. … But I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a group where we shot 77% in a half. So, it was a pretty wild two halves for us.”

Charlotte guard Ben Bradford, who led the 49ers with 29 points, didn’t know how poorly Charlotte shot in the first half. 

“I didn't know we were 5-for-34, I think that's the first time I've seen that,” he said. “We knew we had good looks. I mean, just like the averages, at some point they have to fall.”

Once the shots started falling, Bradford said he was able to drive a bit more which opened up his scoring outburst.

“Making shots early,” Bradford said, was key to his success. “I played off that. I was able to drive more. The close outs were harder, so I was able to get downhill more once the shots started falling.”

Fearne attributed much of Charlotte’s second half success to what his squad was able to generate in transition. Over the course of the season, the 49ers were better when running, and it showed in against Tulane.

“I thought we were able to put enough pressure on them in transition,” Fearne said. “We were able to build some pressure and break it open. We made some timely shots… and we were able to get across the line.”

Charlotte guard Dezayne Mingo poured in 19 points and a career-high 11 assists to facilitate the 49ers’ offense. He was quick to credit his teammates and coaches for putting him in the best positions to make an impact.

“It’s all of these guys,” Mingo said. “Coach Fearne came into the locker room and said that he didn’t see a single shot we took in the first half that he didn’t like. That’s crazy to hear from him; he’s a critic. So, that fueled me and gave me a lot of confidence going into the second half to shoot whenever I was open.”

Charlotte will face Alabama-Birmingham in the quarterfinals in what amounts to a road game given the conference tournament is held on the Blazers’ home floor. Fearne isn’t using it as an excuse.

“The guys have a good feel for the stadium and the rims,” he said. “We are going to get a little zone, man and all sorts of things that coach [Andy Kennedy] likes to do with UAB. We played them just a few games ago (a loss), so we will make some adjustments. The guys are going to have to do an excellent job with their recovery right now. … You just have to find it within.” 

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