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Scouting Charlotte!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/27/2012
The UNCC 49ers may have had more problems lately than the Muskies. After a strong 2-0 start in the A-10, Charlotte has lost 4 in a row. They're 10-9 overall and 2-4 in the league under second year coach Alan Major,a former Muskie and OSU assistant under Thad Matta. Charlotte lost starting point guard Pierria Henry to sprained knee. He did not play against Temple Wednesday in Charlotte and the Owls rolled 79-57.
Sub forward KJ Sherrill was suspended and normal starters Derrio Green and Javarris Barnett came off the bench because of team rules violations. Temple led 17-1 out of the gate and 38-18 at the half.(By the way,6-10 Michael Eric is back from injury for TU. He played 17 minutes off the bench with 6 points and 9 rebounds.Looks like Scootie Randall is gone for the season). UNCC shot 33%FG and turned it over 16 times.
Expect the regular rotation to return for Xavier(7PM-Saturday-Fox Sports Ohio). Henry is still out with the injury though. He's a 6-3 pass first lead guard who's 5th nationally at almost 3 steals/game. Henry played well in their A-10 wins over Richmond and at St Joe's (Dayton lost on Hawk Hill Wednesday by 14). He also contributed in UNCC's tight 68-67 loss at Halton Arena to St Louis.
Charlotte lacked a pure PG last season and struggled(10-22 overall,2-14 A-10-missed a trip to Atlantic City). Coach Major fought internal problems-kicking BC transfer Shamari Spears off the team early and losing center Phil Jones to academics at mid-year.
The 49ers highlight was their 66-62 win over Xavier in Charlotte on Feb 2nd. XU led early 16-4. Charlotte went zone and the Muskies stopped attacking the basket. Guards Derrio Green and Jamar Briscoe killed X with timely "3s" and deadly foul shooting(24-27). Tu Holloway was buffeted and mugged when he penetrated the zone and the officials swallowed their whistles. There was a bizzarre situation late when UNCC star post Chris Braswell missed two FTs but it was discovered he'd fouled out and the refs gave Charlotte two more FTs which they made to ice the game.
X drilled Charlotte on Senior Night at Cintas 68-48 to make amends. Expect Major to tinker with the zone again vs XU. Braswell is a beast inside(14PPG-8 REB) so expect Xavier to double him on post catches. Javarris Barnett is 6-7 but shoots the "3" well. X must find him and put hands in his face.
UNCC has trouble scoring the ball inside-outside and from the FT line averaging just 64PPG in A-10 play. The Muskies have to limit them to one contested jumper then get out and run with the misses to create fastbreak chances. Easy hoops-lay-ups-dunks-have been scarce in losses at Dayton and home to St Louis.
Dez Wells returns home to North Carolina and Tu and Mark Lyons need to find him for big plays around the rim. Xavier should be favored in this one.
Charlotte's confidence may be shaky. A quick strong start by the Muskies is needed with inside scores and fastbreak buckets. 5-3 at the midway point of the A-10 schedule isn't too bad.
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