Men's Basketball To Host Charlotte Friday
12/31/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2003
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE - It may not have quite the same marquee appeal.
And it may not generate near as much hype.
But the SIU men's basketball team's matchup Friday against Charlotte may end up being just as important to the Salukis' NCAA Tournament hopes as their memorable showdown with Indiana was just over two years ago.
The Salukis went on to win that game, of course - a victory that helped them get an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.
And who knows? Had the Salukis not beaten the Hoosiers, their Sweet 16 run may have never happened. It was the kind of win that opened up some eyes.
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So, in addition to extending their school-record home winning streak to 32 games, improving their already impressive RPI, avenging last year's double-digit loss on the 49ers' home court and moving their overall record to 9-1 - the Salukis have another rare opportunity to impress the NCAA Selection Committee with a big-time win.
Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. Friday at SIU Arena. Good tickets still remain, including holiday special discount $5 endzone seats. Log on to www.ticketmaster.com or visit the SIU Ticket Office during regular business hours for tickets. The office will be closed Jan. 1.
"They have a lot of weapons," said SIU head coach Matt Painter of the 49ers. "If we were fortunate enough to get a win, it would definitely be a win we could hang our hat on with the NCAA committee."
But it won't be easy - for a variety of reasons.
Charlotte (7-3), after all, knocked off then-No. 7 and defending national-champion Syracuse earlier this season on the Orangemen's home floor. Enough said.
"We'll have to be on top of our game to be able to compete with them," SIU head coach Matt Painter said. "This team is an NCAA caliber team."
The 49ers are also huge, featuring a front line of Martin Iti (7-foot), Butter Johnson (6-foot-8) and Curtis Withers (6-foot-8). And it's no secret that size is not a Saluki strength.
"Coach came in talking about their size," senior center Sylvester Willis said. "We're just going to try to negate it with our quickness. They may be bigger than us, but we're quicker than them. We're just going to try and get them running, get them tired."
A key to that plan will be keeping the big men off the boards.
Withers has recorded five double-doubles this year and is averaging a team-high 14.6 points and 9.9 rebounds-per-game. Johnson pumped in 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against SIU a year ago, while Iti, a much-hyped freshman from Australia, is developing into a force.
Charlotte also has a tremendous backcourt, featuring two big-time 3-point threats in Demon Brown (12.1 ppg, 5.6 apg) and Brendan Plavich (14.3 ppg). Brown has scored more than 1,300 career points, while Plavich leads the nation in 3-pointers - including 10 against Syracuse.
"Obviously, when you play a team with that kind of size and that kind of skill, where they have two guards who can shoot like Plavich and Brown, it causes problems," Painter said. "You worry about their interior guys and their strength and height, but you also have to worry about their other guys who can shoot threes.
"They have a great inside-outside combination that causes a very hard matchup for a lot of people."
The 49ers are also very deep, as three reserves are averaging more than six points per game, led by preseason C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Eddie Badsen (10 ppg, 6 rpg, 3 spg).
They can also light up the scoreboard, currently ranking eighth in the nation with an average of 88 points-per-game.
But, ironically, it was the 49ers' defense that confounded the Salukis last year in an 80-67 loss. Johnson and Brown each had big games, while the 49ers frustrated the Salukis with a number of trick defenses.
"They zoned us," Painter said. "They triangle-and-twoed us. They'll box-and-one. He (Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz) just sees what you can't handle. If it works, he'll stick with it. If it doesn't, he'll try something else.
Don't be surprised if the box-and-one is used to hold down Darren Brooks (18 ppg). Last year, a triangle-and-two was used in an attempt to contain Jermaine Dearman and Kent Williams and force other Salukis to step up offensively. It worked.
"They went triangle-and-two against us last year," Painter said. "And we had guys who we consider good shooters get wide open for shots, and they just didn't knock them down. Hopefully this year when they do show some junk defense - a triangle-and-two or box-and-one - we'll have other guys step up and make shots."
"They handed us a pretty good butt-kicking up there last year," Willis said. "Everybody on the team remembers that. Hopefully, we can use that as motivation going into Friday."
Simply stated, the 49ers are the most talented non-conference opponent to come to SIU Arena since IU two years ago.
Charlotte has made the NCAA Tournament five times in the last eight seasons, and they were picked by Sports Illustrated to get an at-large berth again this season.
So, despite the fact this is not a Missouri Valley Conference game, don't discount its importance.
"We always talk about setting ourselves up for an NCAA bid," Willis said. "A good non-conference schedule will do that, we'd be 7-1."
"This would definitely cap off a great non-conference season for us," Painter said.
