UNC-Charlotte Series History: In Louisville's first ever appearance in the Conference USA Tournament Finals, UNC-Charlotte defeated U of L 68-59 on March 6, 1999.

Series History

All-Time Record: Louisville 15, Charlotte 15
*C-USA Tournament
+Metro Tournament

Date: Feb. 12, 2004	Score: Charlotte 77, Louisville 71
Leading Scorers: U of L: Larry O'Bannon (17) Charlotte: Curtis Withers (23)
It looked like the Cards were going to win a pivotal road C-USA game, but instead they collapsed down the stretch to a team playing without its starting point guard. And now, losers of three of their last four games, the Cards are reenacting last season's late-season collapse. It was frustration, fouls, poor shooting and untimely turnovers that did the Cards in at Charlotte, who were without Demon Brown, who was serving a one-game suspension. Reserve guard Mitchell Baldwin played the whole game, scored 13 points, had six assists and committed only a single turnover. Meanwhile, Curtis Withers had game-highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds, and continues to lead C-USA in double-doubles. The Cards were the third Top 10 team to fall to Charlotte this season. In the final 2:21, the Cards gave up three three-pointers to the 49ers, who had struggled from behind the arc for most of the game. In that span, Charlotte went 4-4 from the field and 4-5 from the line, and outscored the Cards 13-5. Charlotte had been only 3-21 from three-point range up to that point. U of L had only two field goals in the final 3:29. The Cards had led 59-47 with about nine minutes remaining.
The game was even early, but a three-pointer from Taquan Dean, who started, put U of L up 18-15. Back-to-back threes from Nate Daniels, who finished with 11 points, gave the Cards a nine-point edge. Another three from Larry O'Bannon at the 9:44 mark capped a 12-2 U of L run that put the Cards up 27-17. U of L was up 12 with 4:15 left in the half, but led only 42-35 at halftime. Then, instead of opening up the second half with a run, it was Charlotte who forced a pair of turnovers and scored the first five points of the half to pull within 42-40. An unlikely three from Kendall Dartez, after the Cards had missed three threes in a row, gave the Cards some breathing room, but two consecutive goal-tending calls against Dartez allowed the 49ers to trail only 49-46 with 14:04 left. Charlotte then went 5:41 without a field goal, and U of L used a 10-1 run to take its 59-47 lead. But foul trouble plagued the Cards. Luke Whitehead, Daniels and Francisco Garcia all spent a lot of time on the bench, and Garcia eventually fouled out. The foul trouble made U of L hesitant on the defensive end.
The Cards missed three easy shots from inside, and Charlotte scored 11 straight points to make it 59-58 with 5:34 left. A jumper by Withers gave Charlotte its first lead of the second half at 67-66 with 1:42 remaining, but the Cards regained the lead on a hoop by Garcia. Charlotte's best three-point shooter, Brendan Plavich, then buried a three to put the 49ers up 70-68 with 56 seconds left, but Garcia came back and drilled a three to give U of L its final lead. But Baldwin then drove the entire floor for a lay-up and was fouled on the shot. Baldwin missed the free throw, but Withers got the rebound, who after being fouled himself made both free throws to put the 49ers up 74-71. The Cards then committed turnovers on their two remaining possessions. O'Bannon led the Cards with 17 points, but did not score in the final 10:21. U of L shot only 37.9% for the game, and were only 3-17 from three-point range in the second half. Meanwhile, the Cards cooled off defensively as well. Charlotte shot only 34% in the first half, but was 15-26 from the field in the second half.

Date: Mar. 8, 2003	Score: Louisville 100, Charlotte 59
Leading Scorers: U of L: Luke Whitehead (19) Charlotte: Demon Brown (12)
U of L wrapped its most winningest regular season since 1996-97 in convincing fashion over Charlotte, finishing the regular season at 21-6 and matching a school-best 11-5 C-USA record despite the absence of Marvin Stone, who sat out for the second time in three games due to an NCAA inquiry into his eligibility. The 41-point margin made for the most lopsided loss in Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz's tenure with the 49ers, and U of L's biggest margin of victory this season. Reece Gaines, playing in his last regular season game for U of L, scored 13 points and had eight assists. He is the school's fourth all-time leading scorer, and still has a chance to become the fourth player in U of L history to score over 2,000 points in his career.
U of L was up only 25-24 with 11:10 left in the first half, but five straight points from Gaines and put-back hoops from Erik Brown and Luke Whitehead helped the Cards build a 10-point lead. Whitehead then scored five points in a 10-0 run that propelled U of L to a 49-33 halftime lead. The Cards scored on five of their first six possessions of the second half to build a 23-point lead, and it was smooth sailing for U of L the rest of the way. After connecting on eight of its first 11 shots, Charlotte was only 12-44 the rest of the way.
Leading U of L was Whitehead, who had a game-high 19 points, a career-high 15 rebounds plus a career-high six assists, all of which came in the first 25 minutes of action. Whitehead shot 6-10 from the field and a perfect 6-6 from the line. Kendall Dartez scored 16 points on 7-9 shooting. U of L shot a blazing 13-25 from three-point range, getting at least one three-pointer from nine different players. Despite the absence of Stone, the Cards outrebounded Charlotte 37-30. Simeon Naydenov played what is most likely his last regular season game at Freedom Hall (he will graduate this summer) and scored seven points, while senior Erik Brown pitched in nine. Taquan Dean had 12 points for the Cards. Demon Brown led Charlotte with 12 points.

Date: Jan. 8, 2003	Score: Louisville 80, Charlotte 59
Leading Scorers: U of L: Erik Brown (17) Charlotte: Curtis Withers (15)
In its conference opener, U of L went on the road to Charlotte and thankfully ended its recent trend of falling behind early. U of L attempted 20 of its first 30 shots from three-point range, making nine of them en route to making 14-29 three-pointers for the game. The Cards outscored Charlotte 42-6 from behind the arc (the 49ers were only 2-17 from three-point range) and their 14 threes were the most ever by a Charlotte opponent in Halton Arena. (The Cards have now held their last three opponents to only 9-49 from behind the arc.) It was only the second time in six years that the Cards have won three straight road games, and the margin of victory was U of L’s biggest ever in a road C-USA game.
The Cards were led on both ends of the floor by Erik Brown. Not only did Brown lead all scorers with 17 points, shooting 7-9 from the field to go along with a career-high nine rebounds, but he also hounded Charlotte’s leading scorer Demon Brown on defense, holding Brown to a season-low five points on 2-10 shooting and 1-6 from three-point range. Charlotte established an early 13-8 lead built on a 6-0 spurt that was capped by a Curtis Withers dunk at the 14:47 mark. Withers led the 49ers with 15 points. U of L picked up the defense, though, keeping Charlotte scoreless over the next three minutes during a 12-0 Cardinal run that led to a 36-22 Cardinal lead with 6:25 left in the first half. U of L committed turnovers on five of its next six possessions to let Charlotte creep to within 36-30 with 4:28 left before halftime, but the Cards hit on a few more threes and outscored Charlotte 8-3 in the final 3:06 of the first half to establish a 44-33 hafltime lead.
Even though the Cards committed four turnovers early in the first half to let the 49ers again cut the lead to six, U of L then made five straight threes to push their lead up to 13. A 7-2 Charlotte run had pulled them to within 46-40 at the 15:07 mark, but two threes from Reece Gaines and one from Erik Brown extended the Cardinal lead to 55-40 with 13:38 left. The Cards were up 61-52 with 8:57 remaining before going on a 10-0 run, fueled by six points from Luke Whitehead, to put the game away. Whitehead finished with 15 points and a career-high eight assists, taking advantage of Charlotte’s double-teaming in the post. That defense held Marvin Stone to only two points and Ellis Myles to five, though Myles did pull down nine rebounds. But the interior defense left the perimeter open for shooters like Gaines, who had 14 points, including 4-7 from three-point range, and Taquan Dean, who had 11 points on 3-4 from three-point land – all in the first half.

Date: March 2, 2002	Score: Louisville 90, Charlotte 88 (ot)
Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (20) Charlotte: Jobey Thomas (27)
What a way to finish the regular season, and what a way to close out Freedom Hall for the 2001-2002 season (though NIT home games remain a possibility). The Cards' first overtime game of the year is one of the most exciting, hotly contested, well-played games of the season. As it should be. The Cards broke 80 points, and won. They put five players in double figures, and won. The world still works. Charlotte had beat U of L four straight times, and also four in a row in Freedom Hall -- thank goodness both of those streaks are over. At one point in the first half, the Cardinals actually held a 14-point lead, but the incredible offensive firepower of Jobey Thomas and Cam Stephens pulled the 49ers to within 35-31 at halftime. Thomas wound up leading all scorers with 27 points, including 5-11 from three-point range, most of which came under heavy defensive pressure. Stephens finished the day with an incredible 24 points and 17 rebounds.
The second-half was nip and tuck, and very competitive. Charlotte led 60-56 with 8:54 left, but Luke Whitehead got a steal and threaded a 50-foot bounce pass to Erik Brown for a lay-up that started a 7-0 Cardinal run. The 49ers responded though, only to be rebuffed again by U of L. Ellis Myles, who wound up with 16 points and eight rebounds, scored seven straight points to turn a 67-66 Cardinal deficit into a 73-67 U of L lead. Whitehead then came up with one of many crucial plays for the Cards. With Charlotte up 80-77 and time running out in regulation, Whitehead rebounded a Bryant Northern three-point attempt, scored on a put-back and was fouled on the play. He confidently made the free throw to tie the game. Overall, U of L was 25-32 from the line, including 20-23 after halftime and perfect its last 19 attempts. Talk about keeping yourself in a game and giving yourself a chance to win. On the final possession of regulation, Whithead blocked a lay-up by Demon Brown, which Cam Stephens followed up with a put-back as the horn sounded. But the officials never ruled on whether or not the shot beat the final buzzer; they went straight to the TV monitor, reviewed the play, and after five torcherous minutes, ruled the shot came too late and the game was headed to overtime. What a break for the Cards.
With 1:30 left in overtime, Whitehead came up with another defensive gem. With U of L trailing 85-84, he stripped Cam Stephens of the ball, and on the next possession, Reece Gaines was fouled and hit both shots to put the Cards up 86-85. Gaines led U of L with 20 points, but had only one field goal after halftime. Instead, he went to the foul line nine times in the second period, finishing 11-12 from the charity stripe on the day to go along with six assists. Charlotte hit a three on their next possession to regain the lead, but then Whitehead made a tough catch on a pass from Gaines, spun in the lane, and connected on an inside shot to tie the game at 88 with 52 seconds left. Whitehead finished with 19 points on 8-10 shooting along with five rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. With only 39 seconds left in overtime, Joseph N'Sima, playing his last regular season game in Freedom Hall, came up with a big defensive play for U of L, blocking a shot then forcing a turnover that gave the Cards the ball for what would be the go-ahead possession. On that final play, Reece Gaines was set to get the ball at the top of the key for a drive, but was covered. Freshman Larry O'Bannon, who finished with 12 points, drove with six seconds left. He went by Stephens, bumped into a teammate, then banked in an off-balance runner with 1.8 seconds left. After a timeout, Charlotte missed a last-second shot from midcourt. One other bright spot for the Cards was Northern, who totaled 12 points, six rebounds, and no turnovers in 35 minutes of action.

Date: January 23, 2002	Score: Charlotte 77, Louisville 71
Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (23) Charlotte: Cam Stephens, Demon Brown (19)
For the second game in a row, the Cards lost by giving up 77 points to their opponent. This time at least, the Cards lost by only six, and saw their offense come back to life after it turned up missing against Cincinnati. The Cards even made a furious comeback and looked like they would climb all the way back into a tie...but the inexperience and bad breaks of late caught up with U of L again. The opening of the game saw U of L fall behind by a significant amount yet again -- sooner or later, the Cards will have to open up strong and not dig themselves a hole if they want to have a chance to win. Charlotte led 8-0 after only the first 1:02, but U of L didn't fold, and even took a lead with five minutes left in the opening period. But the Cards endured yet another scoreless streak, this one about four minutes long (how many such droughts will this team have this season?) and Charlotte used a 12-0 run to take a 43-34 halftime lead.
Unlike the first half, the Cards opened up the second period with some energy. Luke Whitehead, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds but had a key miss at the end, scored on a lay-up, which was followed by a hoop from Reece Gaines (who again paced the Cards, this time with 23 points) and then a three-pointer from Alhaji Mohammed, who had 10 points on 2-3 three-point shooting. 1:08 into the second half, the Cards trailed by only four. But Charlotte, backed by 19 points and 11 rebounds from Cam Stephens and 19 points and six assists from Demon Brown, stayed strong, and led by 13 with about six minutes to play. The Cards got two threes from Reece Gaines, then another from Erik Brown, and just like that the 49ers' lead was down to five. Charlotte pushed its lead back to seven twice, but after two free throws from Erik Brown and a long three from Gaines from the top of the key, the Cards were within 73-71. Then came the most dramatic moment of the game -- and it was tragic for the Cards in this game. A steal by Brown gave the Cards the ball and a fast break with 48 seconds left; Brown dished to Whitehead to his right. Whitehead did a 360-degree turn to avoid a defender (?) and missed the lay-up that would have tied the game. Jobey Thomas hit two free throws on the other end to put Charlotte up by four, and then Gaines missed two free throws that would have cut the lead to two. Charlotte hit two more from the charity stripe for the game's final margin. The Cards were a total 15-26 from the line, while the 49ers were 20-28.
The Cards' offense did make an appearance in this game. The Cards hit 40% from three-point range (8-20) for the second straight game, and at least shot 37% from the field -- an improvement from the game against the Bearcats. The Cards have now lost three straight -- their longest losing streak of the season -- and four straight to Charlotte.

Game Summary: Charlotte	Score: Charlotte 74, Louisville 68
Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (22) Charlotte: Jobey Thomas (25)
Despite losing its fifth game in its last seven this season, and its fifth in its last six to Charlotte, the Cards still gained a little respect back from the 34-point thrashing they suffered against the 49ers in Freedom Hall earlier this month.. The Cards even led midway through the second period, but were unable to contain Charlotte's Jobey Thomas, who in leading all scorers with 25 points on 7-13 shooting from three-point range, destroyed the Cards effots to contain the 49ers with a 2-3 zone instead of a man-to-man defense. Outside of Thomas, Charlotte shot only 2-12 from behind the arc.
As the game opened, it looked like the first game was still going on. Charlotte raced out to a 12-3 lead, but then the Cards, who missed six of their first seven shots, went on a 23-6 run that propelled U of L to a 26-18 lead. Marques Maybin and Erik Brown combined for 15 of those points. Brown, who matched a career-high with 20 points on 8-12 shooting, including 3-5 from three-point range, scored 18 of his points in only 13 minutes of action in the first half. Maybin himself, who led U of L with 22 points, shot 5-11 from the field in the first half and had 15 points by halftime. When U of L led 41-37 at the half, Maybin and Brown had combined for 33 of the Cards' points. Charlotte, on the other hand, was paced by Thomas. He hit 5-9 threes in the first half and had 17 points in the opening frame. The Cards also held a 25-13 rebounding edge at the break.
The Cards led 51-50 before Jobey Thomas gave Charlotte the lead back on a three-pointer with 11 minutes left to play. Thomas hit another three a few moments later to give the 49ers a 56-53 lead. With 6:09 left Charlotte held a 62-55 lead, but the Cards tried to fight back. U of L pulled to within 65-63, but after a missed free throw by Ellis Myles, the Cards got no closer from the 3:52 mark on. U of L switched to a man-to-man defense with six minutes left, and were consequently torn up by Rodney White, who leads all freshmen nationally in scoring (he scored 26 against the Cards in the first meeting). He finished this game with 19 points and nine rebounds, scoring several baskets in the game's last six minutes. A James Zimmerman lay-up with 1:14 to go gave the 49ers a 72-65 lead, then a missed three-pointer by Bryant Northern and follow-up by Reece Gaines left U of L unable to come back with less than a minute to go. The Cards finished the game with a 43-30 lead on the boards. Ellis Myles had eight rebounds and five assists in only 20 minutes of action.

Game Summary: Charlotte	Score: Charlotte 106, Louisville 72
Leading Scorers: U of L: Erik Brown (16) Charlotte: Rodney White (26)
Even in this year of disastrous losses, this one against the Charlotte 49ers set, or at least matched, an all-time low. Literally. The 106-72 drubbing to Charlotte matched the worst loss in Denny Crum's coaching career (the Big Brother loss, 85-51 to UK on Dec. 27, 1986, was an equal 34-point whipping). It was also the second-most points the Cards have ever allowed; only in a 117-107 win over Illinois State on March 5, 1974 have the Cards ever been so weak defensively. Charlotte has now won four straight games against the Cards in Freedom Hall, and eight of its last 10 against U of L.
If there's an excuse to be had, it is the fact Charlotte was playing for the first time in a week, while the Cards were coming off their emotional second half comeback win over Marquette last Thursday night. Still, don't blame the schedule-makers that Charlotte outplayed the Cards in every single way. The 49ers shot 61.4% for the game, including 22-29 for 75% in the second half. Ther 49ers were 11-28 from three-point range, which allowed Charlotte to really pile it on. Charlotte was led by freshman Rodney White, who had 26 points on 12-17 shooting to go with nine rebounds. Guard Jobey Thomas made 5-7 from three-point range to finish with 15 points, while guard Demon Brown had eight assists. Charlotte had a season-high 24 assists, outrebounded U of L 41-37 and scored 20 points off of 19 U of L turnovers. The Cards tied a school-record in losing its eighth game in Freedom Hall this season.
U of L starters combined for a miserable 29 points, and played most of the second half without Marques Maybin, who left the game due to a bruised chest after receiving an elbow from Thomas. Maybin finished the game with a season-low four points and also had six turnovers. Erik Brown led the Cards with 16 points on 6-13 shooting with seven rebounds, while Reece Gaines had 15 and Ellis Myles had his best game, statistically, of the season: Myles scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting in only 18 minutes of action. Charlotte led 15-11 when it put the game out of reach. An 11-2 run started things off as Charlotte ballooned its lead to 51-31 at the half. Just six minutes into the second half, the 49ers led by 34, 73-39, and the Cards got no closer than 20 the rest of the way.

Game Summary: UNC-Charlotte	Score: UNCC 57, Louisville 52
Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (15) UNCC: Jobey Thomas (16)
It was an absolute clunker by the U of L Cardinals in their opening game of the C-USA tournament. Even after the Cards apparently received a break when Cincinnati lost in the tournament, the Cards did not show up to play, played without emotion, lacked any intensity and essentially sleepwalked through Louisville's first opening round conference tournament loss in recent memory. U of L's seaon-ending streak of winning eight of its last nine games was wasted when they lost to a UNC-Charlotte team that simply outhustled the Cards. The Cards have now lost two straight C-USA tournament games to UNCC, which has now defeated U of L three times in the C-USA tourney.
The Cards seem uninterested from the start. They committed 21 turnovers against a defense that wasn't pressing or trapping, and shot only 40.5%, including 19% in the second half. In one seven-minute stretch in the second half, U of L scored only field goal and committed five turnovers. During that span, UNCC went on a 14-3 run that built a 50-41 lead with less than six minutes to play. Tony Williams, who finished with only seven points and two rebounds, then scored five in a row to cut the lead to 50-46. An alley-oop from Williams to Marques Maybin, who scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting, cut the lead to two, then the Cards completed the comeback to tie the game on two free throws by Dion Edward, who wound up with nine points and five rebounds. But the Cards would not score again. UNCC scored a three-point play with about twenty seconds left after a Marques Maybin turnover, then Tony Williams threw the ball away on an inbounds play with six seconds left, leading to a UNCC dunk and the final score. The Cards never got a final shot off.
Instead of relying on three-pointers, UNCC drove the ball inside for most of the game. They also used several different zone defenses, including box and ones and chasers. Nate Johnson, who had averaged 26 points in his last three games, scored five points on 2-8 shooting and committed six turnovers.

Game Summary: UNC-Charlotte	Score: Louisville 67, UNC-Charlotte 51
Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (19) UNCC: Tremaine Gardiner (15)
The Cards did exactly what they couldn't do in their last meeting against UNCC and in doing so rolled to their fouth straight double-digit win, improved to 6-5 in conference play and bagged their second road win of the season. Marques Maybin continues to pace U of L, scoring a game-high 19 points after receiving last week's C-USA Player of the Week honors. Maybin was 7-11 from the field and 4-5 from the line. The Cardinals' balanced attack also featured 15 points on 3-6 three-point shooting and seven rebounds from Tony Williams, 14 points including 7-8 from the line from Reece Gaines and 11 points and eight rebounds from Nate Johnson.
In holding UNCC to only 4-20 on three-point shots, Denny Crum called the game U of L's finest on the road this season. Louisville fought through picks to cover shooters on the perimeter, then provided excellent weak-side defense to guard the paint when UNCC tried to get the ball inside. Tremaine Gardiner was the only UNCC player in double-figures, scoring 15 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Diego Guevara and Jobey Thomas combined for 6-24 shooting for the game. The 49ers shot only 32.2%, becoming the sixth straight home team to shoot less than 40% against U of L.
Louisville really controlled the game from start to finish. They build a 15-3 lead as UNCC missed nine of their first 10 shots. A Maybin jumper at the buzzer gave U of L a 32-19 halftime lead. UNCC pulled within nine on three occassions, but could not hit three-pointers to pull closer. A 7-2 run, led by Nate Johnson, put the game away. The series now has a distinct home court disadvantage: U of L has won four of its past five at Charlotte, while UNCC has won four of its last five in Freedom Hall.

Game Summary: UNC-Charlotte	Score: UNC-Charlotte 69, Louisville 59
Leading Scorers: U of L: Tony Williams (15) UNC-Charlotte: Tremaine Gardiner (18)
The last team to have defeated U of L in Freedom Hall was UNC-Charlotte, who beat the Cards 58-49 on Jan. 30 1999. UNC-Charlotte also knocked off the Cards 68-59 in last year's C-USA Tournament finals. And the trend continued yesterday, with the 49ers sending the Cards to their third conference loss, their third loss in four games and snapping a perfect 9-0 Freedom Hall record so far this year with a 69-59 triumph. UNCC has now won three straight games in Freedom Hall, and four of their last five at Louisville.
The story of the game was UNC-Charlotte's three-point shooting. They hit eight of their first 12 three-pointers to build a 13-point lead in the first half, and never led by less than six the rest of the way. UNCC had hit on only 2-18 threes in their loss last Wednesday to Marquette, but completely turned it around against U of L, connecting on 14-25. Their 14 three-pointers tied a C-USA record. U of L, on the other hand, who had hit 9-15 from behind the arc in their win over DePaul last Thursday, hit only 6-22 three-pointers today. To make matters worse, the Cards were once again outrebounded, this time 34-29. UNC-Charlotte made more three-pointers than two-point field goals, and attempted more threes than two-point field goals.
Scorching the nets for UNCC was Diego Guevara, who hit 4-5 threes to finish with 16 points, Tremaine Gardiner, who hit 2-3 three-pointers and had a critical old-fashioned three-point play after U of L pulled within 62-54, and Dalonte Hill, who hit on 4-6 from three-point range. U of L was led by Tony Williams' 15 points though he shot only 6-18 from the field. Quintin Bailey had another solid game off the bench, adding 13 points while going 5-10 from the field, while Dion Edward has one of his best games of the season, scoring nine points, pulling down 11 rebounds and blocking two shots. For the game, U of L shot 38.7% from the field. Nate Johnson, who hit a scoring low with only four points, sprained his thumb in the second half although he returned after it was bandaged up.