Charlotte 49ers close out AAC play with win over ECU, turn eyes to conference tournament
Three wins in three days.
That is Charlotte’s path to the NCAA Tournament, a road that starts Friday in Fort Worth, in the 49ers’ first American Athletic Conference Tournament.
Charlotte earned the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament Saturday, completing the season sweep of in-state conference foe East Carolina, downing the Pirates 82-72 in Greenville. A double-bye is the result, giving Charlotte an additional two days of rest, with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
Despite Charlotte’s (19-11, 13-5 AAC) late-season, three-game skid, and a narrow victory over a struggling Rice team Wednesday, the 49ers looked back in top form against the Pirates on Saturday. Charlotte saw three players tie or exceed career-highs in the victory, led by Lu’Cye Patterson’s 27 points — the most a 49er has scored this season.
“It feels good to get that double-bye. I know that’s a big-time thing for us and the program, just to come in the American and finish top three when we were picked to finish (13th),” Patterson said after the game. “It’s big time for us.”
While its quarterfinal matchup is still to be decided, a victory would mark Charlotte’s first win in a conference tournament game since 2016, as well as push the 49ers to 20 total wins for the second consecutive season.
“We’ve got to take it one game at a time,” Patterson said of the tournament. “Losing three (straight) just taught us a lot and knowing that we can bounce back. We’re playing good team ball, and this a good time for us to be playing good basketball going into that tournament.”
