Post by Commissioner on Dec 8, 2022 21:55:23 GMT -5
Charlotte
Saturday, December 10, 2:00 p.m.
Halton Arena, Charlotte, NC
Radio: WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM
TV: ESPN+
Back in the days when there were lots of Independents in college hoops, it was pretty common for teams to schedule non-conference home and home games against opponents in a single season. In those halcyon days from the 1930s through the 1960s, when Marquette was our big rival (and we theirs), we routinely played home and home against the Warriors, as they were known. The last time we did that--not counting Marquette's brief stint joining us in the MCC--was the 1972 season, when we lost to second-ranked Marquette in Milwaukee by just 2 points, 68-66, then a month later blasted the still #2 Warriors, 70-49. Xavier was another school we routinely played home and home each year, right up until we both joined the MCC and kept playing home and home, but as conference mates. Schools such as Loyola and even Notre Dame would sometimes appear on our schedule twice in a year. Of course, once the Titans joined the MCC for the 1981 season, non-conference games became more scarce. and throughout college basketball they gradually became something of a rarity. The last time the Titans played a team twice in a season in non-conference was the 2013-14 season, when we squared off twice with Toledo, and before that you'd have to go all the way back to the 1985-86 season, when Eastern Michigan was the foe.
So Saturday's rematch with Charlotte, after last month's game at Calihan in which the Titans hammered the (apparently aptly-named) 49ers, 70 to 49, is a rarity. Adding to the irony, we had never played Charlotte before last month. That was a nice win--Charlotte has won three straight since we delivered that whuppin, to advance to 7-2 overall, with a NET rank of 78 and an RPI of 71. KenPom ranks the 49ers a more sedate 135, but what does he know? The Titans, by the way, are currently at 163 NET, 125 RPI, and 210 in KenPom. Since these are all computer rankings, you know that they are scientific.
The 49ers best wins are over Boise State on a neutral court, and Davidson on the road. They're 4-0 at home. Tulsa, whom we beat by 4 in Tulsa, fell to Charlotte by 3 on a neutral court. Besides us, they lost to Massachusetts by 6, on a neutral court.
Charlotte has used the same starting lineup in all 9 games this year. That's guards Montre Gipson, Lu'cye Patterson, and Jackson Threadgill, and pair of 6-10 forwards, Virginia transfer Igor Milicic and mighta-been Titan commit Aly Khalifa. The first 4 off the bench are also unchanged. So Charlotte will look pretty much as they did before Thanksgiving, at least in personnel, and we'll have to see if Coach Ron Sanchez tries to do anything different, or if he just writes the November game off as a fluke caused by poor shooting and being on the road for 4 games in 7 days, and comes out with the same sets. That team plays a very slow tempo with a balanced scoring attack, mainly man-to-man defense but with some zone looks thrown in by Sanchez on rare ocassions.
If anything is different on paper, it's the Titans, who have added Gerald Liddell to the lineup and Isaiah Jones to the rotation. One has to think that this is a big plus for Titans--Charlotte can't simply correct what went wrong last time against the Titans, but now has to look at a pair of new scoring threats and a team that has more of an inside game to play with. We're playing the same team we played last month. They're not. Liddell, of course, has been fantastic, averaging 20.3 points and 14 rebounds through his first three games.
The only player who really hurt us first time around against Charlotte was Brice Williams, a big guard who finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. The team's 6th man all year, Williams has a versatile game and can score inside and out. For the Titans, Davis had 26 in that game, including 6 three pointers. It's worth noting that the Titans won both the battle of the boards (32-30) and turnovers (9-13) in November. Charlotte has won the turnover battle in every other game they've played this year, and grabbed more rebounds in 6 or their other 8 games (Boise outrebounded the 49ers by one; UMass by 6). In November the Titans beat Charlotte at their strengths, and that keyed a big win.
Charlotte Starters
G - #1 Montre Gibson, 5-11 Gr. (7.1 ppg, 1.8 apg, 27.8% 3PtFG)
G - #25 Lu'cye Patterson, 6-1 Jr. (7.6 ppg, 3.0 apg, 42.9% 3PtFG)
G - #12 Jackson Threadgill, 6-6 Jr. (8.0 ppg, 1.7 apg, 29.4% 3PtFG)
F - #24 Igor Milicic, 6-10 Soph. (9.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 36.1% 3PtFG)
PF - #15 Aly Khalifa, 6-10 Soph. (10.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.8 apg)
Bench
G - #3 Brice Williams, 6-7 Jr. (9.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 40.9% 3PtFG)
G - #5 Isaiah Folkes, 6-4 Jr. (4.3 ppg)
F - #20 Robert Braswell, 6-7 Gr. (5.0 ppg)
F - #22 Josh Aldrich, 6-7 Gr. (4.0 ppg, 53.8% 3PtFG)
Go Titans!
Saturday, December 10, 2:00 p.m.
Halton Arena, Charlotte, NC
Radio: WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM
TV: ESPN+
Back in the days when there were lots of Independents in college hoops, it was pretty common for teams to schedule non-conference home and home games against opponents in a single season. In those halcyon days from the 1930s through the 1960s, when Marquette was our big rival (and we theirs), we routinely played home and home against the Warriors, as they were known. The last time we did that--not counting Marquette's brief stint joining us in the MCC--was the 1972 season, when we lost to second-ranked Marquette in Milwaukee by just 2 points, 68-66, then a month later blasted the still #2 Warriors, 70-49. Xavier was another school we routinely played home and home each year, right up until we both joined the MCC and kept playing home and home, but as conference mates. Schools such as Loyola and even Notre Dame would sometimes appear on our schedule twice in a year. Of course, once the Titans joined the MCC for the 1981 season, non-conference games became more scarce. and throughout college basketball they gradually became something of a rarity. The last time the Titans played a team twice in a season in non-conference was the 2013-14 season, when we squared off twice with Toledo, and before that you'd have to go all the way back to the 1985-86 season, when Eastern Michigan was the foe.
So Saturday's rematch with Charlotte, after last month's game at Calihan in which the Titans hammered the (apparently aptly-named) 49ers, 70 to 49, is a rarity. Adding to the irony, we had never played Charlotte before last month. That was a nice win--Charlotte has won three straight since we delivered that whuppin, to advance to 7-2 overall, with a NET rank of 78 and an RPI of 71. KenPom ranks the 49ers a more sedate 135, but what does he know? The Titans, by the way, are currently at 163 NET, 125 RPI, and 210 in KenPom. Since these are all computer rankings, you know that they are scientific.
The 49ers best wins are over Boise State on a neutral court, and Davidson on the road. They're 4-0 at home. Tulsa, whom we beat by 4 in Tulsa, fell to Charlotte by 3 on a neutral court. Besides us, they lost to Massachusetts by 6, on a neutral court.
Charlotte has used the same starting lineup in all 9 games this year. That's guards Montre Gipson, Lu'cye Patterson, and Jackson Threadgill, and pair of 6-10 forwards, Virginia transfer Igor Milicic and mighta-been Titan commit Aly Khalifa. The first 4 off the bench are also unchanged. So Charlotte will look pretty much as they did before Thanksgiving, at least in personnel, and we'll have to see if Coach Ron Sanchez tries to do anything different, or if he just writes the November game off as a fluke caused by poor shooting and being on the road for 4 games in 7 days, and comes out with the same sets. That team plays a very slow tempo with a balanced scoring attack, mainly man-to-man defense but with some zone looks thrown in by Sanchez on rare ocassions.
If anything is different on paper, it's the Titans, who have added Gerald Liddell to the lineup and Isaiah Jones to the rotation. One has to think that this is a big plus for Titans--Charlotte can't simply correct what went wrong last time against the Titans, but now has to look at a pair of new scoring threats and a team that has more of an inside game to play with. We're playing the same team we played last month. They're not. Liddell, of course, has been fantastic, averaging 20.3 points and 14 rebounds through his first three games.
The only player who really hurt us first time around against Charlotte was Brice Williams, a big guard who finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. The team's 6th man all year, Williams has a versatile game and can score inside and out. For the Titans, Davis had 26 in that game, including 6 three pointers. It's worth noting that the Titans won both the battle of the boards (32-30) and turnovers (9-13) in November. Charlotte has won the turnover battle in every other game they've played this year, and grabbed more rebounds in 6 or their other 8 games (Boise outrebounded the 49ers by one; UMass by 6). In November the Titans beat Charlotte at their strengths, and that keyed a big win.
Charlotte Starters
G - #1 Montre Gibson, 5-11 Gr. (7.1 ppg, 1.8 apg, 27.8% 3PtFG)
G - #25 Lu'cye Patterson, 6-1 Jr. (7.6 ppg, 3.0 apg, 42.9% 3PtFG)
G - #12 Jackson Threadgill, 6-6 Jr. (8.0 ppg, 1.7 apg, 29.4% 3PtFG)
F - #24 Igor Milicic, 6-10 Soph. (9.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 36.1% 3PtFG)
PF - #15 Aly Khalifa, 6-10 Soph. (10.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.8 apg)
Bench
G - #3 Brice Williams, 6-7 Jr. (9.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 40.9% 3PtFG)
G - #5 Isaiah Folkes, 6-4 Jr. (4.3 ppg)
F - #20 Robert Braswell, 6-7 Gr. (5.0 ppg)
F - #22 Josh Aldrich, 6-7 Gr. (4.0 ppg, 53.8% 3PtFG)
Go Titans!