NFL Show
Charlotte (8-2 SU, 7-3 ATS) travels to New Jersey to take on Monmouth (1-10 SU, 4-7 ATS) on Saturday afternoon at 2pmET in a non-conference battle.
Last season, these teams faced each other from North Carolina with the 49ers winning 68-66 as a 5.5-point favorite.
Charlotte will move from Conference USA to the AAC next season. The 49ers have had some ups-and-downs, but have not had much success since joining C-USA. They will need to continue to improve upon an 8-2 record before they enter conference pay. The good news is that the 49ers have won four straight games and just beat Detroit Mercy 82-80 in overtime last Saturday. That was a revenge game because the 49ers had lost at Detroit 70-49 on Nov. 23.
Attached is a video of Saturday
Please enjoy#GoldStandard? pic.twitter.com/ZW7IV243LR
— Charlotte Men's Basketball (@CharlotteMBB) December 13, 2022
The 49ers had five players in double-figures led by sophomore guard Lu'Cye Patterson, who scored a career-high 22 points, along with seven rebounds and seven assists with no turnovers. Charlotte shot 50% from the field and a blazing 59% (10-17) from long range. The reason Detroit was able to hang around this game was due to the fact that they made 17 of 36 (47%) from long range.
Charlotte is ranked 133rd by KenPom and has a 99.9 Adjusted Efficiency Defensive rating to rank 118th. However, their schedule strength of 305 is very weak. The 49ers' defensive numbers can be skewed because they run one of the slowest tempos in the nation at 361. They average 67.7 points per game on 46.7% shooting (36.5% 3pt). They allow just 59.3 points per game on 40.3% shooting, but they allow teams to shoot 37.7% from beyond the arc (338th). Forward Igor Milicic Jr. (6-10, 225) leads the 49ers with 10.8 points with 5.8 rebounds on 54.1% shooting (41.5% 3p t). Center Aly Khalif (6-11, 230) adds 10 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists on 47.1% shooting (30.8% 3pt).