You’ve read the recap. Now, let’s go inside the numbers from Charlotte’s runaway win over USC Upstate.

In a win like this, there’s not really a specific number to cite when breaking down the game, so let’s rank the hustle stats from most important to least in the analysis of this contest.

Points off Turnovers – Charlotte 29, Upstate 7:  Charlotte coach Ron Sanchez spoke after the game of his happiness that the 49ers finished with a positive assist-turnover ratio (14 dimes, 11 miscues), but the bigger story is in this stat. The 49ers forced 15 Spartan turnovers, and turned those miscues into 29 points. Anytime you can have — numerically, at least — a bucket per turnover, that has to make a coach smile.

A perfect example of the conversion rate came into play just over midway through the second half. The 49ers created six Spartan miscues in the span of 2:47 that led to a 10-0 Charlotte run. Sanchez has emphasized to his team that they win on defense, and that defensive effort proved quite significant Saturday.

Points in the Paint – Charlotte 30, Upstate 20:  The interesting part about this statistic is that all three of Charlotte’s bigs (Amidou Bamba, Milos Supica, and Luka Vasic) tallied a pair of fouls apiece early in the first half, leading Charlotte to experiment with lineups a bit. The equally interesting part is that all three played the remainder of the game (Bamba 14 minutes, Supica 14, Vasic 12) without accumulating another foul.

Bench Points – Charlotte 32, Upstate 25:  A significant part of this number comes from Cooper Robb’s 11 points in 23 minutes off the pine for the 49ers. The sophomore guard added six boards to his total, and proved a tough matchup for the Spartans to manage.

Upstate spread out its bench production a bit more, with freshman guard Tommy Bruner contributing eight in 26 minutes despite going 3-for-13 from the floor and 1-for-7 from beyond the arc. Freshman guard Cartier Jernigan played 25 minutes in his return home (Jernigan prepped at West Charlotte, about 10 miles from Charlotte’s Halton Arena), and scored three points and dished out four assists; unfortunately for Jernigan, he also turned over the ball five times.

Fast-Break Points – Charlotte 10, Upstate 7:  Charlotte got out in transition with aplomb after forcing several of the turnovers it caused, leading to their success in this category.

Upstate finished 9-for-15 on layups on the day, though it missed a couple of runout layups, including a couple of possessions on which it missed twice on the initial try and the follow.

Second-Chance Points – Upstate 5, Charlotte 2:  Upstate outrebounded Charlotte on the offensive end, hauling in eight boards against Charlotte’s five. The 49ers outworked the Spartans in total rebounding, however, finishing with 38 to Upstate’s 28.

Additional Notes

  • Charlotte’s 36-point victory proved relatively historic, in terms of 49er victories this decade.

  • The five double-figure scorers for Charlotte (Malik Martin 16, Jahmir Young/Jordan Shepherd 12, Drew Edwards/Robb 11) marked the first time the 49ers have achieved that feat in nearly three years. The last Charlotte team to finish with five double-digit scorers did so against Southern Miss on January 14, 2017.
  • Advanced stats:
    • Upstate:  .691 points per possession, 68 possessions, 22 scores, 32.4% of possessions leading to scores, 22.1% to turnovers
    • Charlotte:  1.221 points per possession, 68 possessions, 36 scores, 52.9% of possessions leading to scores, 16.2% to turnovers

 

CHARLOTTE 83, USC UPSTATE 47

USC UPSTATE (1-7): Mozone 3-8 2-2 9, Aldrich 0-2 0-0 0, Zink 3-5 0-0 6, White 2-6 0-0 4, Hammond 1-6 1-4 3, Martin 1-2 0-0 2, Jernigan 1-3 0-0 3, Goodloe 1-4 0-0 2, Smith 2-4 0-1 4, Bruner 3-13 1-2 8, Carter 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 19-56 4-9 47.

CHARLOTTE (3-3): Bamba 0-2 0-2 0, Young 3-7 5-6 12, Martin 4-7 5-5 16, Shepherd 5-7 0-0 12, Edwards 3-4 2-2 11, Williams 3-4 0-0 7, Supica 4-6 0-0 8, Robb 4-6 2-2 11, Blight 0-0 0-0 0, Younger 1-1 0-0 2, Bertram 0-3 0-0 0, Rissetto 1-1 0-1 2, Vasic 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-51 14-18 83.

Halftime — Charlotte 41-21. 3-Point Goals—USC Upstate 5-24 (Mozone 1-5, Aldrich 0-1, White 0-3, Hammond 0-1, Jernigan 1-3, Goodloe 0-2, Bruner 1-7, Carter 2-2), Charlotte 11-24 (Young 1-4, Martin 3-5, Shepherd 2-3, Edwards 3-4, Williams 1-1, Robb 1-2, Bertram 0-3, Vasic 0-2). Fouled Out — NA. Rebounds — Charlotte 38 (Young 8), USC Upstate 28 (Zink 6). Assists —Charlotte 14 (Shepherd 4), USC Upstate 12 (White 5). Total Fouls — Charlotte 12, USC Upstate 10. Technical — NA. A —2593.