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University of Louisville
Charlotte
Louisville Upended By Charlotte, 77-71
February 12, 2004 | Men's Basketball
By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Curtis Withers scored 23 points, including two free throws with 30 seconds left, to lift Charlotte to its fourth consecutive victory with a 77-71 win over No. 9 Louisville on Thursday night.
It was the 49ers' third win this season over a top 10 opponent - they also won at then-No. 7 Syracuse and then-No. 8 Cincinnati - and gave Charlotte (15-5, 7-2 Conference USA) a solid case for an NCAA tournament bid.
Louisville (17-4, 7-3) lost for the third time in four games and blew a 12-point lead, partly because Luke Whitehead, Francisco Garcia and Nate Daniels played most of the second half with four fouls each.
Charlotte used an 11-0 run to pull back into the game with 5:34 to play, but it still wasn't decided until a frantic final minute.
Withers gave the 49ers their first lead of the second half, 67-66, on a jumper with 1:42 to go, and Louisville regained the lead on Garcia's basket.
Then Brendan Plavich, having a horrendous shooting night, finally converted a 3-point attempt to put Charlotte up 70-68 with 56 seconds to go. Garcia calmly answered with his own 3 for Louisville to put the Cardinals back up, but Mitchell Baldwin responded by going coast-to-coast for a layup that drew a foul.
Baldwin missed the free throw, but Withers got the rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws to put Charlotte up 74-71. Louisville turned the ball over on the rest of its possessions.
Baldwin finished with 13 points while filling in for senior guard Demon Brown, Charlotte's second-leading scorer at 12.6 points a game. He served a one-game suspension stemming from his arrest for allegedly communicating threats against three people.
Plavich finished with 12 points on 4-for-12 shooting from 3-point range. Eddie Basden scored all 10 of his points in the second half - including five straight at the start of the period.
Larry O'Bannon led Louisville with 17 points, and Daniels finished with 11.
