2005 will likely be cruel to Conference USA basketball. Four of its top basketball programs are slated to join the Big East, which, in turn, would become arguably the country’s strongest basketball conference.

But it’s one of the teams that’s not joining the Big East that is making waves this season. It’s perhaps making the biggest splash in Conference USA.

The Charlotte 49ers are proving they can compete with the top teams in the nation. Charlotte, which stunned Syracuse in its home opener earlier this season, 96-92, upset No. 9 Cincinnati on the road Saturday, 86-83. At 13-5, Charlotte is one of six Conference USA teams that is in position to make the NCAA Tournament.

‘We beat the best team that we’ve played all year,’ Lutz said. ‘That includes Syracuse, who is a very good team. Cincinnati is just better.’

Charlotte snapped Cincinnati’s 11-game home win streak by winning its first-ever game at Fifth Third Arena. In nine years, the Bearcats’ home record is 62-6. All five of Charlotte’s starters scored in double figures, including Brendan Plavich, a transfer from Vanderbilt, who shot 5-for-12 from 3-point range.

‘They’re a heck of a good basketball team,’ Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins said. ‘Curtis Withers is the best power forward in our league.’

Withers is No. 5 in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.5 points, and No. 2 in the conference in rebounding, averaging 9.8 rebounds. The sophomore, who grew up in Charlotte, has vastly improved after making the conference all-freshman team last season.

Charlotte’s two deep threats, Plavich and Demon Brown, have been able to open up the court for Withers’ physical play on the boards. Plavich, who had 31 points against SU, scored 17 against the Bearcats while Brown had 13.

‘I don’t think (the Syracuse and Cincinnati wins) are upsets,’ Lutz said. ‘We should have won two or three of our losses. We’re a little better than some people give us credit.’

Free throws and defense have plagued Charlotte with inconsistency. In Charlotte’s last three losses, it shot a combined 49-for-83 from the free-throw line, only 59 percent. It also gave up an average 85 points.

‘You can be better in this league and not have more wins than you did a year ago,’ Lutz said. ‘This league is so much stronger this year.’

With an early non-conference schedule that featured six road games, the 49ers were able to prepare for the tough opponents in their conference.

‘We try to play a schedule that will allow us to be in the NCAA Tournament if we take care of business,’ Lutz said. ‘As long as you feel like you have job security, then I would recommend scheduling this way. If you don’t feel like you have job security, then I don’t think it’s very smart, because it can go either way.’

A couple of Charlotte’s big road games include a 64-59 win over Southern Illinois (17-2), which is 11-0 and in first place of the Missouri Valley Conference, and a 91-69 loss to John Calipari’s Memphis Tigers.

‘They are one of those teams that everyone is looking at,’ Alabama-Birmingham head coach Mike Anderson said of Charlotte. ‘When things are all said and done, you’re going to see Charlotte creep up.’

Said Lutz, ‘We’re more comfortable being the underdog.’

Majerus calls it quits

Utah head coach Rick Majerus, who was hospitalized last Tuesday with heart problems, announced that he will retire at the end of this season. Majerus flew to Santa Barbara, Calif., where he met with his doctor, after experiencing chest pains at dinner last week.

Majerus will leave after 15 seasons at Utah and 20 total as a head coach at the college level. He has a 422-147 record and a .742 career win percentage, which places him No. 5 for active coaches with at least 10 years experience.

He served three seasons as head coach of Marquette in the mid-80s and two seasons as head coach of Ball State in the late-80s. Majerus also spent a year in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant under Don Nelson.

Utah assistant coach Kerry Rupp is filling in for Majerus during the coach’s absence. It’s not known if Majerus will return to the Utes this season.

‘I’m not sure he’s done,’ UNLV head coach Charlie Spoonhour said. ‘I know that when he’s there, they’re at their best.’

Majerus has never had a losing season and has averaged 21 wins during his career. The Utes have made 12 postseason appearances since he started coaching in 1989.

‘They are as prepared as anyone in the country when he’s there,’ Spoonhour said. ‘He’s extremely bright and he has a tremendous attention to detail. They do things that no one else is doing.’

Majerus’ health problems have caused him to take two leaves of absence since he started at Utah. He was limited to just six games in his inaugural season because of bypass surgery in December of 1989. He coached one game in the 2000-01 season before leaving to deal with his own health issues and to care for his ailing mother.

‘He’s too good to leave the game,’ Spoonhour said. ‘He’ll be back as a coach or a TV analyst, but I think he’ll listen to his doctors.’

Player of the Week

Florida State, Sr., Tim Pickett

Florida State has won five of its last six games, including three against ranked opponents. Guard Tim Pickett’s second-half play has been the reason.

Pickett scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half of a win against No. 15 Georgia Tech on Tuesday. He shot 10-of-16 from the field, including six 3-pointers, and contributed eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

‘Those shots that he made, if you haven’t seen him before, you would say that he had a lucky night,’ Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt said. ‘But if you’ve seen him before, you know that he is more than capable of making those shots.’

Pickett used Sunday’s game against Savannah State as a warm-up for the Yellow Jackets, as he scored 24 points in only 16 minutes in an 88-73 win against the Tigers. Last week, Pickett had 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 56-49 loss to No. 1 Duke and 18 points in the second half of a 75-70 win over No. 10 Wake Forest.

‘Tim Pickett is one of those guys that comes ready to play every day,’ Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. ‘He practices with the same type of enthusiasm. He gives everything he has. He is extremely determined.’

On Jan. 22, Pickett had 30 points and nine rebounds, including 22 second-half points, in a 90-81 win over No. 7 North Carolina.

This and that

Last week, Rhode Island reported six possible rules violations to the NCAA that occurred from 1997-2000 under coaches Jim Harrick Sr. and Jerry DeGregorio. Punishment has yet to be handed down from the NCAA. … Texas Tech ‘reprimanded’ head coach Bobby Knight after a verbal argument with Chancellor Dr. David Smith in an upscale Lubbock grocery store. Knight avoided a suspension, which was originally expected. … Lousiville head coach Rick Pitino returned to his team Saturday after a medical leave. The Cardinals lost, 77-70, to Marquette. … No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 St. Joseph’s remain the only two unbeaten teams in the country. Both have records of 18-0. … Last weekend, 10 ranked teams lost to unranked teams.

Published on February 4, 2004 at 12:00 pm