Second-half spurt lifts Washington past Charlotte 71-66
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) After watching Charlotte continue to compete all the way through final buzzer during a 50-poiont loss to Michigan, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar made it a point to make sure his team didn't take the 49ers lightly.
It was a good thing he did.
The Huskies played from behind for most of the night, but used a run midway through the second half to beat the 49ers 71-66 in the seventh-place game Friday at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
''There have been times here in the Bahamas where maybe we weren't as scrappy. I thought in order for us to come back and take the lead and finish that game we had to be scrappy. And I thought we were down the stretch.''
Andrew Andrews had 30 points and 13 rebounds. Noah Dickerson added 13 points and nine rebounds.
The Huskies (4-2) didn't get their first lead until there was less than 13 minutes to play in the game, then held off the 49ers down the stretch by connecting on 19 of 25 free throws.
Romar said having Andrews, the team's lone senior, was key in helping his young team find some traction in a game that was not trending in their favor.
''This was our third game in three days and some of our guys had that glazed look. Andrew didn't, because he's been in this situation before,'' Romar said. ''He not only said `Come on guys, let's do a better job.' He led the way.''
Charlotte (1-5) played its most energized game of the tournament, but seemed to run out of gas, missing eight consecutive field goals at one point.
Jon Davis and Bernard Sullivan led the Huskies with 14 points apiece.
''I thought this was really the best game we've played with sustained effort for the young season,'' 49ers coach Mark Price said. ''There's a lot of things to build upon. Obviously, it came down to the little things, too many turnovers, missed free throws. Those are always the difference in a tight game.''
The Huskies used a 7-0 spurt to take their first lead of the game, 48-46.
After a handful of lead changes, Washington got a little cushion at 65-56 with 3:33 to play.
Charlotte then missed eight straight shots before finally breaking the drought on a 3-pointer by Davis.
Washington's Andrews came up empty on a trip to the free-throw line, and Charlotte's Davis scored on a driving layup to trim the deficit to 67-64 with under a minute left.
Andrews went 1 for 2 on his next trip to the line, and the Huskies corralled a long 3-point miss on Charlotte's next trip up the floor to help close it out.
Charlotte started fast and led by as many as seven in the first half, despite 12 turnovers.
The 49ers racked up 22 points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes and shot 50 percent from the field, with assists on 10 of their 15 baskets.
TIP-INS
Washington: The Huskies had nine assists on 24 field goals.
Charlotte: The 49ers went just 8 for 16 from the foul line. ... They had just two second-chance points. ... Joseph Uchebo finished with 18 rebounds
GROWING UP FAST
Davis said he thinks despite a 0-3 finish this week, it will aid his team in the long run. ''It's not necessarily tough. It's just mostly we have to grow up quicker, ''he said. ''I think on our team we only have three dudes that have played college basketball ... Especially the freshmen, if we're going to play 25 or 30 minutes a game, then we're going to have to grow up quicker than the majority of the freshmen in the country.''
SCHEDULING RELIEF
One thing the Huskies are looking forward to after the Bahamas trip is being at home for a little while. Washington's next eight games are at home, beginning Sunday. Its next road trip isn't until Jan. 9 at Washington State.
UP NEXT
The Huskies host Cal State Fullerton on Sunday.
The 49ers host Davidson on Tuesday.
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Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower
