CHARLOTTE – As Charlotte Men's Basketball (8-15, 1-9 AAC) prepares to take on Rice (12-11, 3-7) this Saturday (Feb. 8) afternoon in American Athletic Conference action, the 49ers will also take the time to honor the winningest coach in program history, Bobby Lutz.

Charlotte will honor its program legend by raising his name into the rafters of Halton Arena at halftime. The game, which takes place during Alumni Reunion Weekend, was officially announced as Bobby Lutz Day on December 30, 2024.

The Niners and the Owls, facing off for the second time this season, tip off at 3:30 p.m., with the game airing live on ESPN+, HERE.
 
Fans can also follow Saturday's action via Sidearm Live Stats, HERE. As always, Niner Nation can also listen to the action on ESPN 730 The Game with the Voice of the Niners Matt Sweirad and Charlotte alum, Trevor Wilt, calling the game, HERE.

Additionally, fans can purchase individual game tickets, season tickets, or a flex plan for Charlotte Basketball home games, HERE.

LAYUP LINES
- Saturday's game is sponsored by Harris Teeter. This week, Learfield and Harris Teeter announced that Harris Teeter will donate $50 to "Nourish Up," formerly Loaves & Fishes and Friendship Trays, for every Charlotte 49ers assist during the February 8 men's home basketball game against Rice. The donation helps fight local food insecurity and promote compassion within the community. 
- Bobby Lutz, the winningest coach in Charlotte 49ers Basketball history and a Charlotte Athletics Hall of Famer, will be honored Saturday with "Bobby Lutz Day." At halftime, his image and name will be raised into the rafters alongside other Charlotte greats.
- Lutz spent 12 years as head coach of the 49ers, guiding Charlotte to 218 wins, 5 NCAA Tournament appearances, three NIT trips, and three conference championships.
- Saturday is also the program's Alumni Reunion Weekend. 
- The Niners and the Owls are meeting for the second time this season. Rice won the first matchup, 68-55, in Houston, Texas.
- Earlier this week, Charlotte suffered a 66-58 loss to Wichita State at home.
- It will be a very quick turnaround for the Niners as they will travel to Florida on Sunday to play Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton on Monday, Feb. 10, at 9 p.m.
- Monday will be a homecoming for West Palm Beach, Fla., native and former Owl Giancarlo Rosado.
- The 49ers earned their first AAC win of the season against South Florida on January 22.
- Graves ranks 16th nationally in free throws made (124) and 13th in attempts (166). As a team, Charlotte is 10th in the country in free throws made per game.
- Graves is seventh in the conference in scoring, averaging 17.0 points per game.
- The Niners are averaging just 9.4 turnovers a game, the fewest in the AAC and 12th-fewest in the NCAA.
- Charlotte leads the AAC in perimeter defense, holding opponents to 29.8% shooting from three-point range this season.
- Graves, Jaehshon Thomas, and Robert Braswell IV have started all 23 games this season.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
- The Owls' 73-60 road win over East Carolina on February 5 snapped a seven-game losing streak for Rice. The Owls lost seven straight after defeating Charlotte at home on January 4.
- Caden Powell recorded an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double to give Rice its first win in over a month. 
- At home, Rice nearly knocked off No. 19 Memphis last Sunday (Feb. 2). It was a one-point game with 12 seconds remaining left before the Tigers grabbed the 86-83 win.
- Trae Broadnax is the team's leading scorer with 12.9 points per game. He's the only Owl averaging in double figures. The graduate student also ranks third in the AAC with 4.5 assists per game.
- Rob Lanier was named head coach of Rice in March after spending the last two seasons at SMU as head coach. He was caught up in the coaching shuffle that saw Eric Musselman go from Arkansas to USC and Andy Enfield move from USC to SMU.  

SERIES HISTORY
- Charlotte is 9-11 all-time against the Owls. The Niners have won three of the last four matchups.
- The Owls grabbed a home win over the 49ers earlier this season on January 4. Nik Graves had a game-high 23 points & 11 boards in the 68-55 loss.
- Last year, the 49ers swept Rice, winning both ends of the home-and-home. On March 6, 2024, the Niners defeated the Owls 69-64 in the Halton finale. 
- In that five-point win, Igor Milicic Jr. scored a career-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds. Dishon Jackson added 15 points and 8 boards.
- In the February 25, 2023, matchup at Halton, Brice Williams poured in game-highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds for the 70-54 home win.

BOBBY LUTZ DAY!!!
- Bobby Lutz won more games as the 49ers' head coach than any other coach and took Charlotte to more NCAA Tournaments than any other coach.
- At halftime on Saturday, Feb. 8 during Charlotte's Alumni Reunion Weekend game vs. Rice, it will be Bobby Lutz Day as Lutz takes his rightful place among the other legendary names who have represented Charlotte.
- Already a member of the Charlotte Athletics Hall of Fame after being inducted in 2023, Lutz's 12-year run as head coach included 218 wins, five NCAA Tournament appearances, three NIT trips, and three conference championships. Counting his three seasons as an assistant coach, Lutz was a part of seven of the 49ers' 11 NCAA Tournament teams. 
- In his 12 years as head coach, Charlotte enjoyed nine winning seasons, including five 20-win seasons. He had eight winning seasons in conference play with six seasons of at least 10 conference wins. He finished his career with a 218-158 overall record.
- "You can't talk about the history of our men's basketball program without talking about Bobby Lutz," said Director of Athletics Mike Hill. "Bobby's contributions and impact during his 12-year run as head coach truly set the standard for our program, and we are honored to be able to immortalize his tenure on February 8."
- Lutz will be one of three 49er coaches (Lee Rose and Jeff Mullins) to have their names in the rafters.

GRAVES SCORES A GAME-HIGH 23 POINTS IN 66-58 LOSS TO WICHITA STATE
- Despite Nik Graves leading all scorers with 23 points, Charlotte (8-15, 1-9 AAC) fell to visiting Wichita State (12-10, 2-7) by a score of 66-58 in American Athletic Conference play on Tuesday evening.
- With 3:41 left in Halton Arena, the 49ers faced their largest deficit of the night at 61-50. Playing on national television (ESPNU) for the second time at home, Charlotte responded with an 8-0 run, trimming the deficit to 61-58 with 57 seconds to play. However, In the final minute, Wichita State sealed the win by making five of six free throws.
- The Niners shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field and 25 percent (7-of-28) from behind the arc. Wichita State shot 52.9 percent (27-of-51) overall, converting 64 percent (25-of-39) of its two-point attempts— including 73 percent at the rim— while struggling from three-point range (2-of-12, 16.7 percent) and from the charity stripe (10-of-18; 55.6 percent).
- Graves finished 8-of-17 from the field and 3-of-8 from deep, recording his 10th career 20-point game and eighth this season.

FLASHBACK TO JANUARY 4 : GRAVES NOTCHES FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN LOSS AT RICE
- Graves earned his first career double-double with a 23-point, 11-rebound performance on January 4, but it was Rice that claimed the 68-55 victory over Charlotte in American Athletic Conference play.
- Graves grabbed a career-high 11 boards and shot 7-of-12 from the field to secure his sixth 20-point game of the season.
- Despite ranking sixth nationally with 27.2 free throw attempts per game, Charlotte attempted a season-low 11 free throws.
- Rice outrebounded Charlotte 41-25 and shot 11-of-21 (52.4 percent) from the field and 13-of-13 from the charity stripe in the second half to pull away from the Niners.
- Trailing 42-30 with 14 minutes remaining in the second half, the 49ers fought back with an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 42-38. Nika Metskhvarishvili drained a triple to start the run and the Charlotte defense ramped up, getting six consecutive stops, including forcing four Rice turnovers.
- Unfortunately, Charlotte was unable to trim its margin to one possession as the two teams traded buckets for the next six minutes of play.

EARLY NATIONAL SIGNING DAY
- Head Coach Aaron Fearne began building on his 2025-26 roster by signing two high school products— Jaylen Cross and Jairne Elouna Eyenga on Early National Signing Day on November 15.
- Cross, ranked No. 159 in the country and No. 8 in North Carolina by 247Sports' Composite Rankings, is the highest-ranked recruit to sign with Charlotte since 2009.
- Cross is a six-foot-four guard out of Greensboro, N.C. The Caldwell Academy product is rated as a three-star recruit by On3, 247 Sports, and ESPN, and a four-star recruit by Rivals.
- Elouna Eyenga is a Belgian national currently attending JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. The six-foot-nine forward was a member of the Under-18 Belgian National Team, who participated in Division A of FIBA EuroBasket this summer.
- On July 28, 2024, Elouna Eyenga dropped eye-popping totals of 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists against Turkey in the U18 Eurobasket, followed by a 10-point, seven-rebound, two-assist performance on the very next day against Germany. 

THE BOYS ARE BACK AGAIN
- Junior Nik Graves headlines the list of eight returners for the 2024-25 campaign. The point guard averaged 10.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game last season. He led the team with 85 assists, was second with 30 steals, and was the fourth-leading scorer on the squad.
- Isaiah Folkes is back after making 19 starts in 2023-24 for the 49ers. The 49ers were 14-5 with the Gainesville, Va., native as a starter. This will be his fifth season with the program after joining the team in the middle of the 2020-21 campaign.
- Robert Braswell IV is back for his seventh season of college. Over his six-year career, which started at Syracuse, the Jacksonville, Fla., native has made 110 appearances. In his three years in the Queen City, Braswell IV has averaged seven points per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from deep.
- Dean Reiber transferred to Charlotte last year after three seasons at Rutgers. He was a mainstay on the court for the 49ers as one of three players to appear in all 31 games last season.
- Nick Richart and Rich Rolf are also back for another season in the Queen City. This is their second and third seasons with the program, respectively. Richart did not play his freshman year after redshirting and Rolf appeared in three games before suffering a season-ending injury in 2023-24. 

NEW TO THE QUEEN CITY
- Charlotte retooled its roster with seven new additions, including six transfers. Giancarlo Rosado, Ben Bradford, Kylan Blackmon, Aleks Szymczyk, Jaehshon Thomas, Jeremiah Oden, and Nika Metskhvarishvili are new to Charlotte and will be relied on heavily if the Niners wish to improve upon their success last season.
- Rosado is very familiar with the Queen City, but this time he's on the other side of the court as a presumed Charlotte starter after four seasons at Florida Atlantic. The six-foot-eight forward appeared in 118 games with the Owls and he was instrumental in the 2023 run to the Final Four.
- The American is a tough league for freshmen to come in and play, but for guard Ben Bradford, maybe he will be an exception. He certainly has the skill after averaging 27 points per game at Gaithersburg High School. Coach Fearne and this Charlotte staff have a track record of playing freshmen. Graves appeared in 22 games in his first season and former players Brice Williams and Jahmir Young also saw a lot of action as freshmen.
- Blackmon is a silky smooth shooter who shot nearly 36 percent from deep on more than five attempts per game last year for Coastal Carolina. He arrives to the Queen City after two seasons with the Chanticleers. He was the team's third-leading scorer with 11.4 points a game in 2023-24.
- Szymczyk gives the Niners another solid option in the frontcourt. The Frankfurt, Germany native and Florida transfer missed all of the 2023-24 season, but he did appear in 14 games as a true freshman.
- In Thomas, Charlotte has a player with three-level scoring abilities and a combo guard archetype. At Florida Southwestern State, the Aurora, Ill., native led his JuCo with 16 points per game en route to all-conference and all-state honors.
- Oden played at DePaul last season after spending three years at Wyoming. The most experienced player of all the newcomers, the six-foot-nine wing has made 86 starts in his career with averages of 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. In 2022, he started 32 games for Wyoming and helped the Cowboys to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven seasons.
- Nika Metskhvarishvili is a native of Tbilisi, Georgia and he transfers to Charlotte after three seasons with UL-Monroe. In 2023-24, the six-foot-eight forward was a third-team All-Sun Belt selection after leading the team in points (12.3) and rebounds (5.8) per game.

NON-CONFERENCE RECAP                                                      
- Charlotte finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 7-6 record.
- The 49ers started the season 3-1 with home wins over Presbyterian, Richmond, and Gardner-Webb.
- After suffering home defeats to LIU and ETSU, Charlotte bounced back by winning three of its next four games.
- The highlight of the non-conference schedule was a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the 2024 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
- In the 2nd of 3 games in the event, Charlotte and Murray State delivered "Game of the Year" vibes with a double-overtime thriller that the 49ers won 94-90. Nik Graves scored a career-high and game-high 31 points in the win.
- The Niners nearly forced a second straight overtime game against the College of Charleston on the final day of the event. Charlotte missed the game-tying three as time expired.

2023-24 SEASON RECAP
- Last year, the Niners went 19-12 overall with a 13-5 mark in their first season in The American. The 49ers recorded their first top-three league finish since 2006.
- The 49ers' 13 conference wins and 13 wins at Halton Arena tied program records. Charlotte also recorded its first-ever eight-game conference winning streak, as well as the first win over a ranked opponent at home since 2013.
- The 49ers were led by Lu'Cye Patterson, who was a second-team All-AAC and second-team all-district selection in 2023-24. He had a team-high 14.6 points per game. 
- Igor Milicic Jr., last year's leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, was a third-team All-AAC pick.
- The duo helped the 49ers outdo the expectations that picked them to finish 13th of 14 in the AAC.

NINER NUGGETS      
- A total of 10 games will be featured on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU, while another 20 games will be on ESPN+.
- Halton Arena will be home to three nationally televised games this season.
   - On Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, Charlotte hosted Memphis on ESPN2 at 3 p.m.
   - On Tuesday, Feb. 4, the 49ers welcomed Wichita State for a 7 p.m. matchup that will be on ESPNU.
   - The Niners' home contest against East Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 15, is set for ESPNews. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.
- Last season, Charlotte's first in The American, the Niners finished 13-5 in conference play, earning their first top-three league finish since 2006. The 49ers' 13 conference wins and 13 victories at Halton Arena tied program records.
-  For Christmas 2024, Charlotte traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, to play in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. 
- With five fifth-year players, a sixth-year, and a seventh-year player on its roster, Charlotte trails only Oklahoma State (eight) for most players in their fifth year or longer of college.

UP NEXT
The Niners will have to recover and rest up quickly as they go on the road to play Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla. on Monday, Feb. 10. The game is set for a 9 p.m. tip on ESPN2.