MILWAUKEE -- Eddie Basden and his Charlotte teammates knew that Marquette would rally on its home court. The 49ers made sure it wasn't for a win.
Basden scored 23 points and Brendan Plavich added 20 to help Charlotte beat No. 25 Marquette 76-66 on Saturday. The 49ers blew a nine-point lead at halftime but finished the game on a 20-10 spurt to hold off the Golden Eagles.
"We knew they we're going to make a run, so going into halftime with the lead, we weren't comfortable with it," Basden said. "We just kept fighting and didn't let this one slip away."
The Golden Eagles scored 20 of the first 27 points after halftime to take a 51-47 advantage. Travis Diener's basket gave Marquette its first lead of the game at 48-47 and Steve Novak followed with a 3-pointer to cap the run with 12:51 remaining.
"It was a dog fight most of the way," Marquette coach Tom Crean said.
The teams battled back and forth until the 49ers pulled ahead 66-62 with 4:42 remaining, then closed the game on a 10-4 run.
"After they took the lead the crowd got into the game and it would've been easy to let this one get away," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said.
Curtis Withers had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the 49ers (13-3, 4-1 Conference USA), who rebounded from a loss to No. 20 Cincinnati on Wednesday that snapped the team's nine-game winning streak.
"They've got three guys that complement each other very well," Crean said. "Curtis Withers ... this was his best game of the year. Eddie is as a complete player as there is in our league. They're a very good team. We're still a good team, but we just hit a little slide here."
Marquette (14-4, 2-3) has lost three of its last four games. Diener, playing with a sprained foot, had 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead the Golden Eagles.
Dameon Mason added 14 points and Ryan Amoroso chipped in with 13 points for Marquette.
"They just made more big plays than us," Crean said. "They just got more easy baskets. That's really what the game came down to."
Mason's jumper with 9:05 left tied it at 56-all, but the 49ers took control from there. The 49ers shot 50 percent (13-of-26) in the second half and finished 10-of-21 from 3-point range.
Basden, who had eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, sealed the victory with a slam dunk after a Marquette turnover for a 74-64 lead with 1:33 left.
"It just let (the game) come to me," Basden said. "I knew if we ran our plays and got the ball to our first or second option, we'd get a basket."
Marquette, which did not get to the free-throw line in the first half, trailed 40-31 at halftime before rallying.
Charlotte improved to 7-1 on the road this season and won at Marquette for just the third time in 10 games.
