CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlotte's first game as a Top 25 team in six seasons wasn't a classic 49ers performance.
And that's what made the 66-62 victory over DePaul on Wednesday night particularly satisfying for coach Bobby Lutz.
"We'd been in this kind of game a lot over the last few years ... and haven't been able to win. This will give us a lot of confidence going forward," Lutz said.
"When the game's fast and the score's in the 80s and 90s, we're good. Tonight we had to grind it out."
No one was better at grinding it out for the 49ers (18-4, 9-2 Conference USA) than forward Eddie Basden, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds and seemed to be everywhere on the court.
Basden forced turnovers, fought through screens, grabbed rebounds, drove the lane, shot from the perimeter and slammed the ball home to finish fast breaks.
And it won't show up in the box score, but no play was more crucial than Basden's tip of Mitchell Baldwin's missed free throw with 35 seconds left and Charlotte clinging to a 63-62 lead.
Instead of DePaul having the ball with a chance to get it to the sizzling Drake Diener for a possible go-ahead 3-pointer, Charlotte's Brendan Plavich grabbed Basden's carom and was fouled. After he made one of two free throws, Diener's final 3-point attempt hit the front of the rim and Charlotte's win was secure.
Diener, who had 25 points, finished with seven 3s, tying the school record. Five came in the second half, as the Blue Demons rallied from a 54-44 deficit.
Charlotte came in averaging 78.9 points per game. They fell well short of that Wednesday, but still bolstered their credentials as a ranked team after entering the AP's Top 25 on Monday for the first time since the final poll of the 1998-99 season.
"They proved how good they are by winning the game without playing the pace they are accustomed to," DePaul coach Dave Leitao said. "We thought if we didn't let them have a free-flowing game, we would have a chance to win."
Backed by a raucous Halton Arena crowd of 9,105, Charlotte had 18 offensive rebounds, four each from Withers and E.J. Drayton, to just 11 for DePaul.
Plavich, who averaged 14 points per game coming in, had an off night, shooting 1-of-11 and missing all six of his 3-point attempts. He finished with seven points.
Withers had 18 points and five rebounds and reserve E.J. Drayton added 12 points to give the 49ers just enough to get by.
Marion Brumfield had 12 points and 11 rebounds for DePaul, while Quemont Greer had 11 points.
But Diener, who finished 7-for-13 on 3s, was the show down the stretch.
With DePaul trailing 54-44 after a jumper by Withers with 10:05 remaining, Diener took over. He scored 12 of the Blue Demons' final 18 points, all on 3s.
A shot from five feet beyond the arc made it 54-48 with 7:56 left. Another bomb gave DePaul its first lead of the second half, 59-58 with 2:34 left.
Finally, Diener's 3 from the left baseline tied the game at 62 with 56 seconds left.
Charlotte's Baldwin was fouled by DePaul's Sammy Mejia and went to the line with 35 seconds left. He made the first free throw, but missed the second, setting up Basden's tip.
Until Diener's heroics, Charlotte had appeared in control of the game. The 49ers started sluggishly and trailed 21-15 with 6:33 left in the first half.
But Charlotte closed the half by outscoring DePaul 20-8 to take a 35-29 lead.
Charlotte, shooting almost 39 percent from 3-point range this season, finished just 2-of-19 from long distance Wednesday.
"It comes down to competing at the end," Leitao said. "Other guys have to step up, and Basden did. ... They proved they don't have to make three or five 3s to win basketball games."
