GREENVILLE, S.C. — Charlotte senior Jobey Thomas drove toward the baseline midway through the second half and forced up a tough jumper over two defenders, which got blocked.
The 49ers got the ball back several seconds later, and Thomas flashed the tired signal to coach Bobby Lutz.
Thomas tried to ignite Charlotte’s dormant offensive attack one last time before leaving the court. He ran off a double screen at the right block and hoisted up a contested 3 from the right wing.
Notre Dame freshman Chris Thomas, sprinting step for step with Jobey Thomas, got a hand on the shot, which fell several feet short of the rim.
Thomas has carried the offensive load for the 49ers this season, but even with him sick in the stomach and struggling with his shot, Charlotte had nowhere else to turn.
The Fighting Irish took advantage of Thomas’ disappointing evening and turned a halftime tie into a 82-63 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Bi-Lo Center on Thursday night.
Thomas, who averages 19.0 points a game, scored a season-low five points on 2 of 12 shooting for Charlotte (18-12), which had won its last four first-round games coming into last night’s contest.
“We still thought he could get it done, he’s played like that before,” Charlotte guard Demon Brown said. “He was just too sick today. We depended on him a lot, but he just couldn’t get it done tonight.”
Thomas, who had been held to less than 10 points in two of Charlotte’s first 28 games, scored only six a week ago in the 49ers’ loss to Cincinnati in the Conference USA Tournament
He began to suffer through flu-like symptoms earlier this week but thought his health was improving as Thursday approached.
“It’s an unfortunate situation. It happens, it’s life,” Thomas said.
“The last couple of days, I felt like I had the flu bug. I actually felt like my body was fighting it off, but last night it headed South.”
Thomas threw up several times on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and he was limited to 24 minutes in last night’s game.
Thomas endured a tough first half in which he went only 1 of 7 from the floor, but the 49ers still went to the locker room tied at 35-35.
Notre Dame (22-10) led 41-37 when Thomas made a quick return to the bench with 17:38 left, and it established a double-digit lead within the next two and a half minutes that was never seriously threatened.
“It hurt that Jobey Thomas was sick,” Lutz said.“He couldn’t keep anything down last night or this morning. He got an IV to try to keep him well. It’s frustrating for a guy who has been as good as he has for our program.”
Thomas hit a jump shot with 10:34 left in the game, but that was his only make in five second-half attempts. As a team, Charlotte shot only 7 of 28 from the field in the final 20 minutes.
“We played a great second half,”Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.“We got off to a great start defensively. Overall, I think it’s our best half defensively of the season.”
The Fighting Irish’s offense in the second half wasn’t too shabby either.
Especially for sharpshooter David Graves.
Graves — who, like Thomas, is his school’s all-time 3-point shooting leader — shared in his counterpart’s first-half struggles by going just 1 of 5 from the floor.
He got going quickly with a breakaway layup 90 seconds into the second half, then benefitted from a quick steal to knock down an easy jumper only a few seconds later.
Graves hit six of his first eight shots after halftime to help the Irish expand its lead to 64-45 midway through the period.
“I know it sounds crazy to talk about this team fatiguing, but we’ve got so much out of our guys this year,” Lutz said.“Not many people thought we’d be here. They were the better team and made a run, and we couldn’t handle it. We hit a a wall.”
Graves had 19 points and six rebounds for the Irish, who were led by Ryan Humphrey and Matt Carroll’s 20 points apiece.
Curtis Nash led the 49ers with 15 points and Kevin “Butter” Johnson added 10, but Charlotte clearly missed Jobey’s jumper.
“His baskets count more than two or three,”Brey said.“He gets them going, and it builds their confidence.”
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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