1987–88 UNC Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team

1987–88 UNC Charlotte 49ers men's basketball
1987–88 UNC Charlotte 49ers men's basketball
Sun Belt Regular season champion; Sun Belt tournament champion
NCAA tournament
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	22–9 (11–3 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Jeff Mullins (3rd season);
Home arena	Charlotte Coliseum; Belk Gymnasium (alternate)
	Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

1987–88 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
UNC Charlotte †	11	–	3	.786	22	–	9	.710
VCU	10	–	4	.714	23	–	12	.657
Old Dominion	9	–	5	.643	18	–	12	.600
South Alabama	8	–	6	.571	15	–	14	.517
UAB	7	–	7	.500	16	–	15	.516
Western Kentucky	6	–	8	.429	15	–	13	.536
South Florida	3	–	11	.214	6	–	22	.214
Jacksonville	2	–	12	.143	8	–	21	.276

† 1988 Sun Belt Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1987–88 UNC Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the 1987–88 college basketball season. This was head coach Jeff Mullins's third season at Charlotte. The 49ers competed in the Sun Belt Conference and played their home games at Dale F. Halton Arena. They finished the season 22–9 (11–3 in Sun Belt play) and won the Sun Belt Conference tournament to receive an automatic bid to the 1988 NCAA tournament. The 49ers lost in the opening round to BYU, 98–92 in OT.^[2]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	4	Byron Dinkins	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Charlotte, North Carolina
F	44	Cedric Ball	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Worcester, Massachusetts

Head coach

Jeff Mullins

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 1987*		Longwood	W 77–51	1–0	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 3, 1987*		Coastal Carolina	W 89–73	2–0	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 7, 1987*		Georgia Southern	W 65–57	3–0	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 9, 1987*		at Georgia State	W 89–70	4–0	GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia
Dec 12, 1987*		Davidson	W 86–68	5–0	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 18, 1987*		vs. Middle Tennessee UK Invitational Tournament	W 89–73	6–0	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 19, 1987*		at No. 1 Kentucky UK Invitational Tournament	L 81–84^[3]	6–1	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 28, 1987*		vs. Howard WLKF Classic	W 89–73	7–1	George W. Jenkins Field House Lakeland, Florida
Dec 29, 1987*		at Florida Southern WLKF Classic	L 64–82	7–2	George W. Jenkins Field House Lakeland, Florida
Jan 2, 1988		at Jacksonville	W 90–77	8–2 (1–0)	Jacksonville Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 6, 1988*		Bradley	L 82–98	8–3	Charlotte Coliseum (10,012) Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 9, 1988		South Alabama	W 87–80	9–3 (2–0)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 12, 1988*		at West Virginia	L 52–78	9–4	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Jan 16, 1988		Jacksonville	W 68–65	10–4 (3–0)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 21, 1988*		at Virginia Tech	L 60–81	10–5	Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, Virginia
Jan 25, 1988		at Western Kentucky	L 69–78	10–6 (3–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, Kentucky
Jan 28, 1988		Old Dominion	W 81–65	11–6 (4–1)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 30, 1988		at South Florida	W 67–58	12–6 (5–1)	Yuengling Center Tampa, Florida
Feb 1, 1988*		UNC Wilmington	W 85–75	13–6	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 4, 1988		Western Kentucky	W 90–74	14–6 (6–1)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 7, 1988		at South Alabama	W 89–84	15–6 (7–1)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 11, 1988		at Alabama-Birmingham	W 86–79	16–6 (8–1)	BJCC Coliseum Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 13, 1988		at Old Dominion	W 82–81	17–6 (9–1)	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia
Feb 15, 1988		VCU	L 83–91	17–7 (9–2)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 20, 1988		South Florida	W 84–72	18–7 (10–2)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 25, 1988		UAB	W 80–78	19–7 (11–2)	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 27, 1988		at VCU	L 65–84	19–8 (11–3)	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Sun Belt tournament
Mar 5, 1988*		vs. Jacksonville Quarterfinals	W 73–72	20–8	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Mar 6, 1988*		vs. South Alabama Semifinals	W 71–67	21–8	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Mar 7, 1988*		at VCU Championship game	W 81–79	22–8	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1988*	(13 SE)	vs. (4 SE) No. 19 BYU First Round	L 92–98 ^OT	22–9	The Omni Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[4]^[5]

Rankings

^[6]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1987-88 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary
^ "BYU 98, UNC Charlotte 92 (OT)". UPI Archives. March 19, 1988. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
^ "'Phantom' keeps UK unbeaten". UPI Archives. December 20, 1987. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
^ "Results for 1987-88". UNC Charlotte Athletics. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
^ "1987-88 Men's Basketball Schedule". UNC Charlotte Athletics. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 943–944. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

[1] sports-reference.com 1987-88 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary

[2] "BYU 98, UNC Charlotte 92 (OT)". UPI Archives. March 19, 1988. Retrieved May 8, 2022.

[3] "'Phantom' keeps UK unbeaten". UPI Archives. December 20, 1987. Retrieved May 8, 2022.

[4] "Results for 1987-88". UNC Charlotte Athletics. Retrieved May 8, 2022.

[5] "1987-88 Men's Basketball Schedule". UNC Charlotte Athletics. Retrieved February 22, 2023.

[ESPN-6] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 943–944. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Charlotte 49ers men's basketball
Venues	Local high school gyms (1965–1970) Belk Gymnasium (1970–1976; alternate, 1976–1996) Bojangles Coliseum (1976–1988, 1993–1996) Charlotte Coliseum (1988–1993) Dale F. Halton Arena (1996–present) Spectrum Center (alternate, 2007–present)
Culture & lore	Norm the Niner
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics