Observations from Pfeiffer

Observations from Charlotte's 95-51 preseason men's basketball exhibition victory against Pfeiffer on Thursday:

 -- Charlotte didn’t have senior forwards Chris Braswell and J.T. Thompson and junior guard DeMario Mayfield. Mayfield has a sprained ankle, while Braswell and Thompson were held out for precautionary reasons. Braswell broke his foot over the summer; Thompson had two knee surgeries in his final two years at Virginia Tech before transferring to Charlotte. They are all expected to play when the 49ers open the season Nov. 9 against Charleston Southern.

-- That meant the 49ers started three sophomores (point guard Pierria Henry and wings E. Victor Nickerson and Terrence Williams) and two freshmen (forwards Darion Clark and Willie Clayton). The best of the freshmen was the Clark, a rugged 6-foot-6 player who comes from the top-notch high school program Oak Hill (Va.) Academy. Clark scored 19 points and had 12 rebounds and seemed to be around the ball most of the game.

-- Outside shooting, or the lack thereof, has been an issue for Charlotte over the last two seasons. There wasn’t much evidence of that changing against Pfeiffer, although freshman guard Denzel Ingram made four of his five 3-point attempts. And the outside will open up more when Braswell returns.

-- Without Braswell and Thompson, 6-10 redshirt freshman Mike Thorne played 15 minutes. Thorne is a project, but his footwork looked good (if his hands still need some work). He showed a nice touch at the free-throw line, where was 10-of-12. He finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and had two blocked shots.

-- Who’s going to take up the slack as the No. 2 scorer with forward Javarris Barnett graduated? Could be Williams, who had 16 points on six-of-10 shooting.

-- Pfeiffer played all 17 players on its roster and was led by guard Tayron Gibson’s 13 points. The Falcons open their season Nov. 10 at home against Catawba.