LAHAINA, Hawaii — Monday saw one of the best Maui Invitational games in the 40-plus-year history of the event.
Unranked Memphis beat No. 2 UConn 99-97 in overtime after an absurd 18-5 UConn comeback in the final three minutes of regulation that included Memphis going the final four minutes of regulation without making a field goal.
In overtime, the Tigers edged it out — the difference being a technical foul on Huskies coach Dan Hurley after a controversial over-the-back foul called on Liam McNeeley that gave the Tigers four points on PJ Carter free throws with 40 seconds remaining that turned a 92-all game into a 96-92 Memphis lead.
UConn scrambled and got close but couldn’t close out. Hassan Diarra missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
Hurley didn’t apologize for his frequent outbursts, telling CBS Sports after the game he didn’t believe his technical foul was the difference.
“I think it was the shitty calls,” he said, adding, “I would expect to come to play in an event, and I don’t know too many back-to-back national championship teams that get that type of a whistle.”
Hurley, who was exceedingly intense in his haranguing of the officials just minutes into Monday morning’s game (the Huskies committed seven team fouls in the first 5 minutes and 21 seconds), continued to aggressively express his protests and disgust as the teams made their way off the floor, after the postgame handshake.
“For that call to be made at that point of the game was a complete joke, all right?” Hurley said.
He also said UConn’s team trainer was called for a technical foul in the first half when UConn’s bench received a T.
“A trainer who’s just the nicest guy, very quiet guy,” Hurley said. “Might have muttered something under his breath in a normal situation. An official comes over to you and says, ‘Hey, Coach, tell that guy to shut up,’ because I know they don’t want to hear it from me. But that’s commonly how that should have been handled, but I had a lot of issues with what went on out there in the game. That over-the-back call at that point of the game, there was no attempt to block out. There was a player on Memphis that made a half-assed effort to rebound that basketball, and Liam McNeeley high-pointed that rebound.”
The Lahaina Civic Center has long been the home of this prestigious November event, but due to COVID and the 2023 wildfires that destroyed significant parts of Lahaina, the town has only hosted this tournament once since 2019. In returning in 2024, Memphis and UConn delivered an instantly memorable classic.
The overtime session was an opera of swings; prior to Hurley’s technical, there was a near-scuffle on the floor between Memphis’ Dain Dainja and UConn’s Samson Johnson. Both were assessed dead-ball technical fouls, which fouled out Johnson. That was a big problem for UConn because it no longer had Tarris Reed Jr. available; he’d previously fouled out in regulation after the best game of his career (22 points, 11 rebounds).
“Samson was getting shoved. His jersey was ripped,” Hurley said. “He didn’t get a foul called for him the entire game. He ended the game with his jersey ripped down the center, but they get him on every call.”
After the double technical, Solo Ball hit a top-of-the-key 3-pointer to make it 90-86 in favor of UConn. In that moment, the game seemed set for the Huskies … then Carter promptly answered with a return trey and the Tigers swung the momentum.
Earlier, it was Ball who hit a scrambling, clutch 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds in regulation to tie the game at 92. This shot immediately gets added to the Maui Magic montage.
As for Memphis coach Penny Hardaway, he called Monday’s victory the best of his coaching career.
“With the magnitude of what’s going on here at The Invitational,” said Hardaway, “that was back-to-back national champions undefeated, first round of the Maui tournament. When we first got picked to play them, I was like, OK, starting off with a bang. I just got our team prepared. I used it as motivation.”
It was a firecracker of a game, and the latest example of why this Thanksgiving week tournament is among the most reliable events in sports. The Maui Invitational isn’t just reliably entertaining for big-name programs and great games — it also is prone to provide the occasional stunning upset.
For the first time since February, Hurley’s UConn Huskies have been defeated. An intriguing Memphis squad — which loaded up in the offseason with portal additions who can shoot it aplenty from deep — essentially controlled the game from the opening minute.
The best player on the floor: Memphis’ Tyrese Hunter. The senior had one of the best games of his career, erupting for 26 points on 7-of-10 3-point shooting. As a team, Memphis shot 12 for 22 from deep. After one second half 3-pointer, Hunter yelled, “I’m him! I’ve always been him!”
His confidence was critical, but he had help in form of 22 from PJ Haggerty before Haggerty fouled out; Colby Rogers put up 19; and Dain Dainja came off the bench to score 14. The Tigers’ physicality and bravado gave them the edge on Monday. Their 3-point shooting was the reason they were in position to win and held the lead most of the Maui morning.
After the game, Connecticut junior forward Alex Karaban was definitive in his ownership.
“It’s on my shoulders completely, 100% my shoulders, how the team responds, how the team acts, how we watch film, how we do everything in general,” Karaban said. “It’s all on me, and I’ve got to do that. I’ve got to continue to do a better job of that. It’s something I’m going to address the team after, too, in the players’ meeting just to make sure that we’ve got to wake up.”
Memphis won its second game in the past 14 tries against a team ranked in the top two. And this win gives the Tigers’ program a 5-0 for a second straight season, marking the first time the Tigers have done that since they were Memphis State in 1985.
Memphis will face Michigan State, which defeated Colorado 76-52 in another first-round game, in Tuesday’s semifinals. UConn will meet the Buffaloes in the consolation bracket.
