LAHAINA, Hawaii — Aloha from the Maui Invitational! The greatest in-season college basketball event has delivered once again, as it always does. How great it is to have this bracket back at the Lahaina Civic Center. Remember, COVID and the tragic 2023 wildfires prevented this hallowed, humble gymnasium from hosting its premier event in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
After Monday’s action, and with some tributes to Maui mainstay, the late Bill Walton, I’m all the more appreciative that the Lahaina natives are once again hosting such a magical event. This region deserves this. It’s a privilege to be able to cover this event. All feels right with the LCC being the center of the college hoops world on the week of Thanksgiving.
Each day I’m going to publish a notebook of what I’ve seen and pepper in some observations and quotes from my one-on-one with coaches here in paradise. This story will be updated multiple times before Monday’s done. Monday’s been so good, so let’s get right to it.
Auburn makes school history with late rally over Iowa State
Maui Magic is so real. See: UConn-Memphis and Auburn-Iowa State. I’ve got more on UConn below. Let’s talk Tigers and Cyclones.
After being down to No. 5 Iowa State by as many as 18 with 4:18 left in the first half, No. 4 Auburn stormed back, took a 75-73 lead with 4:01 remaining and ultimately won on a Johni Broome put-back with less than two seconds to pull off an 83-81 win. A top-five matchup that came down to the final play. We can’t ask for better.
The scene was incredible, as they often are in this cozy gym on the western coast of one of the most picturesque islands in the world.
God. Bless. Maui.
Broome played 36 minutes — a personal-high in an Auburn uniform. He had to limp into and out of the postgame press conference due to body cramps. He finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
“He worked really hard in this offseason to be in the best shape of his life and it paid off big time there,” Pearl said of Broome’s timely tip-in off Denver Jones’ miss. This game felt like Iowa State’s for most of the night. The Cyclones scored 49 (!) in the first half … to lose after doing that is hard to understand.
So, when did Pearl think a win was truly on the table? About five minutes into the second half, when his team came out firing and had an 18-2 run.
“We immediately changed the complexion of the game defensively,” Pearl told me. “Iowa State played great in the first half, but we helped a little bit. We panicked a little bit, and their ball pressure will do that to you, the way they just extended and disrupted us. But we got pieces. We got some character.”
Pearl admitted his team wasn’t as up for the game to start as ISU, which bore out. The Cyclones shot 58% in the first half vs. just 32% in the second half
Remember when Auburn had the plane mishap that led to the suspension of two role players? All that’s happened since is a win against top-five Houston and top-five Iowa State. Auburn is fourth team in AP poll history (since 1948-49) to start a season 5-0 with multiple wins vs. top-five teams in that span. The last team to do it was Kansas in 1989-90.
Pearl said he’s never had an Auburn team show this much heart in November in his decade of running the program. We’ll see how the Tigers respond and recover for Tuesday’s 11 p.m. EST/6 p.m. HST tipoff.
Dan Hurley’s villain turn good for college hoops
If you’d like to read up on Memphis‘ 99-97 amazing overtime win over the No. 2 UConn Huskies, you can see my gamer right here.
I’d like to dedicate about 250 words right now to Hurley’s antics from Monday. UConn had seven team fouls within the first six minutes and Hurley was lava-like toward the officials even earlier than that. He hunted a technical foul, finally earning an ill-timed T with 40 seconds remaining in a 92-92 overtime game. Afterward, Hurley told me he didn’t think the T cost his team the game. He thought his team didn’t get a fair shake from the zebras.
“I don’t know too many back-to-back national championship teams that get that type of a whistle,” Hurley told me.
At the press conference, he said this about the officiating crew: “I’ve never seen the one ref before. I didn’t even know he was a college ref. I’m familiar with the other two, so I’m not surprised.”
This, obviously, led to opposing fans dunking all over Hurley on social media, calling him a whiner, loser, crybaby, entitled and worse.
Good!
The loss was UConn’s first loss in 288 days, its first November loss since 2021 and its first neutral-court loss since the 2023 Big East Tournament. Hurley’s program has dominated the sport. He was so good, the Los Angeles Lakers wanted him to run their franchise. He said no, came back to college basketball and is now on a warpath to keep Connecticut at the top of the mountain.
Hurley’s paroxysms are over the top but undeniably entertaining. He’s a classic college hoops character. Best of all, he wins a lot more than he loses. If people want to blast him for being a sore loser or chide him for how he comports himself on the sideline, it’s totally in bounds and Hurley himself wouldn’t run from that criticism.
Regardless of how you feel, he makes the sport more marketable and worth watching. His teams are meticulously prepared and out for blood in every game. He can go over the line and it’s probably going to get him in trouble again at some point. You can’t accuse him of being inauthentic and you can’t downplay his greatness as a coach.
Now we await to see what transpires with the Huskies and how Hurley responds. Colorado could be in for a long morning.
Michigan State cruises past Colorado
This was the least compelling of the four Monday games, easily. The Spartans won 72-56 to improve to 5-1.
This is Tom Izzo’s fifth time coaching in the Maui Invitational. He’s the most experienced coach in the history of the event. There was no surprise here. Michigan State is too veteran-laden to not show up and play well and at least win one game in this stacked field. With UConn going down, Sparty has a realistic shot to be the surprise winner of the Maui bracket, but it won’t be easy.
Memphis awaits, and here’s the stat to know: MSU ranks 362nd in the nation in 3-point accuracy (20.0%) through five games. Meantime, Memphis is No. 2 with an outrageous 47.9% success clip from beyond the arc. I asked Izzo if that would be the defining facet to Tuesday’s semifinal.
“When you talk about it, and I don’t mind talking about it here because I feel comfortable that the last week and a half we’ve been shooting it better, yet when you talk about it to your team, then does it become an albatross on you,” Izzo said, but with a caveat. There will be no sugar-coating with his team.
“I’m going to go back to being who I am and say, would you make the damn shot, please,” Izzo said.
That means Jaden Akins and Frankie Fidler need to come ready to bomb it from deep against a Memphis team that’s going to look to shoot it aplenty from deep.
“Of course it’s a concern,” Izzo said. “So our defense better knuckle down and get better, and we’d better find a way to start making some shots.”
As for Colorado, Buffs coach Tad Boyle accurately called his defense “soft.” Colorado’s guys have less than 24 hours to gear up for a ticked off UConn team.
“Who’s going to be angrier, UConn or Colorado? That’s what we’ll find out at 10:30 tomorrow morning,” Boyle said.
I shudder to think about what the Huskies are going to do to the Buffs if properly motivated and executing soon after breakfast.
