MAUI – After the introductory press conference for the Maui Invitational, UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley stepped up to a line marked in red tape for a charity free throw contest with Maui youth in front of the island’s picture-perfect backdrop. His warm up shot clanked hard off the backboard and in, sparking some laughter and a quick turnaround to the back of the line.
Hurley was paired with Colton Ching, a seventh-grader from IAO Intermediate, a school about 40 minutes around the mountains from the team’s hotel. Ching’s first shot clanked hard off the backboard and in, just like Hurley’s, and the other participating coaches agreed: “That’s coaching!”
When they counted, Hurley made 2 of 3 and Ching went perfect to secure a win in the contest – the first win of the Maui event for Hurley, where he hopes to earn three more.
Hurley and his teammate, 7th grader Colton Ching (3–for-3), won the contest. https://t.co/E0ZG4MWbeQ pic.twitter.com/E46y7l9uwt
— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) November 24, 2024
Penny Hardaway, whose Memphis team will be the first test, also went 2-for-3 from the stripe.
Five years ago, the two former American Athletic Conference foes had a conversation about where they ultimately want to take their programs.
“He’s done what the tradition is, what that school (UConn) has done for years, he’s carried on the tradition by winning championships,” Hardaway said. “To me, that’s awesome because I had a conversation with him five years ago in Memphis, talking about where he needed to be five years from then. And now look at him, he’s a back-to-back champion. For us to have this opportunity to play those guys, it’s awesome.”
Memphis (4-0) brought in 13 new players in the offseason and enters the matchup ranked No. 31 by KenPom.com, with the No. 45 offense and No. 24 defense in the nation. It will be the toughest matchup of the season so far for Hurley’s 4-0 Huskies, who haven’t yet played a team ranked above No. 323 (Sacred Heart).
The last time out, an 81-46 win over East Texas A&M in Gampel Pavilion, Hurley called his team’s performance “comically bad.” He said he hoped some of the sloppiness (19 turnovers) was related to human nature, the fact that the win was in-hand essentially from the moment the ball was tipped.
It would also be understandable for the young group to be anticipating this event, a trip to Hawaii to play in a tournament where half of the teams are ranked in the AP top-10.
“We’re not picking up where we left off last year,” Hurley said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces, a lot of new players, a lot of younger players that I’m gonna have to have some grace and some patience with during the course of the year. I think we’ve got potential to be a contender when everything is said and done, it’s just a different path for this team. Last year we started the year very dominant and were able to sustain it, but the group’s got great potential.”
UConn flew out to the island on Friday, opting against breaking up the long trip by playing a game on the way. The team has mixed in some fun activities to make the most of the trip between practices.
The Huskies departed swiftly after the press conference on Sunday to make their practice time, and will meet Memphis in the opening game at 9:30 a.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. Eastern, on Monday.
“They’re working their way through,” Hardaway said of the current UConn team. “Like Danny said, it’s not the last two years’ group, they’re having to rely on younger guys more, but they’re still executing at a high level. They still have that UConn pride and they play really hard.”
Memphis came back in the second half to earn a 68-64 win at San Francisco on Friday on its way to Maui.
Penny Hardaway, 2-for-3 pic.twitter.com/YoWgyPihXD
— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) November 24, 2024
The Tigers have been led by 22.5 points per game from Tulsa transfer PJ Haggerty, a 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore who can drive the lane and is 7-for-14 from beyond the arc this season. Texas transfer Tyrese Hunter, who had 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists in a loss to the Huskies last season, is second on the Tigers averaging 13.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Wichita State transfer Colby Rogers and forward Dain Dainja, from Illinois, are also averaging double-figure scoring with 11 and 10 points per game, respectively. The 6-foot-9 Dainja, scoreless in nine minutes against UConn in the 2024 Elite Eight, is Memphis’ leading rebounder with 7.0 per game and provided 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench against San Francisco.
UConn won eight of its 15 matchups against Memphis while it was in the AAC. Monday will be the first meeting since the Huskies left for the Big East.
The Maui Invitational, in its 40th year as one of college basketball’s most prestigious tournaments, was moved to Honolulu last year because of the Maui wildfires and now makes its return to Lahaina as it recovers from the tragedy.
“Just as somebody who played and as somebody who loves the game, just growing up you’ve been watching the Maui Classic. As a young coach, as a player, hoping one day to compete in it, one day to play in it, one day to coach in it,” Hurley said. “It’s a loaded field, and obviously when you choose to coach or play in a place like UConn, there’s a lot of championship pressure on you to go into tournaments and really go for the hardware.”
What to know
Site: Lahaina Civic Center, Maui.
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. local)
Records: UConn: 4-0, Memphis: 4-0
Series: Tied, 8-8.
Last meeting: Feb. 16, 2020 – UConn 64, Memphis 61
TV: ESPN2 – Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas
Radio: Fox Sports 97-9 – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman
Pregame reading:
Originally Published:
