In 1992, a Memphis Tigers team with Penny Hardaway went to Maui. In 2006, a Memphis Tigers team that got a No. 2 seed and went to the Elite Eight went to Maui. In 2011, a Memphis team that was ranked No. 8 in the country went to Maui. But for the first time in six tries, Memphis broke through to the Maui title game with a 71-63 win over Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans.
“Saw grit. Saw toughness. Saw execution. Saw winners. Saw guys that really wanted this tournament.” said Penny Hardaway after the game.
In two days, Memphis has beaten a Dan Hurley coached UConn team coming off two straight national titles, and legendary Michigan St. coach Tom Izzo, in what is the greatest two game stretch the program has probably had since the 2008 Elite Eight vs Texas and Final Four vs UCLA.
Here is how it happened:
Hawaii Hunter
For the second day in a row, Tyrese Hunter has been spectacular. In three years of playing at Iowa St. and Texas, he had only had four career games with four or more threes. In the past four games, he has had three such games.
“I’m just really playing in the moment,” said Hunter.
Today, he followed up his 26 point, 7/10 from deep performance with 23 points on 5/10 shooting from deep, including a massive four-point play with 4:33 left to extend Memphis’ lead to 11 after Michigan St. cut a once 15-point lead to 7.
Hardaway emphasized how badly he wanted Hunter to be on this team and how happy he is that he has a backcourt of him and Haggerty, who chipped in 16 points and 9 rebounds tonight.
“His freshman year, Iowa St. played us in Brooklyn, and he demolished us… When he got in the portal, he was a guy that I targeted and I was like ‘We need him,’” said Hardaway.
Tom Izzo also had high praise for Hunter. “He made some shots that… I don’t know if Penny made those shots when he played,” said Izzo. “Someone’s gonna really have to play well for (Hunter) not to be MVP of this tournament, with the way he’s shot it.”
Overcoming Adversity
Though it ended up being a fairly comfortable win, the Tigers had to deal with some tough breaks today.
First off, two of Memphis’ three total bigs in the rotation, Dain Dainja and Moussa Cisse, were in foul trouble all game and both fouled out today in limited minutes. When they were on the court, they dominated the Spartans’ bigs, but they struggled to stay out there.
Additionally, a Michigan State team, who came into the game shooting 20% from deep, good for 3rd worst in the country, shot 5/11 from deep in the first half.
“We tried to take the paint away early and make them shoot threes, and then it just so happened that they did make the ones they needed to make,” said Hardaway.
In the second half though, the Tigers held the Spartans to 2/9 from deep and were able to overcome the unexpected problems presented to them today.
Memphis went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead to 15 with 10:50 left in the second half, and despite a late push from Michigan St., Memphis was never in serious jeopardy of losing.
Stats that Stood Out
Michigan St. has won games in spite of its 3-point shooting in part because of its excellent defense in the paint and scoring ability in the paint. So, probably the most surprising stat of the night is that Memphis won the points in the paint battle 32-26.
Additionally, Memphis turned it over 9 times, which is their least amount of giveaways all season, and forced 13 Michigan St. turnovers. Against a great Spartan defense, Memphis got a lot of easy points, getting 22 points off turnovers and 11 fastbreak points, compared to Michigan St.’s 10 points off turnovers and 5 fastbreak points.
Finally, Baraka Okojie and Moussa Cisse were incredibly impactful when they were out there. Although plus minus is a flawed stat without context, if you were watching the game, you could clearly see their impact, and the box score reflects that. Okojie had a game high plus minus of +16 in just 11 minutes, and Cisse was not far behind with +15 in 25 minutes.
What’s Next
Memphis will play the winner of Auburn vs North Carolina at 4 p.m. central time in the Maui Invitational Championship game tomorrow, in what is a massive, massive opportunity.
Hardaway described it as a “full circle” moment to be in the Maui Championship game after failing to make it as a player due to an overtime loss to BYU, and a real chance for Memphis to earn national respect.
“You wanna be a part of the rare air in the NCAA. You wanna be a part of that group that they mention with the Dukes and the Kansases, and you want Memphis’ name to be there. You gotta fight and you gotta grind,” said Hardaway.
And he has ultimate confidence in his team, going into what is the most nationally relevant game of his coaching career.
“They’re ready to play when they touch the gym, and it doesn’t matter who it's against.”
In the first two games in Maui, they have more than proved that. On one of the best nights in a long time for the Memphis Tigers basketball program, they have the opportunity for an even better one. See you tomorrow.
