Memphis Men’s Basketball started their gauntlet run through the Maui Invitational with a bang, defeating the reigning national champion UConn Huskies 99-97 in an overtime classic. This is a game that Penny Hardaway is calling the best win of his career.
“It’s so big for our city, our school, and for these young men who work so hard,” said Hardaway.
Memphis won the opening tipoff and established their brand of basketball, shooting the ball very well and getting to the free throw line. Colby Rogers shined through the first portion of the game, hitting a pair of corner 3s to give the Tigers a great start.
The Huskies were always right there with Memphis, though. Samson Johnson, starting big for UConn, racked up a pair of fouls extremely early. He was benched for Tarris Reed Jr., who made the most of his opportunities.
He and fellow rotational player Jaylin Stewart combined for 29 points in the first half to keep their team afloat while they worked through a lot of foul trouble, so much Memphis was in the bonus with over 10 minutes to go in the first half. The two teams went bucket for bucket and ended the opening period tied at 40.
The second half is best summed up in two words: Tyrese Hunter. The Texas transfer exploded for 17 points and made 5 threes in the second half, including this bomb to give Memphis a 10-point lead with less than three minutes left in the game.
“I played these guys last year in New York and I know the type of intensity that they’re going to bring,” says Hunter after the game. “Being in that stretch, being in that flow felt good.”
Then, the Huskies started to rally. A sudden 8-0 run put the game within reach for the No. 2 team in the country. After free throws, UConn was down three with seconds ticking away. Solo Ball rose up and drilled a jumper from the right wing to send the game into overtime.
It looked like Memphis had let a golden opportunity slip, with painful memories of the 2008 National Championship game coming to mind for most fans. UConn even took the lead to begin overtime, which made Tigers supporters even more stressed.
The game ultimately came down, as most games in overtime do, to free throws. After a controversial call, Huskies’ head coach Dan Hurley was irate at the officials and screamed in their faces; they had enough of it and gave him a technical, which when added with the foul already called, gave Memphis 4 free throws.
PJ Carter walked up and made all of the free throws to give Memphis a four-point advantage in the waning seconds of overtime, which was enough to edge out a victory after UConn cut the lead to 2.
“We trust PJ, as soon as they got the tech, we sent PJ to the line,” said Hunter.
The Tigers will play Michigan State on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT.
Colby Rogers summed up the mood of the team perfectly after the game: "We always felt like we were capable of playing with anybody.”
