Matt Norlander provides a diary of Day 2 of the Maui Invitational, featuring interviews and anecdotes from the event’s biggest story-makers. This story will be continually updated through Tuesday evening.
LAHAINA, Hawaii — An opportunity in heaven turned into a trip to hell for Dan Hurley UConn Huskies. The (not for long) No. 2 team in the country is officially reeling after losing two games in two days by a total of three points to unseeded opponents at the Maui Invitational.
“I just think we’re all shocked. We’re all stunned,” Hurley said as he walked to the team bus after UConn lost to Colorado 73-72 in the opening game of Tuesday’s consolation game at the Maui Invitational. “With the run we’ve had and the way we’ve played well, the games are going a lot differently for us and we have to be incredibly strong mentally right now.”
Coming into the week, UConn was 47-3 in its last 50 games. It now risks dropping out of the ranking.
One day after losing a 13-point lead against Memphis, Colorado came steadily back from an 11-point deficit to beat the two-time champions. The winning margin was ensured by a tough right-hander from Andrei Jakimovsky with 8.5 remaining. Macedonian beat UConn freshman Liam McNeeley. Jakimovski didn’t have to worry about a center up front at that point because, for the second day in a row, UConn had its two best bigs, Samson Johnson And Tarris Reed Jr.mistake.
Here is the winning play. If this continues, we could have the best Maui Invitational ever.
The Huskies attempted a game-saving 3-pointer, as did Solo balloon against Memphis, only this time Hassan DiarraThe attempt failed. The Buffs entered the day ranked 82nd KenPom.com. The Huskies hadn’t lost consecutive games since January 2023. They will now try to avoid an 0-3 record in Maui by entering the seventh-place game, with the final tip coming Wednesday night against Tuesday’s loser. Iowa State-Dayton game.
If you want a portion of eh!, check it out: Tuesday was just the third time Colorado beat a top-two team in program history (No. 2 Arizona in 2022, n°2 Oklahoma State in 1992).
“Coach trusted me to make the last play and I knew I had to go out there and finish,” Jakimovski said. “After a bad game yesterday, we showed character and we defended until the end. UConn is probably one of the best offensive teams I have played against in my college career.
The Buffs will face the winner of Iowa State-Dayton on Wednesday.
Thanks to Colorado, but the story is obviously UConn. As long as I’m willing to take responsibility the writer’s patented Jinxthe Huskies have bigger problems. And it’s not only referee, but yes, Hurley took the time to complain about it again Tuesday after the game. While McNeeley was called for an over-the-back foul against Memphis that was Hurley’s breaking point, Tuesday was Colorado’s game. Trevor Baskin who clearly made contact with McNeeley’s arm in a back-passing scenario. No whistle. UConn was led by one at the time.
“It just goes to show how the last two days have gone for us, that yesterday the biggest play of the game was an over-the-back that was called against us, and today it was even more egregious because the Baskin kid pulled Liam’s arm down,” Hurley said. “I saw the replay of it, obviously, it’s ironic, but that’s not why: our defense was. so terrible, so terrible here.
Hurley made himself a target by lashing out at officials after two close losses. As a result, he does not impose full responsibility on himself and his players. In his opinion: UConn lost two games in two days despite making 26 3-pointers on 61 attempts. That’s a rate of 42.6%, which will win you a lot of games.
They also allowed Memphis and Colorado to average at least 1.20 points per possession, which will lose you a lot of games.
“Sometimes you don’t get a good whistle and I don’t think we had a good whistle here, it just didn’t bounce that way,” Hurley said. “It killed us to have so many guys struggling during the game.”
UConn is so accustomed to rolling its opponents that it has difficulty finishing close slants. With many new faces in important roles, this is not surprising, despite Hurley’s level. But consider this: Colorado lost its top five scorers a season ago. That didn’t hold Boyle’s Buffs back, you know?
“Dealing with the type of foul trouble we had here certainly didn’t help a team with so many young backups so many critical pieces,” Hurley said. “It made it even more difficult and obviously exposed a lot of our vulnerabilities.”
We’re a long way from the territory that falls on us in Storrs, but after UConn thrived on feasting on any type of non-Con opponent, it seems lost in its identity. Hurley told CBS Sports that he thought two losses in Maui was entirely a possibility, even admitting as much with a laugh.
“In particular, I would say we were very nervous about guard play, losing what we lost with (Tristen Newton) at that position,” Hurley told me. “I think we’re looking at that point right now.”
Hurley didn’t have a leader Aidan Mahaney in the Huskies starting five for the first time this season, starting instead of Hassan Diarra. Diarra had 11 points, six assists and two turnovers. Mahaney did not score.
“We really needed to gut these last two games here when we were trying to find ourselves and it definitely kicked our asses,” Hurley said.
The big mistakes were also glaring. Johnson and Reed Jr. were unavailable in critical moments and that handicapped Connecticut the last two days. Hurley was honored, there is no doubt about that. He repeatedly said his team deserved to be the preseason No. 1 based on what they had done over the past two years. Now it’s completely gone. UConn is just another team at the moment, and at this point, they’re not close to the top 10. With one more game against a good team assured, the Huskies have an opportunity to somewhat salvage this travel Wednesday evening.
The alternative would be disastrous for the Huskies’ resume and mark the first time the program has lost three straight road games since 2020.
Memphis’ Hunter is the best transfer through three weeks
This tournament always provides great opportunities for teams and players to rewrite their expectations about their seasons. Think: 2010-11 UConn and Kemba Walker; 2018-19 Dayton and Obi Toppin; and 2005-06 Gonzaga and Adam Morrison, to name a few.
For two days, Memphis and Hunter Tyrese fit this bill.
The Tigers’ 71-63 win over Michigan State on Tuesday propelled the program into Maui’s title game for the first time in school history. It’s obvious that Memphis was overlooked by being unranked early in the year. After ending UConn’s 17-game winning streak on Monday and easily edging Michigan State today, Penny Hardaway’s team has five wins in the KenPom top 100. No other team can match that.
The main reason: Hunter’s detonation from the depths. The main guard leader is more than THE college basketball’s scoring player through the first three weeks of the season. He is an All-American candidate, buoyed by his incredible two-game run in Lahaina.
“I’m him!” I have always been him! Hunter shouted to his teammates after a beautiful 23-plus-foot parabola fell in the second half of Memphis’ win over UConn. On Tuesday, he offered a gripping reminder.
“Let everyone know. Warn them,” Hunter told me Tuesday. “Let them know I’m still here.” It didn’t lead anywhere.
Hunter is averaging 24.5 points, just 1.5 turnovers and shooting 60% from deep (12 of 20) here in Maui. On the season, he posted a comfortable career best of 17.3 points. He does it on the side PJ Haggertygiving the Tigers one of the best backcourts in the country and easily the best duo selected in the portal this past offseason (Hunter had just TexasHaggerty via Tulsa).
What happened to Hunter? He was a volcano against UConn, and on Tuesday, Tom Izzo called his 3-point barrage on 5 of 10 shots “hellish.”
“He made some shots that…I don’t know if Penny made those shots when he was playing, and I really think so,” Izzo said. “He was falling right, falling left, at the end of the shot clock, and he drained them. Give them credit. There’s a reason they beat UConn.
He’s the easy favorite for Maui’s MVP heading into Wednesday. So what has changed from its promising but inconsistent growth periods at Iowa State and Texas?
“You start by taking the right shots,” Hunter said of when to shoot 3-pointers. “Coming in as a freshman, I think I shot 27 percent, I was shooting shots that I would make in high school that you can’t make at the next level. … I was a little immature on the shots that I was taking .
Hunter developed a reputation as one of the best freshman defensive guards in the sport at ISU. He said that in Texas there are beautiful places, but also “flimsy stuff.”
“I think I made a lot of sacrifices as a player,” he told me.
He’s found his groove, what he calls a niche, but he’s more impactful than that. The Memphis staff told me that Hunter’s maturity and leadership are the main reason this team is as good as it is. He mentors Haggerty along the way. Something real is building between the two and it has made the Tigers a potential top 10 team.
While admittedly being “a little more selfish,” Memphis has its best offense and 3-point attack under Hardaway. The Tigers’ 45.4% 3-point clip is No. 3 nationally, bolstered by Hunter’s scorching 52.6% accuracy from deep. There has been a lot of offseason drama with this program, including bizarre staff layoffs and an ever-looming potential NCAA affair.
“Everything I sacrificed was to win and I’m proud of that,” Hunter told me.
Now his bag is deep. He can move skillfully off the dribble, has an excellent back release, can hit accurately in contests from the corner, is pure on screen peels. I don’t know if there is a player more enjoyable to watch in this young season than him.
“I’m free, I’m not looking over my shoulders,” Hunter said. “I know that if I make a mistake, the coach has my back, whatever I have to do. I am free-spirited.