LAHAINA, Hawaii – The University of Memphis men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Maui Invitational with a second-round, 71-63 win over Michigan State inside Lahaina Civic Center on Tuesday evening.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 6-0 to mark the best start since the 2010-11 season when Memphis opened the year 7-1.
The Tigers are the first non-Power 4 team to advance to the Maui Invitational championship game in Hawaii since 2019 (Dayton). Memphis awaits the winner of No. 4 Auburn and No. 12 North Carolina.
Senior guard Tyrese Hunter put up 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, marking his third game of the past four in which he's gone for 20-plus points. He hit five triples while adding a pair of assists and a rebound.
The Tigers led by three at the break before going on an 11-0 run midway through the second half to take a 57-42 lead. The Spartans (5-2) fought back to cut the lead to seven with 4:54 to play. Hunter answered for the Tigers and converted a four-point play to grow the lead back out to double digits.
Fifth-year center Moussa Cisse (9 points, 7 rebounds) fouled out with 2:52 remaining after forward Dain Dainja (7 points, 2 rebounds) previously fouled out with 6:33 to go. The Tigers played the final three minutes without both, but held on to win, getting three more free throws from Hunter and a pair from fifth-year guard PJ Carter to ice the victory.
Redshirt-sophomore guard PJ Haggerty added 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists on 6-of-11 shooting. Redshirt-senior guard Colby Rogers chipped in 10 points, an assist and a rebound.
After starting the game with back-and-forth scoring, Memphis stretched its lead out to as much as nine with 3:49 left in the half following a Haggerty lay-up and back-to-back dunks from Hunter and Jared Harris, his first collegiate points.
Michigan State made its comeback just before the break with a three-pointer from Jase Richardson to make it a 34-31 Tiger advantage.
The Tiger offense exploded midway through the second half with an 11-0 run that was capped off with a Cisse and-one to give Memphis its largest lead of the day at 15. But the Spartans once again continued to stick around.
A double-digit lead turned into five-points after MSU strung together a 9-0 run late in the game.
In the final 34 seconds, Hunter and Carter sank crucial free throws to secure the 71-63 win and advance to the Championship game.
As a team, the Tigers shot 44 percent from the field and 40 percent from long range while holding the Spartans to just 22 percent from distance.
Memphis will play the winner of #4 Auburn/#12 North Carolina tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. CT. Coverage of the game can be found on ESPN TV. Full coverage live on Wednesday on 92.9 FM ESPN.
