Memphis basketball to play UConn in Maui Invitational opener

Memphis basketball’s daunting non-conference schedule just got even tougher.

The Tigers will now play the back-to-back national champion UConn in the first round of this year’s Maui Invitational, as first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. Other first-round matchups feature Michigan State v. Colorado, Auburn v. Iowa State and North Carolina v. Dayton.

An official bracket with tip-off times is expected to be unveiled Tuesday afternoon. The Maui International takes place from Nov. 25-27 inside the Lahaina Civic Center.

Memphis has also scheduled home games against Ole Miss (Dec. 28), Mississippi State (Dec. 21), Missouri (Nov. 4) and Louisiana Tech (Dec. 4) for next season. Additionally, the Tigers will face Clemson (Dec. 14), Virginia (Dec. 18) and UNLV (Nov. 9) on the road and San Francisco for a neutral-site contest inside the Chase Center (Nov. 21).

Sources tell Bluff City Media that Memphis is adding one more home game to its non-conference schedule, which will be announced at a later date.

Hardaway’s club will also take on Alabama in a preseason exhibition on Oct. 28 inside Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the venue announced Monday morning. The scrimmage is a part of the 2024 Rocket City Classic and will be open to fans, who can secure tickets starting Friday at 10 a.m.

Memphis—currently ranked No. 25 on barttorvik.com—obviously has dealt itself a massive hurdle by putting together this non-conference slate. But Hardaway and Co. have assembled a roster this offseason that could be talented enough to get the Tigers over the hump, including eight new scholarship players via the transfer portal.

PJ Haggerty (6-foot-3) averaged 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for Tulsa last year, which helped him earn the AAC Freshman of the Year award.

Tyrese Hunter (6-foot) averaged 11.1 points and 4.1 assists for Texas in 2023-24. He also won the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award at Iowa State in 2021-22, and is 6-3 in NCAA Tournament games.

Colby Rogers (6-foot-4) scored 16.4 points per contest while shooting 40.9% from 3-point range (7.1 attempts per game) for Wichita State. PJ Carter (6-foot-5) averaged 9.5 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 41.5% from the field and 40.3% from 3-point range in 31 appearances for UTSA.

Moussa Cisse (7-foot) and Tyreek Smith (6-foot-8) averaged a combined 3.1 blocks per game last year for Ole Miss and SMU respectively. Dain Dainja (6-foot-9) averaged 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in limited minutes for an Illinois team that made the Elite Eight last season.

Nick Jourdain (6-foot-9) started 25 of 32 games for the Tigers in 2023-24, and put up 6.5 points and 4 rebounds per contest. He is Memphis’ only returning scholarship player.

The Tigers, who still have three open scholarships remaining, also welcome guards Baraka Okojie—a sophomore transfer from George Mason—and Jared Harris—a 4-star high school recruit.