Penny Hardaway notched some huge victories in his first six years as Memphis basketball’s head coach.
The scrappy, 51-47 win at No. 19 Tennessee in 2019. The 69-59 shocker at No. 6 Houston in 2022. A 64-53 finish over Boise State in the 2022 NCAA Tournament—the program’s first March Madness win since 2014. And perhaps the most significant of all, the invigorating, 75-65 win against No. 1 Houston in the 2023 American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship game.
But is Monday’s 99-97 overtime thriller vs. No. 2 UConn—the back-to-back national champions—in the Maui Invitational the biggest of them all?
“Yeah, with the magnitude of what’s going on here at The [Maui] Invitational, I can say yes. That was [the] back-to-back national champions, undefeated, first round of the Maui tournament,” Hardaway, now in his seventh season, said postgame. “When we first got picked to play them, I was like, ‘Okay, starting off with a bang.’ I just got our team prepared. I used it as motivation.”
This game—technically speaking—wasn’t as consequential as others Hardaway’s coached in the past. A conference championship wasn’t on the line. UConn isn’t a big rival like Tennessee or Houston. The contest took place in November, not March.
But the difference for Hardaway has nothing to do with accolades or resumes.
“I’m actually not taking any of this for granted because I know how hard it is to win and especially beat a team like that,” he said. “I’m so excited for our university and the city more so than anything because we need more positivity…The entire city is happy right now, and that makes me happy.”
Tyrese Hunter led the way in Memphis’ upset bid. The 6-foot guard scored a game-high 26 points while shooting 61.5% from the field and 70% from 3-point range.
He notched 17 of those in the first 12 minutes of the second half on 4-for-5 perimeter shooting, including a deep 3-pointer that gave Memphis a 68-58 lead with 8:17 left in the period. Dan Hurley’s club called timeout a few seconds later, and cameras caught Hunter roaring, “I’m him! I’ve been him,” as he migrated to the Tigers’ bench.
“I played these guys last year in New York, and I know the type of intensity that they were going to bring for the game, so I knew what to expect,” the Texas transfer said postgame. “But just being in that stretch and being in the flow, it felt good.”
UConn didn’t stay down for good, though, even after Memphis cruised to a 79-67 advantage with 3:18 left in regulation.
Huskies freshman Liam McNeeley drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 4 points at the 1:55 mark. The Tigers then took a huge blow after leading scorer PJ Haggerty, who finished with 22 points and 5 assists, fouled out with 24 seconds left. This led to UConn guard Solo Ball sending things to overtime with a game-tying 3-pointer in Hunter’s face.
Colby Rogers knew then he had to step up. The Wichita State transfer scored 8 of Memphis’ 17 overtime points on 75% shooting, and finished the contest with 19 points in 39 minutes. His biggest shot re-knotted the score at 92 apiece with 1:07 left after UConn seemed destined to steamroll Memphis just minutes earlier.
“That’s why our team is so dangerous because we’re so talented and so deep that once PJ [Haggerty] went out, I’ve got to step up, be more aggressive,” Rogers said. “‘Rese was already on fire, and then I just made shots late, and we got the win.”
PJ Carter then closed the gap for good with 4 free throws after McNeeley committed a costly over-the-back foul while battling with Carter for an offensive rebound. Hurley—heavily disagreeing with the call—added onto that with some expletives towards the officials.
The Tigers, unlike Hurley and UConn, didn’t let their emotions get the best of them despite the high-stress situation. Hunter made sure of it.
“It’s intense, but when it comes down to it, you’ve got to make sure your head is on straight. Don’t lose track of what’s going on like with the emotion, the scramble that the guys have,” he said. “You’ve just got to make sure the guys are together so you can try to continue to win the game.”
Memphis faces Michigan State in the second round of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday (5 p.m., ESPN).