No. 2 UConn opens Maui Invitational against Memphis

LAHANAI, Hawaii – The No. 2 UConn men’s basketball team (4-0) will compete in the 2024 Maui Invitational this week. First up in the absolutely full field is a quarterfinal against Memphis (4-0) on Monday at 2:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. HT to open the tournament. The contest will air on ESPN2, with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas.

It will be Connecticut’s fifth-ever appearance at the inaugural Feast Week event as they look to take home the crown, as they did in 2005 and 2010. UConn has mostly performed well in its multi-team events (MTEs) throughout the season. Its most recent streak was winning the 2022 Phil Knight Invitational and 2023 Empire Classic before national titles. The Huskies have played in one MTE in each of the last 20 seasons and won seven. Dan Hurley is 13-3 in MTEs as head coach at UConn.

In addition to UConn and Memphis, on one side are Colorado and Michigan State, who the Huskies will face on Tuesday. Rounding out the event are Auburn, Dayton, Iowa State and North Carolina. At the 2024 Maui Invitational, four teams are ranked in the top 15 metrics and all eight are ranked in the top 70.

UConn and Memphis have faced each other 16 times in the past, all but one meeting coming when the two were leaguemates in the AAC from 2013-2020. The Huskies won the last meeting at the end of the 2019/20 season 64:61 and equalized their all-time record at 8:8. The Huskies have played every member of the field at least once in program history, including both Auburn and Michigan State at the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis.

The Huskies are off to a 4-0 start this season after opening the year with four home games. Alex Karaban leads a balanced offense with 16.3 points per game as the Preseason All-American connects on 63.6 percent of attempts from the floor and 54.2 percent from downtown. Karaban is the anchor of a UConn team that ranks in the top five in the country in scoring defense (51.0 points per game) and leads America in scoring percentage (+37.8) and blocked shots (10.8).

Solo ball And Liam McNeeley are in second place on the squad with 13.5 points per game each. Ball is hitting 47.4 percent of his 3-point attempts and has increased his points output by 10.2 per game in his first year. McNeeley ranks second on the squad with 7.0 rebounds per game and recorded two double-doubles early in his freshman season. Tarris Reed Jr. is the fourth Husky in double figures with 11.8 points per game and is first in the BIG EAST with 9.8 rebounds per game.

The Tigers come to Maui with a 4-0 record and most recently beat San Francisco at Chase Center. PJ Haggerty leads Memphis as one of the top scorers in the country with 22.5 points per game, shoots 50.0 percent from 3-point range and adds 5.8 rebounds per contest. Tyrese Hunter adds 13.3 per game while Dain Dainja adds 10.0 and grabs a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game.

UConn’s opponent and game time for Tuesday will be determined based on the results of the Colorado vs. Michigan State game.