Is Maui still no ka oi when it comes to college basketball tournaments in Hawaii?

At least for now the Diamond Head Classic is No. 1 after Tuesday’s tremendous championship final.

No. 3 Arizona. No. 17 San Diego State. Down to the final seconds. Fans from both schools going crazy at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The undefeated Wildcats prevailed with a great last-second defensive play, a block at the rim by guard Nick Johnson. He’d used his hops to showboat on a 360-degree breakaway dunk on the opening day of the tourney. On the final play of the DHC, Johnson added a whole lot of substance to the style.

The only thing that would have made it better would be the University of Hawaii in the final.

Nothing against the Maui Invitational. Just an off-year and a great one for the Diamond Head.

Need some evidence? Just look at Hawaii’s opponents that played in Lahaina. The Maui champion, Illinois, would have lost to UH a few days before the tourney if not for a last-gasp 3-pointer to beat the Rainbow Warriors. Chaminade, which beat Texas in the quarterfinals on Maui, lost to UH later on Molokai.

And Hawaii went 1-2 here, victim of shaky backcourt play.

At least the Hawaii Tourism Authority won big, with lots of (file) shots of sunny island skies broadcast nationwide.

We always hear a lot about the great atmosphere at the Maui Invitational. Call me crazy, but I prefer a modern college arena like the Stan Sheriff Center to a smaller and older venue like the Lahaina Civic.

Anywhere is great when your team is playing, it is ranked and it’s going up against another of the best in the country. That’s what Maui has most years, and that’s what the Diamond Head had Tuesday. The San Diego State and Arizona fan bases both traveled well, and their teams played tremendously after a sluggish start.

Chants of "U-of-A" and "SD-SU" filled the arena throughout.

Arizona coach Sean Miller said the Wildcats had no hesitation in accepting the invitation. Other top programs have passed on Hawaii this close to the start of conference play. But Arizona is off until opening Pac-12 competition a week from Thursday.

The crowd for the final filled less than half of the arena, but it was loud and spirited.

Next year things could be even more interesting with Oregon State in the field. Beavers coach Craig Robinson’s brother-in-law has been known to drop in on some of his games. If President Barack Obama is in his hometown on vacation again a year from now, he might decide to come watch the Beavers.

"We all know the president loves basketball. If that happens, we’re going to have to figure a lot of things out," said DHC executive director David Matlin. "We’d have to make it seamless."

Maybe a matchup between his hometown team and his wife’s sibling’s could cause some internal debate on rooting interest for the Hoops Fan in Chief.

Even if they don’t play each other, it would still give folks another reason to show up or stick around, as long as they don’t mind metal detectors.

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.