LAHAINA » Memphis and Tennessee had to travel more than 4,000 miles to play one of the greatest games of their in-state rivalry.
Who cared if it was a consolation semifinal at the 2011 EA Sports Maui Invitational? The No. 8 Tigers and Volunteers sure didn’t, combining for innumerable big baskets and heart-stopping moments in a 99-97 double-overtime thriller won — eventually — by Memphis on Tuesday morning.
Well-traveled fans from both sides of the Volunteer State took turns standing and chanting for UT orange and Memphis blue in the packed Lahaina Civic Center.
The teams shook off their opening-round losses to Duke and Michigan and gave the fans the first overtime game in their series, and first multiple-OT contest in the Maui Invitational since Gonzaga-Michigan State went to triple overtime in 2005.
It finally ended on a go-ahead jumper by Memphis sophomore guard Antonio Barton with 1:15 to play and stalwart defense by the uber-athletic Tigers the rest of the way.
Kansas puts away UCLA to make final
LAHAINA » Elijah Johnson scored 23 points and No. 14 Kansas nearly blew all of a 20-point lead before pulling away for a 72-56 win over UCLA in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.
Thomas Robinson had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Tyshawn Taylor added 13 points and six assists and Kansas (3-1) reached today’s title game against Duke.
Tyler Lamb had 15 points and Jerime Anderson added 14 for UCLA (1-3).
Georgetown 88, Chaminade 61
Jason Clark hit six 3-pointers and had 28 points to lead the Hoyas (3-1) over the Silverswords (3-2).
The Hoyas hit nine 3-pointers, had 19 assists on 33 field goals and held a 38-19 rebounding advantage. Clark was 10-for-12 from the field, Otto Porter had 17 points and Georgetown shot 58 percent.
Waly Coulibaly led Chaminade with 18 points, and Matt Cousins added 10.
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While Conference USA’s Memphis returned its top six scorers from last season, Tennessee lost four starters and had several recruits scatter after the firing of former coach Bruce Pearl last season. The Volunteers of the SEC were thought by many to be a wayward program.
Tigers coach Josh Pastner was quick to suggest otherwise.
"Anyone who thought Tennessee was going to be down was wrong on that," Pastner said.
First-year Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin, a man of few words, remained stoic after the epic contest.
"For us it’s just playing an opponent. It just so happened to be Memphis tonight, and a great team," Martin said. "Once again, two teams that played really well. I didn’t really focus on the fact that they were from Tennessee … it was more just about trying to win a ballgame."
Not to be lost in the shuffle was the career night of 6-foot-7, 265-pound Vols junior forward Jeronne Maymon. All he did was grab a tournament-record 20 rebounds, score a game-high 32 points on 16-for-17 free-throw shooting, and score the tying basket with 5 seconds left in regulation.
Just about the only thing he couldn’t do was hit a rushed, turnaround 16-footer at the final buzzer to extend the game to a third extra period.
ESPN research notified tournament staff that the three previous players to have 30-20 games in Division I men’s basketball were Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, Kansas State’s Michael Beasley and Texas’ Kevin Durant.
Pastner was asked what happened after his team carried a 40-24 lead in the first half and appeared on the verge of running the Vols off the court, only to have their rival storm back in the second half.
"What happened is Tennessee’s a good team," Pastner said. "I’m really bad with names. So I mean, the kid No. 34 (Maymon) is just a stud. … Teams are going to come back, and they did, but we found a way to win it."
Memphis appeared to have it won several times, including just before Maymon’s shot when the Tigers’ Wesley Witherspoon stole an inbounds pass with 2.3 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
After a review, Witherspoon was ruled to have traveled while celebrating with 0.8 seconds left and gave the Vols one more shot. Still, Memphis escaped to play in today’s fifth-place game.
Guard Will Barton led the Tigers with career highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds. His brother Antonio added 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting and Adonis Thomas came off the bench to play 38 of 50 possible minutes and score 19 points.
It was only the second time the two rivals played on a neutral court. And the last time, in Oklahoma City in 1969, wasn’t nearly as far from home. Tennessee still leads the series 14-9, with the next meeting on Jan. 4.
Quite the haul
When No. 6 Duke and No. 15 Michigan met in the semifinals, it was a battle of two of the most successful programs in the history of the tournament.
Duke (four titles) and Michigan (two) combined for over one-fifth of the Maui Invitational titles in the event’s 28-year history.
By the semifinal round, it was guaranteed that there would be no new champion in 2011. Kansas and UCLA are both one-time winners.
Perdue honored
Former NBA veteran Will Perdue, the 1986 Maui Invitational MVP for Vanderbilt, was introduced to the crowd before the Duke-Michigan semifinal. The 7-foot-1 center received a loud round of applause.
