LAHAINA >> When Auburn point guard Jared Harper — generously rounded up to 5 feet 11 — took a couple of dribbles from the 3-point arc and tomahawked it over Xavier’s entire frontcourt with a couple of minutes to go in overtime, teammate Bryce Brown knew what that meant.
Checkmate.
“Game over. Game over. I already knew it was over after that,” said Brown, who scored 26 to go with Harper’s 25. “Jared, he’s a phenomenal player, I’ve really enjoyed playing with him these past few years. So when he makes plays like that it just gives the whole team confidence … on both ends of the court.”
Brown flushed one himself to cap the 88-77 victory in the Maui Invitational quarterfinals.
“I tried to come back at Jared with a (“SportsCenter”) Top 10 one, but it’s hard to top one like that,” Brown said. “That was crazy.”
It could stand as the dunk of the tournament, but Duke’s Zion Williamson might have something to say about that from now through Wednesday. Bruce Pearl’s Tigers advanced to face the top-ranked Blue Devils in today’s 3 p.m. semifinal.
No. 3 Gonzaga survives
Third-ranked Gonzaga got a stiff challenge from Illinois but held on tight to prevail 84-78 in the last of today’s quarterfinal matchups in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
The West Coast Conference’s perennial juggernaut committed 22 turnovers, but shot 52.9 percent to overcome that. Forward Rui Hachimura led the Bulldogs (4-0) with 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting.
Illinois guard Trent Frazier had a step-back 3 to try to take the lead with 16 seconds left, but he airballed the attempt and finished with 29 points — 27 in the second half — for the Fighting Illini (1-2) of the Big Ten. Jeremy Jones (14 points, 11 rebounds) hit two free throws for Gonzaga, which followed with a blocked shot and a Hachimura fast-break dunk to end it.
Seat saved for “Oc”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski made note of a placard in the front row of the Lahaina Civic Center press room that designated a front-row seat for the late longtime Associated Press college basketball writer Jim O’Connell.
O’Connell, who was well known among the biggest-name coaches in the game, died in June at age 64.
“It brought a smile to my face to see the chair for ‘Oc.’ God bless him,” Krzyzewski said. “This was one of his favorite favorites. The only guy to ever come here who never saw the beach. Even coaches, on a day off or something, we walk it. He wouldn’t do that. So that’s a cool thing.”
Local fan hits halfcourt shot for prize
Maui firefighter Michael Howe sank a halfcourt shot in a break during the third quarterfinal of the day between Iowa State and Arizona, won 71-66 by the Wildcats
He won 50,000 Starwood points toward a stay at a resort. He was the first person to win the promotion in the six years it’s been offered at the Maui Invitational, per the Maui News.
Every fan base shows up
The Lahaina Civic Center never lacked for a packed house on Day 1. All eight visiting fan bases — Duke, Gonzaga, Auburn, Arizona, Illinois, Iowa State, Xavier and San Diego State — filled their fan seating sections to deafening effect in the 2,400-seat venue. Traditional host Chaminade is not in it for the first time this year as tournament organizers sought to strengthen the field. The Silverswords will play on Maui in alternating years and are back in 2019.
Hemsley holds his own
Jeremy Hemsley, a San Diego State guard, scored 12 points in the Aztecs’ 90-64 loss to No. 1 Duke. He is the older brother of UH redshirt freshman Justin Hemsley.
