The University of Memphis men's basketball team opened the Maui Invitational with a bang, taking down back-to-back national champion, No. 2 UConn, 99-97, in overtime in the opening round inside Lahaina Civic Center on Monday afternoon.

The win over the second-ranked Huskies (4-1) was the highest-ranked win for Memphis (5-0) since taking down No. 1 Houston in the AAC Championship, March 12, 2023.

The Tigers shot 55 percent for the game, led by senior guard Tyrese Hunter who had a monster day, hitting on 7-of-10 three-point attempts on his way to a season-high 26 points.

Redshirt-sophomore guard PJ Haggerty chipped in 22 points of his own, adding five assists and three rebounds before fouling out. Redshirt-senior guard Colby Rogers poured in 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting while redshirt-senior forward Dain Dainja scored an efficient 14 points of 7-of-10 from the field.

Tied at 92-92 late in overtime, a loose ball foul with 40 seconds remaining followed by a technical foul on UConn led to four-straight made free throws by PJ Carter to give the Tigers a 96-92 lead.

Carter went on to hit two more clutch free throws with 13 seconds left to put the Tigers back up four and ended the game with nine points. Both teams traded fouls and free throws in the final seconds before Memphis ultimately prevailed.

The Tigers withstood seven lead changes and led for over 28 minutes of game time in the win.

Memphis came out firing on all cylinders going 5-of-7 from the field to go on an 8-2 run that was capped off by a three-pointer from Hunter in the far corner to give the Tigers a 16-10 lead over the Huskies. Both teams traded baskets throughout the first half before UConn regained its lead with 6:31 remaining in the half off three consecutive buckets.

Hot shooting from Hunter, Haggerty and Nicholas Jourdain kept the Tigers in the fight with Dainja laying in a last second bucket to tie the game at 40 heading into the break.

Going toe-to-toe to open the second frame, the Tigers started hot with another three-pointer from Hunter in front of the Memphis bench. Haggerty, Dainja and Moussa Cisse added in points on trips down the floor to push the Tiger lead back out to five.

Memphis took a lead as much as 13 late in the second half, but the sharp shooting from the Huskies put them right back in the game.

In the final seconds of regulation, UConn got two free throws from Hassan Diarra and a three-pointer from the wing by Solo Ball to send the game into overtime tied at 82.

Free throws were the name of the game in OT with Memphis sinking seven from the charity stripe while getting clutch threes from Carter and Rogers. On a missed Huskies free throw with two seconds remaining on the clock, the Tigers locked down on defense to secure the 99-97 victory.
Memphis will play the winner of Colorado/Michigan State tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m. CT. Coverage of the game can be found on ESPN and 98.9 The Roar.