Best and Worst from the Maui Invitational
With its one-sided victory over Wisconsin on Wednesday night, North Carolina captured this year’s Maui Invitational. Below is a look at the best and worst from one of the holiday season’s most anticipated tournaments:
TEAM THAT EXCELLED: NORTH CAROLINA
The most loaded holiday tournament of the season was no challenge for North Carolina. The Tar Heels won three games by an average of 30 points apiece including a 71-56 throttling of 16th-ranked Wisconsin in the title game. Point guard Joel Berry was the best player in Maui, lighting up the Badgers for 22 points on only 12 shots just one day after he torched Oklahoma State for 24 on only 10 field goal attempts. North Carolina’s frontcourt also dominated the glass and held Wisconsin without an offensive rebound for the game’s first 27 minutes. Three strong games in Maui suggest that North Carolina should again be among the nation’s best teams despite the graduation of Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige and a preseason injury to projected starter Theo Pinson. At this point, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Tar Heels challenge Duke in the ACC and make it back to the Final Four.
TEAM THAT GOT EXPOSED: UCONN
When UConn arrived in Maui, it hoped to prove that its 1-2 start was a fluke. The Huskies instead dropped two of three games added to concerns that this season may not be salvageable. The only win UConn secured in Maui was a too-close-for-comfort victory over Division II Chaminade. Aside from that, the Huskies were scarcely competitive in losses against Oklahoma State and Oregon. Chief among UConn’s concerns is an inability to score consistently against a tightly packed zone or man-to-man designed to force the cold-shooting Huskies into contested 3-pointers. UConn has been better on defense, but the Huskies surrender too many second-chance opportunities. Adding to UConn’s issues are two key injuries. The Huskies lost do-it-all swingman Terry Larrier for the season to an ACL tear in Maui and are still without McDonald’s All-American guard Alterique Gilbert because of a dislocated left shoulder.
PLAYER WHO SHINED IN THE SPOTLIGHT: JAWUN EVANS
It surely raised some eyebrows when Jawun Evans won Big 12 freshman of the year last season despite missing half of conference play due to injuries. This week in Maui, Evans provided a reminder why he deserved that award. Evans led Oklahoma State to an impressive third-place finish by scoring 78 points in three games and dishing out nearly three times as many assists as turnovers. The sophomore point guard torched UConn for 35 points in the opening round, lit up North Carolina for 30 in a losing effort in the semifinals and then put up 13 points and six assists in a victory over Georgetown in the third-place game. With Evans, sharpshooter Phil Forte and much-improved forward Jeffrey Carroll leading the way, Oklahoma State has a chance to contend for an NCAA tournament bid in new coach Brad Underwood’s debut season. Not bad for a program that went an injury-plagued 3-15 in league play last year.
PLAYER WHO SHRANK IN THE SPOTLIGHT: TYLER DORSEY
With All-American candidate Dillon Brooks still shaking the rust off in Maui after returning from offseason foot surgery, Oregon desperately needed co-star Tyler Dorsey to help pick up the slack. Alas for the Ducks, the sophomore couldn’t emerge from his slump in time. Dorsey scored just two points on 1-for-7 shooting and committed five turnovers in a surprising opening-round loss to Georgetown on Monday. That helped relegate Oregon to the losers bracket, where the preseason top-five Ducks did manage to defeat rebuilding Tennessee and struggling UConn. Credit Dorsey for showing signs of life against the Huskies with an efficient 19 points, but Oregon needs those contributions from him more consistently to have any chance of living up to preseason expectations. Dorsey has to create scoring opportunities off the dribble and knock down spot-up jumpers when left free.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
