Special to Sports Hawaii
Michigan and Duke will Square Off in Maui
By Raymond Rolak
U. of M. Impressive in Upset of Memphis
LAHAINA— The Blue Devils have been the kings on Maui, winning titles in 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2007. “That’s the reason it’s been such a great tournament because they’ve always had great fields,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “This one measures up to any of the others in the past,” he added with the famous Kaanapali Beach in the background. Over the years, Duke has been 13-0 here. This was said on the dais before all the game action started.
Michigan has a pedigree of winning here also. They won in 1985 and 1988 and right now they are hot. They haven’t had the New York-North Carolina-Hawaii travel schedule that Duke just endured.
It is not a normal student break nor is it a vacation. The famous Aloha hospitality will be in abundance but beach diversions are not conducive to basketball preparations. Duke and Coach ‘K’ are in Maui for the Thanksgiving recess.
All are participating in the EA Sports Maui Invitational. It is an impressive field of teams, including No. 4 UConn, No. 10 Memphis, No. 12 Kansas, No. 17 Michigan, Tennessee, UCLA, Georgetown and Chaminade.
Duke freshman Austin Rivers had four 3-pointers to help sink Tennessee 77-67. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 points and Michigan freshman Trey Burke had 14 as the Wolverines upset Memphis 73-61.
The Lahaina Civic Center will be rocking for this one. The two winners meet Wednesday on ESPN at 7:00 p.m. EST.
Photo by Chris Bronson
When asked about the highly rated Memphis defense, Hardaway said, “I think it was just preparation. We were talking to our coaches and finding an easy way to score on offense. We took advantage of it and it helped us out in the long run.
Michigan coach John Beilein was trying to squeeze in playing time for most. He said post-game, “We’re going to be here for three days win or lose. So I wanted to make sure we gave a little more rest than we had been giving. Really, we stopped and embraced the moment.”
After his game Krzyzewski said, “But John (Beilein) does a great job. He’s got a veteran team. For them to beat Memphis like that, they must have played a great basketball game, because Memphis is one of the most talented teams in the country.” He added, “I have to get on Detroit’s time zone now. It has been a hectic week.”
The latter is referring to the hectic pace since breaking the all time coaching wins record at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Coach ‘K’ total is now at 905.
Sports Hawaii Editors Note: In 1985, Raymond Rolak, Michael Reghi, Jon Brekke and Brian Kohne broadcast the first national telecast of the Maui Basketball Tournament. Michigan beat Kansas State 80-58 with Dell Curry of Virginia Tech named as Outstanding Player.