Maui Invitational Preview

Story posted November 21, 2015 in CommRadio, Sports by Mike Wszolek

The week leading up to Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without the Maui Invitational Tournament in Maui, Hawaii. The tournament will take place Monday, Nov. 23 to Wednesday, Nov. 25. Opening games Monday will feature St. John’s vs. Vanderbilt, Wake Forest vs. Indiana, Kansas vs. Chaminade, and UNLV vs. UCLA. The Arizona Wildcats defeated San Diego St. by two last year to take the 2014 title. All teams participating are part of Division I basketball except Chaminade University, which is a part of Division II basketball. With an enrollment of around 1,300, Chaminade is the host university although they are from Honolulu instead of Maui. Even though Chaminade finished last in the 2014 tournament, they always seem to put up a fight. Let’s take a look at this year’s participants.

St. John’s:

The Red Storm will go to Hawaii undefeated after getting by Wagner, UMBC, and Rutgers. St. John’s will have stiffer competition in the tournament, however this is a chance for young team to improve. Only one senior is on the roster with a majority of the players either being sophomores or freshman. Federico Mussini, a freshman from Italy, has averaged over 16 points through his first three games and will be a standout for the team in Hawaii.

Vanderbilt:

Vanderbilt is ranked in the top 20 through the first few weeks of the NCAA season. With the team also being undefeated entering the tournament, the first game against the Red Storm should be a spectacular one. The Commodores will enter Maui with a nail-biting win over Stony Brook, a team they were supposed to handle with ease. They also have center Damian Jones on their team who is a 7-foot junior and led the SEC in field goal  percentage last year. He is averaging over 11 points through the team’s first three games.

Wake Forest:

The fans in Winston-Salem are hoping for something positive to come out of this basketball team after a disappointing football season. Second year coach Danny Manning will lead the team once again after finishing 13-19 in his first year. The Deacons were looking to go into the tournament on a high note, but an 11-point defeat to Richmond was the last thing they wanted, as most teams go into the tournament undefeated. In their first three games, Wake has given up an average of 82 points a game.

Indiana:

If everything goes right, the Hoosiers should make it to the championship game. This team looks scary good and truly like a top 15 team in all of college basketball. When you have an experienced coach plus Yogi Ferrell and James Blackmon, Jr on the court at the same time, it’s going to be hard for the opponent to get anything going. The offense has been unstoppable and has scored at least 86 points per game.

Kansas:

The other favorite to reach the final, Kansas, is coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Michigan State in Chicago. Throughout the whole season, senior forward, Perry Ellis, will be the leader on this team. This is the year for Ellis to have a breakout season and expect him to standout in Maui. A matchup with Chaminade is the perfect way for Kansas to regain their mojo after the loss to the Spartans.

Chaminade:

The Jayhawks are probably the worst opponent for Chaminade to start out with, but it will give the team great experience against an established Division I basketball team. The Silverswords finished their Division II season last year at 12-14 and knocked off a few teams ranked in the Division II Top 25. In 2012, Chaminade defeated Texas in the first round for what would be the upset of the year up to that point. They ultimately fell in the third place game, but look for the Swords to make some noise in this year’s tournament.

UNLV:

Although UNLV hasn’t had any competition yet this year, the Rebels will enter with three wins. They squeaked out a two-point win at home to Cal Poly in their opener. The Rebels came out winning one but also dropping a game. Top scorer from last season, Patrick McCaw has already made his mark on the program and has gotten off to a strong start this season. A date with UCLA for their first game in this tournament should be an amazing one.

UCLA:

For UCLA’s sake, let’s hope this game can turn their season around. The Bruins lost to Monmouth, a small university in New Jersey, in overtime to start their season out on a horrible note. They followed that up with two wins; unfortunately those wins were closer than they were supposed to be. Reaching the Sweet 16 last year, UCLA is hoping to get back there again this year. The problem is that they only have a few quality starters on the team this year. Tony Parker and Bryce Alford have been the standout stars for UCLA thus far, but this team needs somebody to come off the bench and help out these two players. This is the perfect opportunity to get some quality wins in Hawaii.

The tournament never seems to disappoint since starting all the way back in 1984. Year after year the games are always competitive and exciting. The eight teams competing this year had a combined record of 154-111 last season and have a combined record of 17-5 this season.


Mike Wszolek is a freshman majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email mewszolek@gmail.com.