The Auburn Tigers are making an appearance in the championship game of the Maui Invitational for the first time in program history, hoping to end Thanksgiving week on top against the Memphis Tigers on Wednesday.
The two squads of Tigers are meeting for just the fourth time ever. The series is currently split at two games to one with Auburn in the lead, however, the last matchup went in favor of Memphis, 82-73 on Dec. 10, 2022 in Atlanta.
The boys from Memphis currently sit at 6-0 on the year as the season nears the end of its first month, defeating the Michigan State Spartans 71-63 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Both Auburn and Memphis are looking to finish off this week on a good note, making many national headlines. For Memphis, that means defeating three consecutive power conference opponents over the course of the week, while for Auburn, it means picking up a championship in Maui for the first time and extending its already impressive resume.
Ahead of tipoff on Wednesday evening, here is everything you need to know about the blue and gray Tigers.
Head coach:
The Memphis Tigers are led by former NBA star and alumnus Penny Hardaway, who has been at the helm of the program since 2018. He is the school’s 19th head coach, while also being the third former player in the modern era to take over.
Hardaway has enjoyed his fair share of coaching success at his alma mater. The 2022-23 season saw Hardaway led the Tigers to its most victories in the last decade with 26, including winning the American Athletic Conference title for the first time in program history. He has helped Memphis to see six consecutive 20-win seasons under his tenure, and last made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023, when his team was a No. 8 seed and lost in the first round to eventual Final Four team Florida Atlantic.
Offense:
The Tigers have been known to have one of the most physical and versatile teams over the course of recent years, especially on offense. This year is no different, and their offensive efforts are led by the dynamic duo of PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter.
Haggerty is currently the team’s leading scorer, torching opposing defenses in every game with his ability to shoot from anywhere on the court. The redshirt sophomore guard is averaging 21.3 points per game while shooting 47.4% from the field. Haggerty also draws a fair number of fouls. After shooting the second-highest number of attempts from the charity stripe in the nation last season, he is already off to a flying start in the early going this year with 54 free throw attempts, shooting 83.3% from the line.
Hunter is a transfer from Texas who is lethal from beyond the 3-point line. Coming into the Maui Invitational, the senior was ranked 22nd amongst all players in the country in 3-point percentage, and is now shooting 52.6%. He also is very reliable from the field as a whole, shooting 46.5% and scoring 17 points a game on average.
As a whole, while Hunter is a big problem from distance for opponents, so is the entirety of this roster. Memphis ranks No. 2 in the nation in 3-point percentage at 47.92%, only trailing to Houston. The team itself ranks 45th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 84.8 points per game, so the long-range shots are a large part of the success it has on the scoreboard.
The Tigers also have success in making it to the free-throw line many times throughout the game, tying for No. 9 in the nation in average charity stripe attempts at 29 per game. This could be a problem for Auburn after its foul trouble over the course of Tuesday’s victory.
Overall, Bruce Pearl and his squad will have their work cut out for them, as Memphis has the ability to run teams out of the gym should it get hot on offense.
Defense:
While the Tigers’ offense has allowed them to win games with their scoring ability and physicality, their defense has had a rough time keeping opponents from testing them. Memphis is currently allowing 73.8 points per game on average, ranking in the lower half of the nation in scoring defense.
From a relative persepctive, the Tigers do not force many turnovers, sitting in the middle of the pack in the nation with 13 forced turnovers per game. Part of that includes forcing 6.8 steals per game on top of their 3.8 blocks on average. As long as teams do not make careless mistakes, Memphis is not a team that is a huge threat defensively.
The Tigers’ best defensive rebounder is Haggerty, sitting at 29 through their six games thus far. Comparing that number to a player like Johni Broome does not stand particularly close, so Auburn has an opportunity to control the boards throughout this game, should it handle positioning.
None of that will stand true, however, if the boys from the Plains are unable to limit the 3-point shots from Memphis and cause some frustration amongst Hardaway’s squad.
The 2024 Maui Invitational championship game will tip off at 4 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Nov. 27 from the Lahaina Civic Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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Tyler Raley is a senior from Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He joined the Plainsman in the spring of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @traley34.
