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Despite coming into a loaded Maui Invitational field as one of the four unranked teams in the tournament, the Memphis Tigers are now just one win away from being crowned champions of what is arguably the most well-known event of Feast Week. In getting to this point, Memphis held off a late rally from the two-time defending NCAA Champion UConn Huskies in an opening round overtime win, and then handled their business against legendary head coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans.
After the win over Sparty, Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway spoke with the media and laid out what he saw from his Tigers during the 71-63 win.
“I saw grit. I saw toughness. I saw execution. I saw winners,” Hardaway said during his postgame press conference, per Parth Upadhyaya of the Daily Memphian.
Hardaway, who led Memphis to an Elite Eight as a player back in 1992, would expand on this even further when he spoke to college basketball insider Andy Katz.
“These guys are ready to play, man. They worked so hard and they're ready for their moment. And yesterday's game took a lot of energy, but they got up this morning with high energy and was ready for today's game. They want to belong in the top tier of the NCAA,” Hardaway said.
Hardaway notes that he's been surprised by the instant chemistry that this team with 13 new players has had, and coming into the season, he was aware of the fact that his team may not be given the respect they deserved because of all the new faces.
“I can understand why people didn't give us the nod early, but that's why we played one of the toughest non-conference schedules because we know we have to show what we were,” Hardaway said.
Well, right now, Memphis is a team that is a perfect 6-0 with victories in Maui over UConn and Michigan State, along with wins back on the mainland over San Francisco, Missouri, UNLV and Ohio.
