Maui Invitational 2017: Bracket, schedule, scores, and more
Two top-15 teams headline a solid field on the island.
Seven of college basketball’s most exciting teams will descend on the nation’s 50th state this week. The eighth, a Division II standby, will already be there.
The 2017 Maui Invitational will pit two top-15 teams against a handful of high-major competition in an idyllic setting to mint a preseason juggernaut. Teams from the Big East, AAC, ACC, Big Ten, and SEC will square off in an early-season tournament that could loom large when the NCAA Selection Committee finalizes its field of 68 in March.
The headliner of that group is a Wichita State team eager to build off last year’s 31-win campaign. Beating a lineup of recognizable competition would help the Shockers earn some extra respect in March — something that eluded them last year when they were relegated to a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Joining these Division I mainstays is host Chaminade, the Division II school that notably upset No. 1 Virginia in Maui back in 1982. They’ll have the chance to play David once again when the Silverswords open their tournament against Notre Dame Monday.
The teams
The Golden Bears got off to a rough start, losing their season opener against an eager UC Riverside team before rebounding to beat Cal Poly. Their 6’3 guard Don Coleman is a proven scorer but not necessarily an efficient one — he needed 28 shots to score 31 points against the Highlanders. California has plenty of questions to answer at point guard, and without a better distributor calling the plays, the Golden Bears could struggle to score in Maui.
Chaminade Silverswords
The Silverswords have a balanced attack that carried them to a pair of comfortable wins to open their season — but the degree of difficulty will get significantly higher against a top-15 Notre Dame team. Dantley Walker, who played at UNLV before transferring, is a high-volume three-point shooter who will be instrumental in any Chaminade upset, and 6’8 forward Braden Koelliker is the team’s tallest regular; he’ll be forced to work overtime this week.
New head coach Will Wade will try to rebuild the Tigers back into a powerhouse, but 2017-18 may be a year too early for a young team. Last year’s leading scorer, Antonio Blakeney, is gone. In his place are eight newcomers, including Oregon transfer Kavell Bigby-Williams, who will sit out this season. Tigers 5’11 freshman Tremont Waters filled up the basket in the team’s season opener, but he’ll have a much stiffer test finding ways to score against big league competition in Hawaii.
The Golden Eagles are in need of a big rebound after suffering a 15-point loss to No. 16 Purdue in their second game — and winning the Maui Invitational would do just that. Marquette’s lack of size cost it against the Boilermakers, but between Andrew Rowsey and Markus Howard, the team has the backcourt scoring to make up for its lack of big-man production.
The Wolverines will have to replace three starters from last year’s Big Ten title team after losing contributors like Derrick Walton, D.J. Wilson, and Zak Irvin. That will put pressure on Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Duncan Robinson and Mo Wagner to keep the program afloat in 2017-18. Wagner, a German national, has looked like an all-conference talent early in the season by posting double-doubles against North Florida and Central Michigan. He should be able to feast against Maui’s smaller lineups.
The 2017-18 Fighting Irish are led by preseason All-American Bonzie Colson, who is talented enough to keep this team in the top 25 all winter. While Notre Dame doesn’t have much in the way of big-man talent to help him in the post, senior point guard Matt Farrell has the shooting and passing chops to keep his team’s offense afloat. That duo could be enough to push the team back to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
VCU has the chops to compete in an Atlantic 10 that’s a bit more open after preseason favorite Rhode Island’s decisive loss to Nevada. The Rams will have the chance to reconnect with former head coach Will Wade if they roll to a Thursday showdown with LSU, and former All-Big South big man Khris Lane can show him what he’s missing with a big performance. VCU will rely heavily on newcomers this winter — aside from Lane, the team will rely on two freshmen, two junior college arrivals, and a second transfer. It will be tough for new coach Mike Rhoades to compete, but he has the talent to turn heads.
The Invitational’s 2017 headliner is Wichita State, a 30-win team with plenty of returning talent on board. Point guard Landry Shamet is the man to watch this week, as the sweet-shooting distributor could put himself into Wooden Award consideration with a string of strong performances. Big men Shaq Morris and Darral Willis give him some much-needed support up front, providing the kind of balance that’s made the Shockers the early favorite in Maui.
The Schedule
November 20
Game 1: Marquette 94, VCU 83
Game 2: Wichita State 92, vs. California 82
Game 3: Notre Dame 83, Chaminade 56
Game 4: LSU 77, Michigan 75
November 21
Wichita State 80, Marquette 66
VCU 83, California 69
Chaminade vs. Michigan
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Notre Dame vs. LSU
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
November 22
Cal vs. Michigan/Chaminade loser
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
VCU vs. Michigan/Chaminade winner
Time: 5 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Marquette vs. Notre Dame/LSU loser
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Wichita State vs. Notre Dame/LSU winner
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2