NCAA Basketball: Takeaways from 2020 Maui Invitational Tournament

The Maui Invitational has been completed. Here are the biggest takeaways from the eight NCAA Basketball teams involved.

One of the best traditions in NCAA Basketball is the Maui Invitational, which features some of the best programs that the sport has to offer. This time was no different, with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Texas Longhorns, and Stanford Cardinal participants in this event.

However, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the event was moved from Hawaii to Asheville in the state of North Carolina, without fans. In the weeks coming up to the event, there were concerns that programs could possibly drop out or that key players would test positive and be declared ineligible.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen, with the Maui Invitational going off without a hitch. We were treated with several quality matchups, including Stanford taking North Carolina to the limit in the semifinal matchup. The Tar Heels edged them out, creating a finals matchup between ranked teams and favorites Texas and UNC.

The Longhorns had the edge for most of the game, thanks to a barrage of three-pointers. But North Carolina’s strength inside allowed them to slowly come back, making it a tie game with seconds to go. In the end, a Matt Coleman jumper at the very end gave Texas the title and a massive resume-building win.

UNC had to settle for second, while Indiana got third place after beating Stanford. Alabama rebounded from their disastrous opening-round loss to finish in 5th after beating Providence, while Davidson got a win in this event after beating UNLV, who leaves winless and in last place.

There are plenty of different takeaways from this event. Here’s a look at the individual analysis of each participating program.