Marquette Basketball: Preview of Maui Invitational opener vs UCLA Bruins

Marquette Basketball heads to Hawaii for the 40th Annual Maui Invitational to take on a talented, young UCLA team in the first round.

After scooting out of Champaign with a 71-64 victory over #23 Illinois on Tuesday, the Marquette Golden Eagles say aloha to Hawaii for the 40th annual Allstate Maui Invitational. Beginning Monday, November 20th, eight teams will battle for the classic early-season tournament title, shifting to Honolulu on the island of O’ahu while the traditional Lahaina Civic Center on Maui continues to be used as a hub for wildfire recovery.

Now in its 40th year, the Maui Invitational has become the staple of early-season tournaments, and all are pleased with the absolutely stacked lineup of teams making the trip this year. Hosted by Chaminade University, the tournament will also feature college basketball mainstays Kansas, Purdue, Tennessee, Gonzaga, UCLA, Syracuse, and Marquette. As of this writing, five of those teams are ranked in the top 11 of the AP Poll. Tournament teams also combine for 17 NCAA Tournament titles and three AP Coach of the Year Award winners in Bill Self, Mark Few, and Shaka Smart. You just couldn’t ask for a better appetizer to your Thanksgiving meal.

This isn’t Shaka Smart’s first foray with the tournament. He led the Texas Longhorns to the Maui title over North Carolina in 2020 in yet another year that the tournament had to relocate, being played in Asheville, North Carolina due to Covid. Having a previous title under his belt, Shaka will get his Golden Eagles ready for a heavy dose of early season competition, starting with blue bloods UCLA on Monday.

The Bruins head to Hawaii with a 3-0 record after a three-game homestand with convincing wins over St. Francis PA, Lafayette, and Long Island. Coach Mick Cronin leads his squad directly into their first competition of the season, where he will bring one of the nation’s top recruiting classes to face off against Marquette.

Complementing established big-man Adem Bona is 5-star Spanish recruit, 7’3” freshman Aday Mara, who has seen his minutes increase in the three games leading into the tournament and cracking the starting lineup for the first time against Long Island. He’s a force that brings a wide skill set in a 7+ foot frame that includes the finesse and vision that we see from centers in today’s game. UCLA also features one of the nation’s top young guards in freshman Sebastian Mack, joined by Utah transfer Lazar Stefanovic on the wing. What the Bruins may lack in experience, they make up for with raw talent. Shaka will not underestimate them.

Marquette is coming off a big road win at #23 Illinois, where they saw the breakout of 2022-23 All-American and Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek. In a game where it was questionable that he would play coming off of an ankle injury, Kolek went off for 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists across 37 minutes. Backcourt mate Kam Jones also added 11 of his 14 points in the final 8 minutes to seal the victory over the Illini.

Marquette will need solid play from their experienced backcourt, along with limiting UCLA’s talented frontcourt on defense and on the glass, to gain success in Maui if they plan on taking out the Bruins and moving on. The winner of the Marquette/UCLA game will take on the winner of the Kansas/Chaminade contest in the second round on Tuesday.

The Marquette Golden Eagles tip off against UCLA at 10:30pm est on Monday, November 20th on ESPN2.