MAUI COUNTY, Hawaii — Memphis' guard tandem of Tyrese Hunter and PJ Haggerty combined for 39 points and Memphis beat Michigan State 71-63 on Tuesday to advance to the Maui Invitational title game.
The Tigers (6-0) will take on the winner of the Tuesday's late game between No. 4 Auburn and No. 12 North Carolina.
Hunter scored 23 points, shooting 5 of 10 on 3-point attempts. He had seven 3-pointers in the Tigers' 99-97 overtime victory over No. 2 UConn on Monday. Haggerty added 16 points with nine rebounds. The two guards teamed for 48 points against UConn.
Colby Rogers added 10 points for Memphis, which shot 47%.
Jase Richardson scored 18 points with a trio of 3-pointers to lead the Spartans (5-2). Jaden Akins added 12 and Frankie Fidler 10. Michigan State came in at a Division I-worst 3-point percentage of 20% but shot 35%, as did Memphis, from the arc. The Spartans gave up 22 points off 13 turnovers and shot 42%.
Michigan State cut a 15-point deficit to seven with five minutes left but Hunter came through with a four-point play. The Spartans got as close as five on two Jeremy Fears Jr. free throws with 45 seconds left but didn't score again.
The game was tied early in the second half before Memphis started to pull away. Haggerty and Rogers hit 3-pointers then Moussa Cisse added a three-point play with an offensive rebound and reverse layup to make it a 15-point lead with 11 minutes left.
A couple of Hunter 3-pointers sandwiched around a Cisse dunk midway through the first half gave the Tigers a lead they held through the remainder of the half. The Spartans finished the final three minutes on a 8-2 run with Richardson's 3 at the end of the half getting the Spartans within three.
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