Dayton to play North Carolina in Maui Invitational opener

The complete bracket was released Tuesday. The tournament takes place Nov. 25-27 at the Lahaina Civic Center.

“This year’s Maui Invitational is one of the strongest fields in tournament history,” said Dave Odom, tournament chairman, in a press release. “The field is packed with teams looking to make a run in the NCAA Tournament along with UConn who is making their fifth appearance in the Maui Invitational and looking to defend their back-to-back national championships.”

Dayton’s first game starts at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time. With the five-hour time difference in November, it will be a 6:30 p.m. start in Hawaii. The game will air on ESPN2. It’s the last of four first-round games.

Dayton leads the series against North Carolina 2-1. The Flyers beat the Tar Heels 76-62 in the national semifinals in 1967, lost 81-51 at the Dean Dome in 2006 and won 79-68 in the NIT championship game in 2010.

The Tar Heels finished 29-8 last season and return their leading scorer: 6-0, fifth-year guard R.J. Davis (21.2), a leading candidate for national player of the year in 2024-25.

In other first-round games:

• Memphis plays two-time defending national champion Connecticut at 2:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. Hawaii time) on ESPN2.

• Colorado plays Michigan State at 5 p.m. (noon) on ESPN2.

• Auburn plays Iowa State at 9 p.m. (4 p.m.) on ESPNU.

The Flyers will play Auburn or Iowa State in their second game on Nov. 26. That game will take place at 6 p.m. (1 p.m.) if they’re in the winners bracket or 3:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m.) if they’re in the consolation bracket.

Here’s what fans should know about the tournament:

Ticket info: According to a UD press release, “Limited all-tournament and a variety of booster ticket-only packages will go on sale Friday, and local fans will continue to receive their special Kama’āina ticket rate, which will go on sale Aug. 29. Each ticket option will be available online only starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian time/3 p.m. Eastern time.”

Strong field: Five teams that finished the season ranked in the Associated Press top 25 will play in the tournament: No. 1 UConn; No. 7 North Carolina; No. 8 Iowa State; No. 18 Auburn; and No. 24 Dayton. Four of those teams ranked in ESPN’s way-too-early preseason top-25 prediction in July: No. 3 UConn; No. 7 Iowa State; No. 10 North Carolina; and No. 11 Auburn.

Seven of the eight teams in the field played in the 2024 NCAA tournament. Three of the teams reached at least the Sweet 16: Iowa State; North Carolina; and UConn.

History lesson: The field includes three past Maui Invitational champions: North Carolina (1999, 2004, 2008 and 2016); UConn (2005 and 2010; Michigan State (1991); and Dayton (2003).

North Carolina will make its ninth appearance in the tournament. Michigan State and Memphis will each play in the event for the sixth time. It will be the fifth appearance for Dayton and UConn and the third for Iowa State. Auburn and Colorado will make their Maui Invitational debuts.

Dayton will travel to Maui for the first time since 2019 when it beat Georgia and Virginia Tech before losing 90-84 in overtime to Kansas in the championship game. The runner-up performance vaulted Dayton into the top 25, where they stayed for the rest of the season.

Back home: This will be the first Maui Invitational played at the Lahaina Civic Center since 2022. The 2023 tournament, played three months after the wildfires that killed at least 102 people in Lahaina, moved to the Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

Here’s a quick glance at the other six teams:

Auburn: Dayton was 4-0 in the series until losing both games in a home-and-home series in 2017 and 2018 in UD coach Anthony Grant’s first two seasons.

Auburn returns its leading scorer, 6-foot-10 senior forward Johni Broome (16.5 points per game), and one other double-digit scorer, 6-7 senior Chad Baker-Mazara (10.0).

Colorado: Dayton is 1-4 against Colorado and 0-3 in games played in this century.

When the teams last played in December 2019, Colorado’s D’Shawn Schwartz made a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to beat No. 13 Dayton 78-76 in the Chicago Legends event at the United Center.

Colorado set a program record for victories last season, finishing 26-11 and making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance in coach Tad Boyle’s 14 seasons. It lost five double-digit scorers from that roster.

Connecticut: Dayton leads 2-1. The Flyers won 76-75 at UD Arena in 1982 and 80-66 in the first round of the Maui Invitational in 2000. Connecticut won the last matchup 75-64 in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Tipoff in 2014.

UConn returns one starter, 6-8 sophomore forward Alex Karaban (13.3 points per game), from a team that won its second straight national championship in 2024.

Iowa State: Dayton is 0-2 in this series with losses in 1987 and 1988.

Iowa State finished 29-8 last season and returns its four leading scorers: senior guard Keshon Gilbert (13.7); junior guard Tamin Linsey (12.4); fifth-year guard Curtis Jones (11.0); and sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic (10.9).

Memphis: Dayton leads the series 13-8 but has lost the last five games. Memphis won the only game played in the series in this century: 71-60 in the first round of the NIT in 2021.

Memphis finished 22-10 last season and lost three-double digit scorers.

Michigan State: The Spartans won the only two games in the series in 1991 and 1992. The Flyers and Spartans would have played in the Maui Invitational semifinals in 2019, but Virginia Tech upset Michigan State in the first round.

Michigan State finished 20-15 last season and returns one of four double-digit scorers: senior guard Jaden Akins (10.4).