They weren’t leaving Maui without beating North Carolina. Or at least put up the best wire-to-wire fight they could. It’s as if they firmly understood that if you want to be taken seriously,

MAUI, Hawaii — Memphis basketball took down Michigan State 71-63 Tuesday to advance to the Maui Invitational championship game for the first time in program history. The Tigers (6-0) will face No. 3 Auburn (6-0) on Wednesday (4 p.m. CT, ESPN).

Michigan State basketball went into the third place game of the Maui Invitational against No. 12 North Carolina without arguably their best player, Jase Richardson, but the Spartans still found a way to win in an overtime thriller. The Spartans defeated North Carolina, 94-91, overcoming their own choke job to win a big time nonconference game.