EA Sports Maui Invitational: 11 Most Important Things We Learned from It

Between November 11 and 23, 12 college basketball teams performed in the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Memphis, Michigan, Tennessee, UCLA and Chaminade—who was the host—were the Maui Island teams.

Belmont, Middle Tennessee, Towson, and UNC Greensboro were the Maui Mainland teams.

There were a lot of exciting and close games. Not surprisingly, Duke emerged as the winner and hoisted up the Wayne Duke Championship Trophy.

Watching these teams over the course of the past few weeks, we've learned 11 important things...

Roles in Memphis

It has been stressed since the beginning of the season that Memphis define roles for their players to perform out on the court.

They lost to No. 15 Michigan 73-61 in the quarterfinals of the tournament in a game where they lost the battle of rebounds. They won in overtime against Tennessee before losing the fifth-place spot against Georgetown in OT.

They are one of the worst teams in terms of rebounds and assists, but they have point-scorers.

We learned that Will Barton, a sophomore guard, has slowly stepped up in his role, averaging about 19.3 points a game. Against Tennessee and Georgetown, Barton put up a total of 47 field goals.

We learned that the seniors Wesley Witherspoon and Charles Carmouche seem more interested in hogging the ball, as we saw in the Michigan game.

They need to define roles and share the ball. Playing like a team leads to strong wins.

Memphis Rebounds

After an ugly 1-2 run in Hawaii, the Tigers learned two things: They need to get better at rebounding the ball and play better defensively.

They have averaged only about eight rebounds a game so far this season.

Forward Tarik Black has had more fouls than rebounds thus far this year. That needs to change. In four games, Black has a total of 12 rebounds. He's disappointing his team in limiting his defense by fouling.

Memphis needs to change this if they want to rebound from this 1-2 run.

Michigan Is Building Strong

The Michigan Wolverines did a complete 180-degree turn from their awful 2009-10 season. They are slowly making their way back up to the top, and their strong start proves that Michigan will stay in the rankings this year.

They have everyone back on the team from last year except for Darius Morris, who left for the NBA draft, and Jordan Dumars. They have a few new freshmen entering the team as well.

They took out No. 8 Memphis.

They stayed in the game against No. 6 Duke.

These Wolverines might have a strong season.

Duke-Michigan Rivalry

The Duke-Michigan rivalry is still going strong. The Wolverines lost close games to Duke in the NCAA tournament to end last season and again in the Maui Invitational Tournament.

This is a rivalry that has built up over the years but seemed to ignite some fuel after the release of the ESPN documentary The Fab Five before their meeting in the 2011 NCAA tournament game.

In the recent game against Duke, Michigan had their highest-scoring game of the season. During the first four games, they averaged about 63.7 points a game. Against the Blue Devils, they scored a high of 75.

Tensions were felt in this game, but Duke prevailed.

The heated rivalry still exists.

Reeves Nelson Is Not the Answer for UCLA

UCLA needs to figure out what their problem is and fix it fast. They've lost four of their first five games. They need to win those Division I games.

Critics say that the problem is Reeves Nelson, who was suspended earlier this season for missing a team meeting. He was benched for the first half of the Chaminade game after missing the team bus to the airport to catch the flight to Hawaii.

While Nelson lost his starting lineup job, he's not the problem.

The team needs to find a solution either with him or without him.

Kansas Needs Consistent Scoring

In the Maui Invitational title game, the Jayhawks bench was held scoreless.

Naadir Tharpe, Conner Teahan and Justin Wesley, who combined for only 30 minutes of play, attempted just one field goal and didn't even have an assist or rebound.

Kansas need to find depth within their bench players. They need to maintain a consistent scoring game from their bench players.

Their starting five put up some good points, but they need rest. Star guard Tyshawn Taylor committed 11 turnovers against Duke, a school-record. The bench players need to step up and aid the starters.

Kansas needs to find more depth from their players and their games.

Georgetown Passes the Test

Georgetown has been underestimated since the start of this season.  The Hoyas roster has six freshmen and four sophomores, and no one truly believes in this young group.

Participating in the Maui Invitational proved how tough and good this team is. They went 3-1 in the tournament. They lost a close game against Kansas, nearly overcoming the Jayhawks.

They had a hard test against Memphis but prevailed in overtime. Despite them being 4-1, they are still unranked. Apparently, they have yet to show their worth.

Emerging 3-1 from the Maui Invitational deserves some praise. Especially for a young group.

Tennessee Is Better Than Record Indicates

Tennessee's only win in the Maui Invitational was against Chaminade. Both of their losses were against ranked teams: No. 8 Memphis and No. 6 Duke.

They are still in rebuilding mode, but they showed that they are heading in the right direction. They did well to fight and compete against Duke. They missed numerous shots but executed good plays. If they can make those shots in future games, Tennessee will grow to be a good, strong  team.

In the game against Memphis, early in the first half Tennessee fell behind by 20 points but still rallied back to push the game into overtime.

Tennessee is a growing team and will head down a path of winning.

Chaminade Is an Easy Win

This peaceful, quiet campus in Honolulu houses Division II Chaminade, the only Division II team that competes in the Maui Invitational.

It is a team that is for sure an easy win at the tournament. In the past five years, Chaminade's record at the tourney is 2-14. It is nice to see them try to pull off upsets, but it did not happen this year.

You got to give them props for only losing by an average of 28 points against the three teams.

It could have been a lot worse.

Duke Has Solid Weapons

Many fans say that this year Duke's team is different from previous years. They aren't as good.

I don't know if they are watching the same games as me. Duke is winning games. Isn't that all that matters?

They have solid weapons on their team, which burdens opponents to defend against them. Seth Curry, Austin Rivers, Andrew Dawkins, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee each average about 13 points per game.

They might struggle in rebounding and assisting, but they can shoot the ball and shoot it well.

Duke Is Undefeated

We learned that the Duke Blue Devils did it again and remained undefeated in the Maui Invitational Tournament, as they took home their fifth tournament title.

This year's final title score—which was 68-61—was the lowest winning score by the Blue Devils in the Maui Invitational title game. It shows that this year is a different Duke team.

Duke climbed their way up to No. 3 in the rankings. Winning this tourney was a big step for Duke, and they may stay at the top all season long.

But like we've always learned from college ball: It's unpredictable.