Thanksgiving Eve featured some championship classics and a couple of major surprises:
- The 13th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-0) stunned the No. 6 Wichita State Shockers (4-1), 67-66, to win a Maui Jim Maui Invitational final that definitely lived up to the hype. Earlier, in the seventh-place game, the Chaminade Silverswords (3-2, DII) resoundingly won its final game before beginning its “even-year Mainland/odd-year Maui” arrangement, 96-72 over the California Golden Bears (2-4).
- The MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight title went to the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (5-0) who obliterated the Utah Utes (4-1), 85-58, at T-Mobile Arena.