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,

Tre Holloman and Xavier Booker combined for eight points in overtime and Michigan State held off No. 12 North Carolina 94-91 on Wednesday night for third place in the Maui Invitational. Holloman made his first start of the season and led six scorers in double figures with a career-best 19 points for the Spartans (6-2).

Tre Holloman is a third-year guard at Michigan State who had appeared in 76 games for the Spartans before Wednesday. Career starts: two. Starts this season: zero. But with an opponent in North Carolina that starts three guards 6-foot-3 or smaller,