HA has told me that they require 45 min for the bag transfer (had to wait for my bags to come in on the next flight when I had a 30 min connection).

Depending on where your friend is staying on Maui you might want to look at JHM vs. OGG.

If you want to minimize connections and it's available, I'd look at buf-iah-hnl-ogg. Aim for the earlier of the two iah-hnl flights and you should be safe if there are delays buf-iah.