No. 1 Kansas fends off No. 7 Tennessee to win third-place game at Maui Invitational

Though they didn’t win the title in Honolulu, Bill Self and top-ranked Kansas are leaving Hawaii on a high note.

No. 1 Kansas fended off No. 7 Tennessee 69-60 in the third-place game of the Maui Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu on Wednesday afternoon. The Jayhawks, despite a tight game early on, out-scored the Volunteers 20-11 down the stretch to grab their second win in three days. No. 2 Purdue and No. 4 Marquette will square off in the championship game of the tournament later on Wednesday afternoon.

The win came after the Jayhawks struggled in the semifinals against Marquette on Tuesday night. Some of those struggles bled over into Wednesday’s game, too. It took Hunter Dickinson quite a bit to get going for Kansas against the Volunteers, though he had his double-double recorded by the time the Jayhawks hit the locker room. It seemed like they were going to pull away from Tennessee at the break, too, but Santiago Vescovi — who had 13 of his 21 points in the first half — drilled a huge 3-pointer late to tie the game back up.

Tennessee hung around a bit early in the second half, but Kansas finally flew ahead after the midway point. The Jayhawks mounted a long 12-4 run that spanned more than six minutes, which gave them their first double-digit lead of the game. From there, the Volunteers seemed spent. They made just two more field goals — a 3-pointer from Vescovi and a late layup — the rest of the way, and Kansas held on to grab the nine-point win.

Dickinson led Kansas with 17 points and 20 rebounds while shooting 7-of-13 from the field. It marked his eighth double-double in his last 13 games. K.J. Adams, who had just four points in the first half, finished with 13 points. Kevin McCullar added 14 points. While they managed to put Tennessee away, the Jayhawks still struggled to score from the outside. They made just four 3-pointers in the win as a team, and only actually shot 12 in the entire game. They also shot just 50% from the free throw line, and had 15 turnovers in the win.

Vescovi led Tennessee with 21 points in the win and shot 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Dalton Knecht had 13 points, 10 of which came in the first half, and Jordan Gainey added 11 points off the bench.

Kansas landed in the third-place game in Hawaii after falling to No. 4 Marquette 73-59 on Tuesday night. The Golden Eagles got the jump on Kansas early and led the entire second half, even after Self and Marquette coach Shaka Smart got into it a bit on the sidelines.

Things got HEATED between No. 4 Marquette and No. 1 Kansas

(via ) pic.twitter.com/VtnoEzldrf

— Yahoo Sports November 22, 2023 Tuesday’s loss was Kansas’ first of the season. It’s sure to knock them down from the No. 1 spot in the polls, too, though Wednesday’s win should mitigate that fall quite a bit. The Jayhawks will host No. 5 UConn next month in the Big East-Big 12 Battle to wrap up what has been a very tough non-conference slate.

Meanwhile the Volunteers, after beating Syracuse in the opening round of the tournament in Hawaii, fell to No. 2 Purdue on Tuesday in what was their first loss of the season. They’ve now dropped two straight, and will take on No. 14 North Carolina next week in the ACC/SEC Challenge.