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

Although 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 on Wednesday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Jayhawks, despite a tight game early on, outscored the Volunteers 20-11 down the stretch to grab their second win in three days.

No. 2 Purdue beat No. 4 Marquette in the championship game of the tournament on Wednesday night.

The win came after the Jayhawks struggled in the semifinals against Marquette on Tuesday. Some of those struggles carried over into Wednesday’s game, too. It took Hunter Dickinson quite a bit to get going for Kansas against the Volunteers, though he had a double-double 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 17-6 run that spanned more than six minutes and 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 take 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 past 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 struggled to score from the outside, making just four 3-pointers in the win as a team and shooting only 12 in the entire game. The Jayhawks also shot just 50% from the free-throw line and had 15 turnovers.

Vescovi led Tennessee with 21 points and shot 5-of-10 from beyond 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. 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 sideline.

Tuesday’s loss was Kansas’ first of the season. It’s sure to knock the Jayhawks from the No. 1 spot in the polls, though Wednesday’s win should mitigate that fall 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 nonconference slate.

Meanwhile, the Volunteers, after beating Syracuse in the opening round of the tournament in Hawaii, fell to No. 2 Purdue on Tuesday in 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.