Hawking Points: Kansas Bounces Back, Places Third in Maui With 69-60 Win Over Tennessee

The Jayhawks picked up a top-10 win to close out the Maui Invitational Wednesday.

The Kansas Jayhawks hadn’t lost consecutive non-conference games since 2017-18 when they fell to Washington and Arizona State. The streak continued Wednesday as Kansas took care of business and claimed third place in a loaded Maui Invitational field, beating No. 7 Tennessee 69-60.

Key Plays

It only took five seconds for KU to score. Hunter Dickinson slapped the opening tip to KJ Adams, who was unguarded and easily slammed it home.

now that's how you start a game 👀#RockChalk x @kj_atx pic.twitter.com/r24Iz2tKl7

— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) November 22, 2023

On Tennessee’s first possession, the KU defense forced a shot-clock violation. Dickinson and Adams both got easy baskets before Elmarko Jackson drove hard and drew a foul, giving KU an early 8-4 lead.

The Vols went on a 5-0 run to get their first lead thanks to multiple KU turnovers. But Johnny Furphy nailed a jumper to give KU the lead, and then on a Vols turnovers, McCullar put back a Dajuan Harris miss. Tennessee went on another 8-0 run before Furphy drained a three and cut the Vols’ lead to two.

With KU down five and a travel on McCullar called instead of a travel, Bill Self picked up a technical foul. After the free throws, Tennessee got up 24-17 but then Jamari McDowell hit a three and Dickinson went to work to go down just one. Harris gave KU the lead with a free throw and then Dickinson drained a three from the top of the key. A reverse layup by Harris capped a 9-0 run and gave KU a six-point lead.

Kansas and Tennessee traded baskets for the first five minutes as Adams picked up his third foul and McCullar had to be checked out after limping. McDowell had himself a heck of a second half. After Jordan Gainey hit a wide-open three, McDowell buried one himself to give KU a 47-46 lead. Then after a miss on the next possession, Adams went strong to his left and finished an eight-foot jumper.

Keeping the Vols in it was Santiago Vescovi. Vescovi came into the game shooting 3-17 from three in the first five games of the year but hit his fourth three to tie the game with 12 minutes to go. Dickinson answered with four straight points of his own. A stop and a McCullar drive resulting in goaltending extended KU’s lead to 57-51.

Kansas’ defense became stifling and Harris and Adams got to work down low. Adams’ short-rol floater put KU up eight and then Harris found Adams for another layup to give KU its largest lead at 65-55.

Tennessee made one last push in the final two minutes, cutting the lead to seven and with KU letting them in it with missed free throws. McDowell made one of two and Adams missed both. Jackson soared for a big rebound on a Volvs miss and then hit both free throws. One final McCullar rebound allowed KU to run out the clock.

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

Dickinson had another double-double and he accomplished it with three minutes to go in the first half. Then he built on it by having another 20-rebound game, finishing with 17 points and 20 boards.

Adams had his best showing of the week, finishing with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal. McCullar also reached double figures with 14 points, five boards, and three assists, but he did also have seven turnovers.

Everyone has been wondering about the bench and McDowell stepped up in a big way. McDowell played much of the second half and was still in down the stretch, ending with seven points, four rebounds, an assist, and a block.

The Kansas defense held Tennessee to just 31% from the field and out-rebounded the Vols by 10.

Areas of Improvement

The unforced turnovers continue to be a major problem. This team continues to struggle passing the ball to each other, which is ironic for a team among the best in assists per game. Kansas had nine turnovers in the first half, but got it together in the second half, going nine minutes in between turnovers and ending with 15 for the game.

Another problem continues to be free throws. Tennessee fouls a lot, but Kansas started hitting just five of nine. In particular, Adams was 1-7 from the line coming into the game and went 1-6. As a team, the Jayhawks left plenty of points on the board, only making 11-22 from the charity stripe.

Takeaways

This was an impressive bounce-back performance from a Kansas team that looked angry coming out of the Marquette loss. There’s plenty of room for improvement, and some of that will come with the young guys getting more experience, but to come away with a top-10 win and a loss that’s not going to hurt you, it was overall a more successful tournament than it was harmful. And even with the loss, you now have experience against the best defenses in the country and know what it’s going to take to make the next step.