No. 1 Kansas rebounds from loss to beat No. 7 Tennessee 69-60 in Hawaii
AP
Nov 23, 2023
HONOLULU (AP) Hunter Dickinson scored 17 points and grabbed 20 rebounds and No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks pulled away for a 69-60 win over No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday.
The Jayhawks (5-1) bounced back from a 14-point loss a day earlier to take third place in the Maui Invitational over the Volunteers (4-2), who have dropped their last two games.
“It was a great win for us today,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We struggled last night obviously and to bounce back in 13 hours to play a team as good as Tennessee and to hang in there under some fairly adverse conditions for some of our players, it was just a terrific thing and one that we’ll look back on in February and be very thankful for.”
Kevin McCullar Jr. had 14 points, KJ Adams Jr. added 13 and Dajuan Harris Jr. chipped in eight assists for Kansas, which led by as many as 11 in the closing minutes.
Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie it at 49 with 12:44 to play, but Kansas answered with back-to-back buckets from Dickinson to pull ahead for good.
The Volunteers led by as many as seven in the first half.
Vescovi made five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points. Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey contributed 13 apiece and Jonas Aidoo had 11 rebounds.
“Give Kansas credit, I thought they played extremely well,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “I thought their key guys did exactly what you’d expect them to do night in and night out.”
The score was tied at 35 at halftime.
It was the fifth meeting between the teams in the last six seasons. Tennessee had won the last two meetings, but Kansas still leads the all-time series, 5-3.
The game was a rematch of the Battle 4 Atlantis championship a year ago. Tennessee won that game 64-50.
BIG PICTURE
Tennessee was playing back-to-back games against top-three teams for the first time in program history. It hung tough with No. 2 Purdue on Tuesday but faded down the stretch and came up short, 71-67.
Kansas took the court at the Stan Sheriff Center about 12 hours after it was routed by No. 4 Marquette 73-59 in the tournament semifinals Tuesday.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
With his team ahead 26-25 with five-plus minutes left in the first half, Dalton Knecht threw down a ferocious two-handed dunk off a well-placed inbounds pass from Zakai Zeigler to give Tennessee a three-point lead.
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
Self was assessed a technical foul at the eight-minute mark of the first half. Self already was unhappy with a non-call after he felt his player was fouled and one possession later saw McCullar whistled for an offensive foul. As the teams went to their benches for the media timeout, Self exchanged words with an official, who responded with a tech against the longtime Jayhawks coach. It was Self’s second technical foul in as many days.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will visit North Carolina next Wednesday as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Kansas will host Eastern Illinois Tuesday and UConn three nights later in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
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1st Half
TENN
Volunteers
35
KAN
Jayhawks
35
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
Jonas Aidoo vs. Hunter Dickinson (KJ Adams Jr. gains possession)
19:58
+2
KJ Adams Jr. makes two point dunk (Hunter Dickinson assists)
0-2
19:40
Dalton Knecht misses two point jump shot
19:38
Dalton Knecht offensive rebound
19:16
Volunteers turnover (shot clock violation)
19:02
Hunter Dickinson misses two point hook shot
19:00
Josiah-Jordan James defensive rebound
18:47
+2
Santiago Vescovi makes two point layup
2-2
18:25
Elmarko Jackson misses two point jump shot
18:23
Jahmai Mashack defensive rebound
18:17
Jonas Aidoo misses two point layup
18:15
Jonas Aidoo offensive rebound
17:59
Jahmai Mashack turnover (lost ball) (Elmarko Jackson steals)
17:42
+2
Hunter Dickinson makes two point jump shot (Dajuan Harris Jr. assists)
2-4
17:27
Zakai Zeigler turnover (bad pass) (KJ Adams Jr. steals)
17:18
KJ Adams Jr. turnover (bad pass) (Josiah-Jordan James steals)
17:06
Santiago Vescovi misses three point jump shot
17:01
Jayhawks defensive rebound
16:46
+2
KJ Adams Jr. makes two point jump shot (Dajuan Harris Jr. assists)
2-6
16:26
+2
Santiago Vescovi makes two point layup
4-6
16:18
Zakai Zeigler shooting foul (Elmarko Jackson draws the foul)
16:18
+1
Elmarko Jackson makes regular free throw 1 of 2
4-7
16:18
+1
Elmarko Jackson makes regular free throw 2 of 2
4-8
16:10
Hunter Dickinson blocks Tobe Awaka's two point layup
16:09
Hunter Dickinson defensive rebound
15:48
KJ Adams Jr. misses two point layup
15:46
Volunteers defensive rebound
15:46
TV timeout
15:29
Josiah-Jordan James misses two point jump shot
15:27
Dajuan Harris Jr. defensive rebound
15:02
Elmarko Jackson turnover (bad pass)
14:43
Dalton Knecht misses two point layup
14:41
Volunteers offensive rebound
14:41
Kevin McCullar Jr. personal foul (Dalton Knecht draws the foul)
14:39
Jordan Gainey misses three point jump shot
14:37
Hunter Dickinson defensive rebound
14:32
Kevin McCullar Jr. misses two point layup
14:30
Santiago Vescovi defensive rebound
14:19
Zakai Zeigler misses three point jump shot
14:17
Kevin McCullar Jr. defensive rebound
14:09
KJ Adams Jr. turnover (bad pass) (Jordan Gainey steals)
14:01
+3
Jordan Gainey makes three point jump shot (Zakai Zeigler assists)
7-8
13:36
Kevin McCullar Jr. turnover (lost ball) (Josiah-Jordan James steals)
13:33
KJ Adams Jr. shooting foul (Josiah-Jordan James draws the foul)
13:33
+1
Josiah-Jordan James makes regular free throw 1 of 2
8-8
13:33
+1
Josiah-Jordan James makes regular free throw 2 of 2
9-8
13:19
Hunter Dickinson misses two point jump shot
13:17
Santiago Vescovi defensive rebound
13:01
Jahmai Mashack misses two point jump shot
12:59
Hunter Dickinson defensive rebound
12:41
+2
Johnny Furphy makes two point jump shot
9-10
12:23
Jordan Gainey turnover (lost ball) (Hunter Dickinson steals)
12:18
Dajuan Harris Jr. misses two point layup
12:16
Kevin McCullar Jr. offensive rebound
12:09
+2
Kevin McCullar Jr. makes two point layup
9-12
12:02
Dalton Knecht misses two point layup
12:00
Jonas Aidoo offensive rebound
11:56
+2
Jonas Aidoo makes two point dunk
11-12
11:48
Kevin McCullar Jr. misses two point jump shot
11:46
Hunter Dickinson offensive rebound
11:40
Hunter Dickinson misses two point layup
11:38
Jonas Aidoo defensive rebound
11:35
Jordan Gainey misses three point jump shot
11:33
Hunter Dickinson defensive rebound
11:24
TV timeout
11:18
+2
Nicolas Timberlake makes two point layup (Parker Braun assists)
11-14
10:52
+3
Santiago Vescovi makes three point jump shot
14-14
10:38
Nicolas Timberlake turnover (lost ball) (Santiago Vescovi steals)
10:29
+2
Dalton Knecht makes two point layup
16-14
10:28
Official timeout
10:10
Jonas Aidoo blocks Kevin McCullar Jr.'s two point jump shot
10:08
Jordan Gainey defensive rebound
10:03
Dalton Knecht misses three point jump shot
10:01
Jonas Aidoo offensive rebound
9:58
+3
Santiago Vescovi makes three point jump shot (Jordan Gainey assists)
19-14
9:34
+3
Johnny Furphy makes three point jump shot (Dajuan Harris Jr. assists)
19-17
9:13
Santiago Vescovi turnover (lost ball) (Parker Braun steals)
9:05
Josiah-Jordan James shooting foul (KJ Adams Jr. draws the foul)
9:05
KJ Adams Jr. misses regular free throw 1 of 2
9:05
KJ Adams Jr. misses regular free throw 2 of 2
9:05
Dalton Knecht defensive rebound
8:54
Jordan Gainey misses three point jump shot
8:52
Jamari McDowell defensive rebound
8:47
Kevin McCullar Jr. misses two point layup
8:45
Volunteers defensive rebound
8:32
Jonas Aidoo misses two point jump shot
8:30
Kevin McCullar Jr. defensive rebound
8:22
KJ Adams Jr. misses two point jump shot
8:20
Jordan Gainey defensive rebound
8:09
+3
Jordan Gainey makes three point jump shot (Santiago Vescovi assists)
22-17
8:00
Kevin McCullar Jr. turnover (traveling)
8:00
Bill Self technical foul
8:00
TV timeout
8:00
+1
Dalton Knecht makes technical free throw 1 of 2
23-17
8:00
+1
Dalton Knecht makes technical free throw 2 of 2
24-17
7:48
Dalton Knecht misses three point jump shot
7:44
Jayhawks defensive rebound
7:31
+3
Jamari McDowell makes three point jump shot (Kevin McCullar Jr. assists)
24-20
7:03
+2
Dalton Knecht makes two point jump shot
26-20
6:50
+2
Hunter Dickinson makes two point layup (Jamari McDowell assists)
26-22
6:40
Zakai Zeigler misses two point jump shot
6:38
Hunter Dickinson defensive rebound
6:21
+2
Hunter Dickinson makes two point layup (Dajuan Harris Jr. assists)
26-24
5:55
Jonas Aidoo misses two point jump shot
5:53
Jamari McDowell defensive rebound
5:37
Jonas Aidoo shooting foul (Hunter Dickinson draws the foul)
5:37
Hunter Dickinson misses regular free throw 1 of 2
5:37
+1
Hunter Dickinson makes regular free throw 2 of 2
26-25
5:24
Kevin McCullar Jr. personal foul (Tobe Awaka draws the foul)
5:23
+2
Dalton Knecht makes two point dunk (Zakai Zeigler assists)
28-25
5:07
+2
Kevin McCullar Jr. makes two point layup
28-27
5:07
Tobe Awaka shooting foul (Kevin McCullar Jr. draws the foul)
5:07
+1
Kevin McCullar Jr. makes regular free throw 1 of 1