The win, which moved Kansas to 4-1 on the year, earned the Jayhawks their second championship trophy at the Maui Invitational and first since 1996. It was the Jayhawks second MIT title.
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The Commodores’ lead did not last for long into the second frame however, as the Jayhawks opened the half on a 10-6 run and handed Vanderbilt its first deficit of the entire Maui Jim Maui tournament.
Durand Johnson had 18 points for St. John’s, which lost to No. 19 Vanderbilt and No. 13 IN in the tournament, while Amar Alibegovic had 17, Ron Mvouika 12 and Yankuba Sima 10.
Vanderbilt was getting things done through its duo of 7-footers Damian Jones and Luke Kornet.
“It was a great win for us against a terrific opponent”. I thought maybe our team being a little deeper than theirs had an impact. We know we have a monster schedule coming up in December. He shared Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament with Mason, who sparked Kansas’ high-scoring attack with a week of hard-charging drives and deft playmaking.
Graham finished with 12 points and Mason added 10. Photo by Joel B. Tamayo. “The 7’0″ Jones recorded 17 points and nine rebounds, while the 7’1” Kornet added 14 and four, respectively, plus a pair of three-pointers.It was Kornet pacing the Commodores early, helping them open up a 10-point lead midway through the first half.Vanderbilt’s ability to control the game’s pace caused an uncomfortable Kansas start.
The Jayhawks were up 59-33 at halftime and by at least 20 points for all but the closing seconds. And the coaches, players and staff members who return to Lawrence, Kan., after their successful business trip to Maui will be in a much better mood than the group that departed the mainland last Friday. Kansas pushed its lead to as high as 13 and ended up winning by seven.
Selden led all scorers with 25 points and chipped in seven rebounds.
From the onset, Mussini played one of his best games so far this season, which is a lot to say given how Mussini has been this season.
“He plays with a lot of energy, runs like a deer, very active”, one Division I coach familiar with Yakwe said at the time he committed.
The Kansas Jayhawks will have a happy Thanksgiving after all. But the Jayhawks managed to contain the big men and the Commodores’ shooters struggled to 6-for-27 shooting (22.2 percent) beyond the arc.
Kansas has six days to get back to the continental United States, where it will be unleashing a new talent as freshman forward Cheick Diallo makes his debut against Loyola (Maryland) on Tuesday.
Kansas had out-scored, out-rebounded, out-assistsed and generally out-performed UCLA.
With today’s game, St. John’s’ time in paradise on the island of Maui came to an end as the Johnnies faced off against the invitational hosts of Chaminade in a battle for the seventh place in the invitational standings.
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In a game that was otherwise statistically even offensively, Wake Forest used its decided advantage from the free throw line to upend UCLA 80-77.
