Hunter Dickinson put forth a 17-point, 20-rebound double-double to lead No. 1 Kansas to a 69-60 win over No. 7 Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon to capture third place in the stacked Maui Invitational in Honolulu.
Kevin McCullar Jr. added 14 for Kansas (5-1) after his career-high 24 against Marquette on Tuesday. Dajuan Harris Jr. led both teams with eight assists.
For the first time this season, Tennessee (4-2) was led in scoring by Santiago Vescovi with 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting. Dalton Knecht, who led the team in scoring in every game prior, scored 13 but went just 4-for-17 from the field. Jordan Gainey also scored 13 for the Volunteers.
It was a very tightly contested first half featuring multiple lead changes and both teams spending over eight minutes with the lead. The teams went into halftime tied at 35.
Vescovi and Knecht had 13 and 10 points respectively for the Volunteers. Dickinson started to get in rhythm for Kansas toward the end of the half, totaling 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The start of the second half became more of the same with neither team pulling ahead. Toward the latter part of the half, both teams struggled to score, with Tennessee missing six of seven shots and Kansas going more than three minutes without scoring toward the under-8 media timeout.
However, Kansas would eventually pull ahead, going on a 6-0 run and making four consecutive shots, quickly taking a 10-point advantage with just over four minutes to play.
From there, Kansas would cruise to the win as Tennessee struggled to score, missing seven of eight shots for a stretch just before the final minute of the game.
Kansas leaves Honolulu most likely losing its top spot in the AP poll to either Purdue or Marquette. But the Jayhawks pick up a top-10 victory in what was arguably the strongest field in the tournament’s history.
–Field Level Media
