Kansas vs. Vanderbilt in Maui Invitational final

Selden, the mercurial junior guard, carried the fifth-ranked Jayhawks to a Maui Invitational title, finishing with 25 points in a 70-63 victory over No. 19 Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. It was the Jayhawks second MIT title. Diallo will be available to play in the Jayhawks’ next game at home December 1 against Loyola (Md.). They never truly threatened in the final five minutes as KU cruised to their second-ever Maui Invitational Championship. Jones grabbed 10 rebounds but the Jayhawks, led by Perry Ellis’ eight, outrebounded Vanderbilt 39-32. Baldwin shot 5-for-12 on the night for 11 points and was one of three Commodores who scored in double figures.

“It was a great win for us against a terrific opponent”. They had 11 of each against Kansas. I thought maybe our team being a little deeper than theirs had an impact.

“Coming out at first, I felt like they had us rattled”. Durand Johnson also had 17 points on the day along with seven rebounds, and Amir Alibegovic finished with 17 points as well in the sixth man role off the bench for the Red Storm.

With the Kansas offense stagnant for the first time this week, it was Selden who sparked the Jayhawks as he tied a career-high with 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Kansas improved to 12-6 in Maui games, tied with Arizona for the third-most wins in tournament history. They knocked down 75 percent of their three pointers, hit nine total long balls (Mussini was in the zone), shot 75 percent from the floor and made all six of their free throws in their best half of the season. Photo by Joel B. Tamayo.

Looking for their first win at the Maui Invitational in three years, the Chaminade Silverswords dug themselves a first half hole against St. John’s that they couldn’t climb out of, falling to 0-3 in the tournament with a 100-93 loss.

In front of a heavily pro-Kansas crowd that made the Lahaina Civic Center feel like Allen Fieldhouse West, Selden scored 25 points, helping keep his team in the game during early struggles against the much taller Commodores, then contributing to the Jayhawks’ fluid attack in the second half. “I know we’ll always be good offensively, but my biggest question is how good are we going to be defensively?”

Vanderbilt falls to 5-1 for the season.

“It was a game in which there was no rhythm and I think those are fun games to win because late in the season, our conference play (is like that)”, Self said.

For Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings, the matchup against Kansas was the first in his 23-year career as a head coach, though he spent five seasons as an assistant for the Jayhawks under Roy Williams.

“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.

In the opening half Tuesday, Kansas offered a master class in breaking down the UCLA zone.

The Commodores never trailed in the first half as Damian Jones gave Vandy a consistent inside scoring threat.

Kansas’ Hunter Mickelson hoes up for a rebound against Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet.

KU ended its run in Maui hot from behind the arc, connecting on 8-of-16 from three-point land, seven of which came from the hands of Selden and Graham.