Photo courtesy kuathletics.com
LAWRENCE — No. 4/5 Kansas (2-1) will begin play in the Maui Invitational with the campus round contest against East Tennessee State (3-0) on Tuesday.
The Jayhawks and Buccaneers are slated to tip-off from Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. (CT) on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Dave Armstrong (play-by-play), Chris Piper (analyst) and Kennetra Pulliams (reporter) will call the action.
TIP-OFF
- The Kansas-East Tennessee State contest is a campus-round game for the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Kansas is 14-6 all-time in the Maui Invitational, including 2-0 in campus round contests.
- Kansas and East Tennessee State are meeting for the fourth time in men’s basketball and first since Jan. 4, 1996. KU is 3-0 all-time versus ETSU.
- Kansas and East Tennessee State (Southern Conference) are their respective conferences preseason favorite to win the league for 2019-20.
- ETSU is the second Southern Conference team Kansas will face this season. The Jayhawks defeated UNC Greensboro, 74-62, on Nov. 8 in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas is 12-0 against current membership of the SoCon.
- Kansas’ 23-game homecourt winning streak is third-longest nationally behind Tennessee (28) and Gonzaga (25).
- Kansas’ 112 points in the win against Monmouth (11/15) marked the 117th game Kansas has scored 100 or more points in school history. Under Bill Self, Kansas has 26 of those 100-point games.
- Kansas is ranked No. 4 in the Nov. 18 Associated Press national poll. KU has been ranked in the top-five 339 times overall and 133 times in the Bill Self era.
- KU has been ranked in each of the last 203 AP polls dating back to 2008-09. The 203-consecutive weeks in the polls is the longest active streak in the nation. KU holds the same streak in the coaches’ poll at 211.
- Kansas head coach Bill Self is 682-212 in his 27th season overall as a head coach. He is six games from being the 30th active coach in the NCAA to have coached in 900 games.
- The Jayhawks’ added four standouts when the early signing period began on Nov. 13. Guard Tyon Grant-Foster (Kansas City, Kan.), guard Bryce Thompson (Tulsa, Okla.), who ranks No. 19 in the class of 2020, center Gethro Muscadin (Gonaives, Haiti) and guard Latrell Jossell (Keller, Texas) will all suit up for KU starting in 2020-21.
KANSAS IN THE MAUI INVITATIONAL
Going Kansas has a combined 14-6 record in this Maui Jim Maui Invitational (counting home games that are part of the tournament). KU is 12-6 in games played at the Lahaina Civic Center in Maui, Hawaii.
In KU’s 1988 NCAA National Championship season, the Jayhawks placed fourth in the event, going 1-2. Kansas won the 1996 Maui Invitational, defeating LSU, California and Virginia. Raef LaFrentz was named the MVP. In 2001, KU finished third in the event with a 2-1 record. Drew Gooden was a member of the all-tournament team and was the first Jayhawk on the Maui Invitational all-tourney list, which began in 2000.
KU has appeared in the invitational three times under Bill Self. In 2005, the Jayhawks placed seventh, losing to Arizona and Arkansas before defeating Chaminade. In 2011, KU finished runner-up, defeating Georgetown and UCLA before falling to Duke in the title game. Jayhawk Thomas Robinson was named to the 2011 Maui All-Tournament Team. Later that season KU would advance to the Final Four, finishing runner-up. In 2015, Kansas won the event with victories over Chaminade, UCLA and Vanderbilt. KU’s Wayne Selden Jr. and Frank Mason III were named co-MVPs, and were joined on the all-tournament team by teammate and current staff member Perry Ellis.
UP NEXT
Kansas opens bracket play at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational against Chaminade on Monday at 6 p.m. (Central) at the Lahaina Civic Center in Maui, Hawaii. The game will be televised on ESPNU
Kansas is 3-0 all-time against Chaminade with all three meetings at the Maui Invitational. KU last faced Chaminade in 2005, at Kansas 123-72 win.
The Jayhawks have a combined 14-6 record in the Maui Invitational, including 12-6 in games played in Maui. KU has won two of the titles in 1996 and 2015.