Another big one.
Tennessee and Kansas are set to battle it out in the third place game in the Maui Invitational this afternoon. The Volunteers ended up falling to Purdue on Tuesday night, thanks to a cold streak to end the game and 48 free throw attempts by the Boilermakers.
Kansas lost to Marquette shortly after, falling behind early and never catching up. So it’ll be No. 7 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Kansas for third place, while No. 4 Marquette and No. 2 Purdue play for the Maui Invitational title afterwards.
Tennessee beat Kansas to win the Battle 4 Atlantis championship last season. They also beat the Jayhawks back in 2021, snapping a three-game losing streak in the series. Rick Barnes and Bill Self go way back, dating back to Barnes’ days at Texas.
Kansas opened the season as this year’s preseason No. 1 team. They returned key guards Kevin McCullar and DaJuan Harris, and picked up the top prize in the transfer portal in Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson is off to a hot start, averaging 22 and 11 over his first five games for the Jayhawks. You may remember Dickinson dropping 27 on Tennessee back in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, then playing for Michigan.
Tennessee remains at No. 7 in KenPom’s rankings, while Kansas moves down to No. 9. The Jayhawks are 1.5 point favorites today, per DraftKings Sportsbook.
How to watch Tennessee vs. Kansas in the Maui Invitational
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
TV Channel: ESPN
Streaming: Watch ESPN, ESPN App