🏀 GAME PREVIEW: vs. Dayton

LAHAINA, Hawaii – No. 4/5 Kansas (5-1) is set to take on the Dayton Flyers in the Maui Invitational Championship game on Wednesday, Nov. 27. The Jayhawks, looking for their third Maui Invitational title, will tip-off inside the Lahaina Civic Center at 4 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Jay Bilas (analyst) will call the action.

GAME INFORMATION:

#4/5 Kansas vs. Dayton

Date/Time: Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. (CT)

Where: Lahaina Civic Center  (Maui, Lahaina, Hawai’i)

Listen: Jayhawk Radio Network

Watch: ESPN

  • Dan Shulman (play-by-play)
  • Jay Bilas (analyst)

TIP-OFF

  • Kansas is participating in its seventh Maui Jim Maui Invitational and has a combined record of 17-6 in the event. The Jayhawks are 3-0 mark in campus round games and a 14-6 record in Maui.
  • KU will be playing in its third-straight Maui Invitational title game and its fourth overall when it meets Dayton Wednesday. KU has gone 2-1 in its previous three title game appearances.
  • Kansas has won two Maui Invitationals in 1996 and 2015, its last appearance in the event. KU has also won five-straight Maui Invitational games and seven of its last eight battles at Lahaina Civic Center.
  • Kansas has won its last five in-season tournaments with the 2015 Maui Invitational included in the run. The streak started with the 2014 Orlando Classic, then the 2015 Maui Invitational, the 2016 CBE Classic, the 2017 HoopHall Miami Invitational and the 2018 NIT Season Tip Off.
  • Kansas and Dayton are meeting for the third time in men’s basketball with the series tied at 1-1.
  • KU’s first two opponents in Maui combined for 47 turnovers (Chaminade – 27, BYU – 20), marking the second-most in a two-game span for Jayhawk opponents during the Bill Self era.
  • Kansas is 3-0 in Allen Fieldhouse this season and has a 24-game home court winning streak, which is third longest nationally behind Tennessee (30) and Gonzaga (27).
  • KU is ranked No. 4 in the Nov. 25 Associated Press national poll. KU has been ranked in the top-five 340 times overall and 134 times in the Bill Self era.
  • KU has been ranked in each of the last 204 AP polls dating back to 2008-09. The 204-consecutive weeks in the polls is the longest active streak in the nation. KU holds the same streak in the coaches’ poll at 212.
  • Kansas head coach Bill Self is 684-212 in his 27th season overall as a head coach. He is four games from being the 30th active coach in the NCAA to have coached in 900 games.

NOTES:

KANSAS IN THE MAUI INVITATIONAL

Kansas has a combined 17-6 record in this Maui Jim Maui Invitational (counting home games that are part of the tournament). KU is 14-6 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

ABOUT DAYTON

Located in Dayton, Ohio, with an enrollment of 9,441, Dayton is one of 39 teams undefeated in 2019-20 with a 5-0 record. The Flyers are coached by Anthony Grant who is 39-29 in his third season at DU and 232-139 in his 12th season overall.

 

Dayton defeated Georgia in the opening round of the Maui Invitational, 80-61, and Virginia Tech in the semifinals, 89-62. The Flyers average 87.6 points per game and have a plus-21.0 scoring margin. They have scored 80 or more points in all five games this season. Dayton holds a plus-5.4 rebound margin and averages 9.4 3-point field goals made per game and 25.8 3-point attempts. Dayton also averages 19.6 assists, 5.2 steals and 4.0 blocked shots per contest.

 

Redshirt sophomore forward Obi Toppin lead Dayton is scoring at 24.0 points per game and rebounding at 8.2 boards per contest. He has made eight 3-pointers.

LET’S GET DEFENSIVE

The 2019-20 Jayhawks are building an early-season reputation of being a stout defensive team. KU opponents are shooting 38 percent from the field, with the Jayhawks keeping opposing 3-point shooters to a 28 percent clip from beyond the arc.

 

KU is also forcing its opponents into over 17 turnovers per game. This includes a combined 47 giveaways by the Jayhawks’ first two opponents in the Maui Invitational. Chaminade’s 27 and BYU’s 20 turnovers marked the second-most by KU opponents in consecutive games during the Bill Self era and just the second time in the last 10 seasons the Jayhawks have forced 20 or more turnovers in back-to-back games.

 

Kansas has taken advantage of these opponent giveaways, posting 17 or more points off turnovers in five of its six outings this season.

 

THE KU-DAYTON SERIES

The Kansas-Dayton series is tied at 1-1. Dayton won the first meeting, 61-48, in the 1968 NIT championship game in New York, N.Y., on March 23, 1968.

 

Kansas won the second meeting, 60-43, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis. KU’s Cole Aldrich recorded the first official KU triple-double in the game with 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. Unofficially, its was the fourth of KU’s five triple-doubles in school history.



 

UP NEXT:

Kansas returns home to host former conference foe Colorado, Saturday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m. (Central). KU and CU were members of the Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 conferences before CU moved to the Pac-12 in 2012.

 

The KU-CU series dates back to 1931 with Kansas leading 123-40. KU is 62-7 versus CU in meetings in Allen Fieldhouse.

 

Colorado is coached by former Kansas forward Tad Boyle who lettered at KU from 1982-85 playing for coaches Ted Owens and Larry Brown.