Kansas Demolishes Chaminade in Record-Breaking Maui Opener

Coming off of a disappointing collapse in last Tuesday’s Champions Classic, the Jayhawks didn’t care who they were playing. They just wanted the opportunity to get the bad taste out of their mouths. On Monday night, it’s fair to say that they accomplished that.

The Jayhawks set a Bill Self-era mark in points, demolishing the Chaminade Silverswords with an eye-popping 123-72 victory in the Maui Invitational quarterfinals. The offensive attack was so good and so balanced, Tyler Self was the only one of the 12 players to take a shot and post a shooting percentage of under 50%.

Throughout the game, Kansas’ steady pace made the scoreboard rise at an alarming rate. The Jayhawks scored 70 points in the second half, finishing with a team shooting percentage of a sizzling 64%.

It was the worst loss in 32 years of Maui Invitational play for Chaminade. They entered 2015’s tournament with an all-time record of 7-84 in bracket play.

All week, fans expressed displeasure about Bill Self not playing Brannen Greene and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk enough. With Greene suspended, Mykhailiuk was given an opportunity and he seized it, firing a career-high 10 three-pointers. He made six of them for a career-best 18 points. He was tremendous, and perhaps this performance will give him a longer leash with Self in the future.

Chaminade opened the game by hitting a three-pointer, but a 9-0 Kansas run erased any doubt of a 1982-esque upset occurring again. With just under nine minutes to go in the first half, Perry Ellis slammed down an alley-oop to extend the Jayhawks’ lead to double-digits, and it would remain that way all game.

In the second half, Kansas was so dominant that at one point, it lead by 56 points. Over one particular five-minute stretch, the Jayhawks made 10 consecutive field goals. The team was loose, and the results were dominant. Kansas will be well-rested for their game tomorrow night, which won’t start until 9:00 pm CDT.

Stats:

• It’s the most points for Kansas since scoring 1997. The Jayhawks scored 134 vs. Niagra that year. (Stat via Creighton Coover on Twitter)
• Selden: 18 points (7-11 FG, 4-6 from three), 5 reb, 7 assists. He played very well and leads all wings with 15.0 points per game after three contests.
• Mykhailiuk: 18 points (career high), six threes (career high), 11 shots taken (career high). Maybe this will be his coming-out party. He looks fantastic. He played 19 minutes, the most he’s had in a single game since December 20, 2014.
• Mason: 14 points (5-9 FG), 7 assists, 6 rebounds. He tied with Selden for the team lead in assists.
• Graham: 15 points (6-10 FG). He came into this game having missed 16 of his last 18 shots from the floor, so it was great to see him nailing jump shots from all over the court.
• Ellis: 11 points (4-8 FG), 8 rebounds. It was his least-productive game of the season, but he didn’t play much in the second half because the score was so lopsided.
• Lucas: 13 points and 12 rebounds, four of which were on the offensive end. Simply put, he was fantastic.
• Mickelson: 11 points (5-5 FG) and two blocks. This effort will not quiet the #FreeHunter hashtags.
• The Lucas/Traylor/Mickelson combo, criticized so heavily after the Michigan State game, combined to go 11-for-11 from the floor. Together, they had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
• Bragg: 9 points (4-5 FG), 6 rebounds in limited minutes. It is the best outing in his very young KU career. He possesses ridiculous athleticism, as shown on a flashy alley-oop dunk in the second half.
• Vick contributed with six points, Manning hit his second three of the season, and Clay Young scored his first point as a Jayhawk by making a free throw.
• 12 of the 13 players on the active roster scored for Kansas. The only player to not score was Tyler Self, who missed a three-point jumper for his only attempt.
• Minutes breakdown: Graham 28, Mason 26, Selden 24, Ellis 24, Mykhailiuk 19.
• KU dominated on the glass, out-rebounding Chaminade by 25 (51-26). Despite shooting 64% from the floor, the Jayhawks also held an advantage in offensive rebounding (13-11).
• The Jayhawks had 32 assists on 47 made field goals. That’s exceptional.
• That’s the most assists KU has had in a single game since 1989’s big win over Kentucky, when it had 36. (Stat via Devon Pyle on Twitter)
• Kansas made 14-20 free throws for a 70% percentage.
• Defense: the Silverswords shot 35% from the floor, including an abysmal 24% (8-33) from three-point range.
• #WalkonWatch: At the beginning of the season on Inside the Paint, we bet on whether the walk-ons would combine for 13 points this season. After Manning and Young’s combined four points tonight, the group has seven points on the year.
• Up next for Kansas: Tuesday night at 9:00 pm CDT against either UNLV or UCLA in the semifinals. Should the Jayhawks win, they would play either Wake Forest or Vanderbilt in the championship game.