KU basketball vs. Tennessee Volunteers at Maui Invitational: Starters, TV & game time

KU basketball will met the Tennessee Volunteers in a third-palce game at the Maui Invitational on Wednesday.

Here’s how to watch the contest and what to know as the Jayhawks and Vols square off...

When: 1:30 p.m. Central, Wednesday

Where: SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WHB (810) in Kansas City; ESPN Wichita (92.3 FM) in Wichita

PROBABLE STARTERS

About No. 7 Tennessee (4-1):

Tennessee defeated Syracuse 73-56 in the first round of the Maui Invitational, then fell to No. 2 Purdue 71-67 in the semifinals. Prior to arriving in Honolulu, UT opened with home victories over Tennessee Tech and Wofford, and claimed a victory at Wisconsin 80-70. ...

Santiago Vescovi, a 6-foot-3 fifth-year senior guard from Montevideo, Uruguay, is a two-time first-team all-SEC selection. … Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht, a 6-6 senior guard from Thornton, Colorado, leads the team in scoring at 18.4 points per game. Jordan Gainey, a 6-3 junior guard, averages 11.4 points per game. Coach Rick Barnes has a 177-93 record in nine seasons at UT. …

Tennessee placed first in the SEC preseason media poll, finishing ahead of Texas A&M, Arkansas and Kentucky. … Tennessee is now 4-7 all-time in the Maui Invitational, going 1-2 in 2016 (seventh place), 1-2 in 2011 (seventh) and 1-2 in 2004 (fourth). … Tennessee won its multi-team event last season, claiming the title at Battle 4 Atlantis after victories over Butler, USC and third-ranked Kansas in Paradise Island, Bahamas. … Redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione will not play in the tourney because of a partial tear of his left plantar fascia.

About No. 1 Kansas (4-1):

The Jayhawks lead the all-time series against the Vols 4-3. Tennessee has won the last two meetings. Tennessee beat KU 64-50 in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis last November in Bahamas. UT also stopped the Jayhawks 80-61 on Jan. 30, 2021, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to that, KU had won three in a row: 74-68 on Jan. 25, 2020, in Lawrence; 87-82 in overtime in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-off on Nov, 23, 2018, in Brooklyn, New York, and 82-67 in an Orlando Classic semifinal on Nov. 26, 2014, in Florida. The other two games were a home-and-home series in 2009 and 2010. UT won in Knoxville on Jan 10, 2010, and KU prevailed on Jan. 3, 2009, in Lawrence. …

KU had 15 bench points in Tuesday’s 73-59 loss to Marquette in the semis. Johnny Furphy and Nick Timberlake had five points apiece. ... KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris combined for seven points and six assists. ...

They said it: Coach Self on KU having to play a third-place game at 9:30 a.m. Hawaii time Wednesday: “Especially when you don’t have much depth, it’s going to be a hard deal. We’re going to play a team that is probably the most physical team that we’ll play all year, or could be. Last year in Atlantis we played them on the last day, after we both played two games, and it didn’t go great for us — in large part just because our depth situation wasn’t quite what theirs is. And Rick (Barnes) will throw a lot of bodies at us and they will come at us and it will be a hard game. But I’ve got great kids and winners and they will try real hard. But it seems like to me a 5:15 wake-up call seems kind of early right now.”