Nick KrugLahaina, Hawaii ? It’s not that Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird was in the gambling mood, more that he knew packing the paint and daring Kansas to shoot was his team’s only shot.
It didn’t work.
Instead of rushing open three-point looks, misfiring left and right and letting frustrations mount because of it, the Jayhawks (2-1) caught fire from the outside and rolled to a 123-72 victory over the host school in the opening round of this year’s Maui Invitational at Lahaina Civic Center.
“Our whole goal was to try to help our inside guys as much as possible,” Bovaird said after the loss. “We knew they were going to try to high-low us to death, and you just kind of hope that they don’t knock down outside shots. (But) they did.”
Five Jayhawks made three-pointers in producing the sixth-highest point total in school history and the most in the Bill Self era, with Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Wayne Selden Jr and Devonté Graham all making at least three.
By exploiting the Chaminade zone that limited senior forward Perry Ellis to just 11 points on eight shots, Kansas (2-1) beat the Silverswords (0-3) at their own game, out-shooting the host school 15 to 8 from behind the three-point line.
“You’ve got to pick your poison when you’re playing a team like Kansas,” Bovaird said. “They’re good at every position, don’t get me wrong. But it’s a heck of a lot easier to make a lay-up than it is to make a three-point shot. So our goal was to try to take away scoring from two, three feet from the basket and hope that they get cold outside and start panicking a little bit.”
It never happened and the Jayhawks rolled the largest blowout in Maui Invitational history.
Although Chaminade has scored a handful of memorable upsets during the 32-year history of the Maui Invitational, the Silverswords also have taken their fair share of beatings. Monday’s was merely another one and Bovaird was ready to move on just seconds after the final horn sounded.
“Yeah, we’ll just forget about that game and let’s tip it up and play another one,” he said, laughing. “They were what we expected. They were big, strong and they come at you in waves.”
— See what people were saying about the rout during KUsports.com’s live coverage
