First-round KU basketball opponent announced for this year’s Maui Invitational

Gary Bedore
·2 min read

Kansas men’s basketball will open the 40th-annual Maui Invitational against NCAA Division II Chaminade on Monday, Nov. 20, the tournament organizers announced Tuesday.

Other first-round games will match Marquette versus UCLA, Tennessee vs. Syracuse and Purdue against Gonzaga. KU also announced the tourney pairings and Chaminade matchup on its Website.

The tourney runs Monday through Wednesday of Thanksgiving week.

KU will meet Chaminade at 8 p.m. Central on Monday, Nov. 20. The winner will meet the winner of Monday’s Marquette-UCLA game at 9:30 p.m. Central on Tuesday, Nov. 21. The Loser will meet the Marquette-UCLA loser at 4 p.m. on Nov. 21.

The title game is 4 p.m. on Nov. 22. KU’s game against Chaminade will be on ESPNU. The winners’ game — KU/Chaminade vs. Marquette/UCLA — would be on ESPN; the losers’ game on ESPN2.

This will be the eighth time KU has played in the Maui Invitational. The Jayhawks have won the tournament the past two trips to the event in 2015 and 2019. KU also won the 1996 title.

The Jayhawks are 4-0 all-time against Chaminade at the tournament. The Silverswords have won eight games against 96 losses at the Maui Invitational throughout history: defeating Cal (2017), Texas (2012), Oklahoma (2010), Princeton (2007), Villanova (2003), Stanford (1992), Providence (1991) and Davidson (1984).

Kansas is 18-6 all-time in the Maui Invitational and has reached the championship game four times, winning three title games. In 2019, KU defeated Dayton 90-84 (overtime) in the title contest.

The seven Division I teams in the tournament are ranked in the top 46 on the all-time wins list. Four of the eight programs are returning Maui Invitational champions, most recently Gonzaga in 2018 and Kansas in 2019.