A top-five matchup at the Maui Invitational between No. 1 Kansas and No. 4 Marquette had the intensity of a conference rivalry game in February. Even the head coaches of each school appeared to lose their cool.
In Marquette’s 73-59 victory in the tournament’s semifinals in Honolulu, Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart took exception to some trash talk he received in the first half from a Jayhawk player after a made basket.
Tempers flared in the first half after Kansas swingman Kevin McCullar Jr. drained a 3-pointer in front of Marquette’s bench. McCullar jawed at Smart as he headed back downcourt, and members of both teams had to be pulled away from the heated dustup that followed.
An angry Smart and Jayhawks coach Bill Self appeared to exchange unpleasantries along the sideline at the end of the ensuing discussion with officials.
Technicals were given to each bench. Eventually, Marquette ended the first half with a 38-28 lead and maintained control throughout a calmer second half.
“I probably shouldn’t have gotten so excited,” Smart told ESPN Milwaukee in a postgame radio interview. “We’re Marquette. We are Marquette, and we don’t take a backseat to anyone. If someone wants to step up and challenge us, OK, we’re going to challenge them right back.”
Meanwhile, Self didn’t sound like he was buying Smart’s explanation of what sparked the dustup. “I doubt it was accurate, whatever he [Smart] said. I’m not going to get into it.”
Oso Ighodaro led Marquette with 21 points and nine rebounds in the victory. Chase Ross (12 points) and Kam Jones (10) were the other Golden Eagles (5-0) to score in double figures.
Kansas’ McCullar, the supposed instigator of the first-half fireworks, led all scorers with 24 points. Hunter Dickinson had 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Jayhawks fell to 4-1 and will face No. 7 Tennessee in the third-place game at 2:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. Marquette takes on No. 2 Purdue in the title game at 5 p.m.