Kansas cruises past Chaminade in Maui Invitational opener

In the final moments here on Monday night, as the scoring records fell and the Lahaina Civic Center came to life, Kansas' Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk controlled the ball on the left wing and crossed over to his right. He flipped the ball to senior forward Hunter Mickelson, who dished it right back to a wide open Mykhailiuk.

From the third row of this small gymnasium, a lone Kansas fan screamed a request: “Shoot it!”

Mykhailiuk obliged, stroking a pure jumper toward the basket, and like most everything here on Monday night, the ball swished through the basket. Mykhailiuk, a sophomore wing, would finish with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three, and the Jayhawks would score more points than any team in the Bill Self era, finishing with a 123-72 victory over Chaminade in the first round of the Maui Invitational.

The Jayhawks’ 123 points was the sixth most in program history, easily surpassing the 113 points Kansas scored in the season opener against Longwood in 2010-11, the previous record for the Self era. And you know what? Pretty much everybody helped out.

Seven total Jayhawks finished in double figures, including Mickelson, who didn’t even play much until the final minutes of the second half. Wayne Selden finished with 18 points while snapping an early-season funk. And sophomore Devonte’ Graham kicked his own shooting slump, hitting 3 of 5 from three-point range while finishing with 15 points.

The Jayhawks advanced to the second round of the Maui Invitational, where they will play the winner of UCLA-UNLV inside the Lahaina Civic Center at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Monday was slated to be a mismatch, with an undersized Division II school playing a traditional blue blood. This was not Chaminade over Ralph Sampson and Virginia. This was not even Chaminade over Texas in 2012 — a more recent example of a shocking upset in Maui. For close to 40 minutes, Kansas and Chaminade played to their respective roles.

For most of the first half, Chaminade was content to pack the lane with its zone defense and dare Kansas to fire from deep. The zone befuddled the Jayhawks for a few possessions, but when Graham penetrated into the lane and set up Mykhailiuk for an open three-pointer, the Jayhawks appeared to have the Chaminade cheat code. Kansas drilled six of its first nine from beyond the three-point line, stretching the lead to 36-18 when Graham finished a layup with 7:33 in the half.

Mykhailiuk lit the fuse with three three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, and Selden added a couple other treys as the Jayhawks seized control, taking a 53-33 lead into the intermission. The Jayhawks shot 54 percent during the first half and drilled 7 of 16 from behind the three-point line. The outside barrage carried into the second half, with Selden and Mykhailiuk breaking out in a big way.

For moments, it appears that Selden still lacks the explosiveness that defined his breakout tournament at the World University Games last summer. But his jumper was true on Monday. Same for Mykhailuk. Same for everybody.

Kansas arrived in Maui on Friday evening, the day that Self announced a six-game suspension for junior wing Brannen Greene. The suspension, which stemmed in part from a contentious argument between Greene and Self after the Michigan State game, set the tone for a drama-filled weekend. One day later, Self met with reporters inside a carpeted vestibule at the Westin Maui & Resort and proceeded to rip the NCAA for its handling of the Cheick Diallo case.

Self critiqued the pace of the case and questioned whether the NCAA was acting in good faith. He also divulged that Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger had sent a letter to the NCAA on Nov. 10, requesting that Diallo be ruled eligible immediately. As of Monday evening, Kansas had yet to hear back from the NCAA, and Diallo stood on the floor during warmups, wearing a short-sleeve linen shirt.

For a night, though, Kansas was able to get back to basketball. The Jayhawks squashed any lingering disappointment from the loss to Michigan State. And Self and his players moved onto Tuesday night.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Kansas cruises past Chaminade in Maui Invitational opener."