Moments That Popped: Kansas 81, No. 17 Tennessee 76

After winning a couple of games in Las Vegas on the strength of big men Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller, it was a trio of KU guards that delivered at money time.

Lifted by a breakout game by Elmarko Jackson and more steady scoring from Melvin Council Jr. and Jamari McDowell, the unranked Jayhawks knocked off No. 17 Tennessee 81-76 in the third-place game at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.

• Notes & Numbers from KU-Tennessee

• Moments That Popped on Monday - KU 71, Notre Dame 61

• Moments That Popped on Tuesday - KU 71, Syracuse 60

KU finished the trip to Vegas 3-0 and moved to 6-2 on the season. The only reason KU played for third instead of a title was their point differential in the first two games, a wrinkle of the new-and-growing early-season tournament.

The win delivered KU an extra $300,000 NIL prize on top of the $1 million that each of the 18 teams got to participate in the event. Tennessee walked away with $200,000 for fourth place.

Kansas struggled for large spurts of this one and fell behind by a dozen early in the second half, but the Jayhawks kept battling, even as undermanned as they were, and eventually tied the game at 62 with 7 minutes to play and again at 64 with less than 6 minutes to go.

The Jayhawks took their first lead of the second half on, of all things, a bucket by Paul Mbiya.

At that point, the Jayhawks had all the momentum and had Tennessee reeling, missing shots (2-for-15 over 8 minutes) and struggling to find much rhythm on offense or a way to stop Kansas on defense.

That was particularly true with Elmarko Jackson (17 points on 7 shots in 27 minutes) and Melvin Council Jr., (17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists in 38 minutes) who had terrific games/2nd halves to lead Kansas.

McDowell chipped in 7 points in 28 minutes while starting for the second game in a row.

Wednesday's win came in the Jayhawks' sixth consecutive game without star freshman Darryn Peterson, who has been ruled out for all three games in Vegas.

Peterson was with the team this week in Vegas, sitting on the bench in street clothes while cheering his teammates on during the win.

Even without him, KU looked darn good and got better throughout the week, playing with poise, confidence and a swagger and toughness.

"I've complained about us being a little soft, but today we were tough," KU coach Bill Self said after the victory.

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from Wednesday night's KU win in Sin City.

LIKES

• Kansas basketball – There've been some more high-profile victories over some bluebloods, but I'm not sure there's actually been a bigger KU hoops win than this in a while. Shorthanded and down a dozen, KU just dug deep and delivered a big-time effort against a damn good Tennessee team that, oh by the way, just beat No. 3 Houston. Not only will the win and 3-0 week do wonders for KU's confidence, but the lessons they learned in Vegas about grit and fight and toughness and competing will serve them incredibly well the rest of the way when they get into those same situations against the Big 12 gauntlet. That used to be when Bill Self's teams were at their best, but it hasn't quite been the case in recent years. This win, and this week, makes you think we might be getting back to that and returning to what Kansas basketball has always been under Self.

• Learning opportunity – After feasting on KU's first two opponents in Vegas, KU big men Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller found resistance and struggles against Tennessee's size. Win or lose, that was going to be a good opportunity for them to see and feel what it's like to fact big teams. There's no doubt that they'll see more down the road, starting with UConn next week. But to get that lesson in a winning effort made it even more valuable because their struggles didn't cost Kansas the game. Bidunga, who played 37 minutes, still finished with 13 points and 7 boards despite shooting 5-of-15 from the floor. Tiller, meanwhile, finished with 6 points on 1-of-4 shooting in 33 minutes, but still found a way to get 8 rebounds.

• Fast-paced fun – It has seemed for months like this KU team could and probably should play as fast as possible to take advantage of the speed and athleticism on the roster. So far, that's been exactly how they've looked to play and also when they've looked their best. That was particularly true during the three games in Las Vegas. KU looked to run as fast as possible at all five positions and used breakneck speed to get easy buckets and put pressure on its opponents. One of the great things about this team is it's made up of a bunch of guys who can clean the glass and start the break themselves. They love to do it and look to do it whenever they can. That played a key role in this one, especially as the Jayhawks wrestled the momentum away from Tennessee midway through the second half.

• Big-time signs of life – With Tre White on the bench with four fouls and KU in need of a spark, redshirt sophomore Elmarko Jackson delivered with four really good possessions in a row that turned a 12-point Tennessee lead into a 4-point lead. First, Jackson hit a smooth 3, using a shot fake to clear space. Then, he drove the ball hard to the rim and drew the foul, knocking in the free throws that followed. After that, he got both feet in the paint and kicked a perfect pass to Melvin Council for the wide-open 3. Council missed, but it was the right play and a perfect pass. Elmarko followed that up with a transition 3 to cap off the 8-0 Elmarko run. Not only was the stretch important in the game, helping to keep KU around, but there's also no doubt that it was big for Elmarko's confidence.

• Keep shooting – The most memorable shot of Kohl Rosario's night might've been the first-half, banked-in 3-pointer that pushed the Jayhawks to 14 points and left Rosario laughing. But it wasn't as much about which ones went down and which ones didn't — or even how they did — as it was the fact that Rosario just kept shooting. The bank make came just seconds after he missed another good look from the wing and a minute or so before he pulled a 3 from the corner that missed. The shot looks good. The shot selection is mostly solid. So, the only thing he can do is keep shooting. It looks like he gets that. The freshman finished Wednesday's game 2-for-6 overall, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range.

DISLIKES

• No Flory, little offense – He's been so good in recent games with Darryn Peterson out, but he's had to be for Kansas to have a shot on the offensive end. That showed up loud and clear in this one, as Bidunga, who scored the first basket of the game on his first shot, missed the next nine before scoring again at the 1:43 mark of the first half, creating a bit of a struggle for the KU offense, which shot just 29% from the floor during the first 12 minutes of the game and finished the first half shooting 32.1%. Everything about what Kansas did on offense was right. They just didn't get the same finishes from Flory that they had been getting.

• First-half closing issues... again – It was a problem in all three games in Las Vegas and has shown up at other times this season, as well. The Jayhawks just haven't been very good in the final couple of minutes of most of the first halves they've played. In this one, a 7-0 Volunteers' run turned a 34-32 Tennessee lead into 41-32 and gave all of the momentum to the team in orange. We'll have to look back at the specifics of each end-of-half struggle, but, from memory, it seems like they all included Kansas being a little careless with the basketball.

WHAT THE?

• Tre White's 4th foul – There were still nearly 17 minutes to play and White had just picked up his third foul. So, the situation could not have been much clearer. But after a turnover on the offensive end, White ran down a Tennessee player from behind and instead of letting him go and saving the foul, he slapped and grabbed to try to stop the break. It worked. But he was whistled for the foul. Nevermind that the Vols came up empty after the foul. White getting his 4th hurt Kansas way more than any two points ever could've. He sat for the next 6 or so minutes and Tennessee spent a lot of that time with a double-digit lead. You can't fault the competitive desire there. But you've gotta be smarter than that, no matter what the score or situation. His fifth foul wasn't much better, as he contacted the arm of a post player on a simple entry pass and was whistled for No. 5 with 8:23 to play.

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