They will get their wish. Dayton advanced to the championship game with that semifinal victory, and No. 4 Kansas beat BYU 71-56 in the second semifinal at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Listen to the Flyers game live at 5 p.m. today, Nov. 27, on 1290 and 95.7 WHIO, or by streaming the WHIO Radio live stream. Don’t miss Flyer Feedback live after the game.
The Flyers (5-0) and Jayhawks (5-1) will play at 5 p.m. Wednesday (noon Maui time). The game, which will be televised on ESPN, matches two head coaches worked together with Team USA's Under-18 team in 2018 at the FIBA Americas Championship: Bill Self, of Kansas, and Anthony Grant, of Dayton.
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“We spent about three or three and a half weeks together,” Self said. “Anthony is one of the classiest guys in our business — unbelievable human being. He's got a terrific team, and it will be a fun, competitive big-boy game tomorrow from a physicality standpoint. I really like his team, and I know he does too and it should be a fun game.”
Self said the key in these tournaments is winning two games, and he expects both teams to be relaxed Wednesday with that goal already achieved.
“I look for both teams to play very well tomorrow,” he said.
Kansas coach Bill Self says it will be a “big boy game” on Wednesday in Maui Invitational championship. pic.twitter.com/D7Y6gVn3AI
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) November 27, 2019
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Dayton guard Trey Landers was asked about the fans’ chant after the game before Kansas and BYU played.
“The biggest thing for us is we're just worried about who is winning the next game,” Landers said. “We don't know who is going to win. The fans are going to be fans. They are going to say what they want. At the end of the day, we just focus on what we do. Whether BYU wins or Kansas wins, we just got to lock in on what's going on, so we're not really worried about that part of the game.”
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Dayton seeks its second Maui Invitational championship and first since 2003. It is 9-2 in four Maui appearances.
Kansas is 16-6 in Maui in seven appearances and won championships in 1996 and 2015.
Dayton is 1-1 all time against Kansas. Dayton beat Kansas 61-48 in the NIT in 1968 and lost to Kansas 60-43 in the NCAA tournament in 2009.
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