Forty-one years after knocking off the No. 1-ranked team Virginia, Chaminade looked to do it again against the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. But the Chaminade Silverswords men’s basketball team faced fell short to the Jayhawks Monday afternoon in the Stan Sheriff center, and ultimately fell short 83-56 in a game that was closer than the final score appears.
“I told them in the locker room I was proud of them and the way they competed,” Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird said in the postgame press conference.
The teams have played against each other a total of four times in the Maui Invitational before Monday afternoon’s game, with Kansas winning all of them. However, due to the August fire in Lahaina, the games were moved to the Stan Sheriff Center on Oahu. Coming into this game, Chaminade was looking to get their first win in the tournament since 2017 when they beat Cal.
The Jayhawks came out strong as expected, but the Silverswords also matched their intensity. Backed by a small but loud Chaminade student section, the Silverswords surprised everyone by keeping it relatively close not only in the first half, but during the whole game. Players from Chaminade were switching on screens and had good communication on the defensive end. Chaminade also kept the Jayhawks alert on their heels on the offensive end, due to the threats of 3-point shots.
Hunter Dickinson, a 7-foot, 2-inch transfer from Michigan, understood that Chaminade was a threat from deep.
“That’s one of the best ways for a team that’s the underdog to come in and try keep the game close,” the senior transfer said. “The game was a little closer than we would’ve wanted, especially in the first half.”
For Kansas, it was clear from the beginning that the Jayhawks were going to heavily rely on the production of Dickinson. Wyatt Lowell, a 6-9 forward for the Silverswords, noted the challenge of facing Dickinson in the paint.
“He’s a great player, there’s no doubt about that,” the redshirt senior Lowell said. “For me personally, I thought to myself just do your best, but it was more of a team effort and team-oriented game plan to try and stop him.”
Although Chaminade never led and struggled with scoring in the paint, the team was able to stay close to the Jayhawks and managed to cut the lead down to 5 points (25-20) at the 6-minute mark of the first half. That was followed by “overrated” chants by the Silversword student section, which did not age well as the Jayhawks responded with a 14-5 run. However, Chaminade was still keeping it close, as the score at the end of the half was 39-27.
Chaminade opened the second half with a score from a layup by junior Scott Ator, but the half belonged to the Jayhawks. The closest the Silverswords would get was 50-39 at the 15-minute mark.
Despite the final score, the Silverswords managed to give the Jayhawks trouble throughout the game and matched the effort and hustle of Kansas. Dickinson led the Jayhawks with 31 points, while Chaminade’s Wyatt Lowell, Jamir Thomas, and Ross Reeves all finished with 12 points.
For a No. 1-ranked team, the Jayhawks never managed to completely dominate the Silverswords and only managed to run up the score in the final minutes. Throughout the game, Chaminade battled and kept their composure in front of the 4,838 fans in attendance.
The Silverswords’ efforts were also noted by the head coach of Kansas, Bill Self.
“Chaminade is hard to guard,” the two-time national champion head coach said. “They were quicker than us for a good portion of the game, and they beat us off the bounce.”
Chaminade (1-3) will play UCLA on Tuesday at 12 p.m. in the Stan Sheriff Center. The Bruins lost to 4th-ranked Marquette 71-69 Monday night.