photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Kansas coach Bill Self watches the team play against Marquette during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

Honolulu — The fiercely competitive Maui Invitational field claimed the No. 1 team in the nation as a victim Tuesday night, as Kansas fell 73-59 to No. 4 Marquette at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

KU’s recent success at the Maui Invitational — the Jayhawks won the tournament in 2015 and 2019 — came to an abrupt end as a result of Marquette’s stifling defense, which forced 18 turnovers, and the Golden Eagles’ effective, fast-paced ball movement on offense.

“They were so quick,” KU coach Bill Self said, “and you know, the things they can do as well as anybody (are) have guards that can drive into post-up positions and obviously their center had a fabulous game, made some hard shots.”

Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro challenged center Hunter Dickinson and forward KJ Adams Jr. inside to the tune of 21 points and nine boards.

Chase Ross scored 12 and Kam Jones 10 more for the Golden Eagles.

Kevin McCullar Jr. led KU with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting and eight rebounds, while Dickinson got held to a comparatively low, by his standards, 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Jayhawks, who were disjointed and frantic all night in the half-court set, also left a lot of points at the line, where they went 9-for-16.

“I actually thought we played better than the score,” Self said. “You miss all your free throws and botch as many opportunities as we did and a lot of times the botched opportunities lead to points on the other end. They were definitely the much better team tonight.”

Self’s team briefly reduced a 17-point second-half lead for Marquette down to 9 points midway through the second half, only for backup center Ben Gold to hit back-to-back 3s for the Golden Eagles to stop the rally in its tracks.

KU (4-1) has a quick turnaround, as it will now have to face No. 7 Tennessee for third place at 9:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. Central Time) Wednesday morning.

Back-to-back 3s by Jones and uncharacteristic turnovers by Adams and Dickinson allowed the Golden Eagles to open the game up 8-2, though strong offensive play by McCullar helped KU stop the bleeding. Then Dickinson fired away from deep without hesitation to tie the game at 14 and hit a baby hook to even the score again at 16.

Sean Jones caught Elmarko Jackson off balance on his way to a successful layup and a 3-point play, though, and then Marquette’s press and successful transition defense created two additional turnovers to disrupt the Jayhawks’ offense. The Golden Eagles even extended the lead to double digits before McCullar stormed back, cutting backdoor for a layup and then plowing downfield for another drive in transition to cut it back to 27-20.

Both offenses stagnated as the minutes ticked down in the first half, aided by the shot-blocking of Ighodaro, who stuffed back-to-back layup attempts by Dajuan Harris Jr.

Jamari McDowell came off the bench and ended a scoring drought of nearly four minutes for the Jayhawks with a key 3-pointer, then slung a pass to McCullar for another one from the corner to bring KU as close as five points down.

The aftermath of that shot began a long, protracted, contentious exchange between the two teams and their coaching staffs at midcourt that resulted in technical fouls against both Self and Marquette coach Shaka Smart.

“(McCullar’s) always enjoyed having a dialogue with me,” Smart said. “Probably does that with all coaches … That kind of started the little dust-up and then their bench got involved and our bench got involved, and at the end of the day it really had very little to do with the game.”

Self said after the game of Smart’s version of events, “I doubt it was accurate, just so you know, and I don’t even care. I’m not going to talk about it, but I guarantee it wasn’t accurate.”

Whatever the case, the Jayhawks failed to sustain the little momentum they had picked up and did not score again for the remainder of the half, going into the break trailing 38-28. By halftime, KU had committed 12 turnovers (resulting in 13 points) and conceded 10 offensive rebounds (yielding 10 more points for Marquette).

“I think we just kind of let them rush us a little bit, not playing to our pace really hurt us in the first half,” freshman guard Johnny Furphy said. “But yeah, we just really got to tighten things up.”

Self concurred, adding that “A couple of times we threw it away in the first half when they soft pressed us or did whatever, but I just think a lot of it was just our carelessness.”

Self had to call timeout not long after the break when the Golden Eagles went up 15 points on a stepback 3 by Ross. It was an extremely labored and slow process, but the Jayhawks put together a 10-2 run to cut the deficit back to single digits at 51-42, aided by aggressive offense from McCullar and strong bench minutes by Furphy, only for Gold and Ighodaro to boost the margin right back to 17.

It didn’t get much closer for the remainder of the game, and KU now has a quick turnaround before facing Tennessee, a team it lost to on the last day of the Battle 4 Atlantis last November.

“We just got to reset,” Furphy said. “Fresh game tomorrow, fresh start, we know they’re going to be a really tough side, really physical match.”

Box score

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Kansas guard Johnny Furphy (10) shoots against Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell (4 during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Kansas forward K.J. Adams Jr. (24) tries to go to the net between Marquette forward Oso Ighodaro, left, and forward Ben Gold during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

While being guarded by Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell (4), Kansas guard Johnny Furphy (10) attempts a shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) takes a free throw against Marquette during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Marquette guard Kam Jones (1) fouls Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) tries to get past Marquette forward Oso Ighodaro (13) during an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) dunks against Marquette during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Kansas guard Johnny Furphy (10) guards Marquette forward David Joplin during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.

photo by: AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Marquette forward David Joplin (23) looks for the net as Kansas guard Nicolas Timberlake (25) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Honolulu.