Kansas vs. Tennessee: Score and Twitter Reaction from Orlando Classic 2014

The No. 11 Kansas Jayhawks advanced to the finals of the Orlando Classic Friday with an 82-67 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers at HP Field House in Orlando, Florida.

Kansas improved to 4-1 with the win and it will take on the winner of Friday night's clash between Michigan State and Marquette in Sunday's tournament title game, according to Gary Parrish of CBS Sports:

The Jayhawks were bolstered by 40 combined points from forwards Perry Ellis III and Cliff Alexander, but Tennessee managed to remain competitive for much of the game with strong play from several youngsters.

The final score didn't exactly do the game justice in terms of how close it was, and Michael Spencer of WATE in Knoxville, Tennessee is of the belief that the Volunteers' performance could be a positive moving forward:

With this Orlando Classic semifinal in the books, here is a look at how the intriguing Big 12 vs. SEC clash played out.

Score Breakdown

Team	First Half	Second Half	Total
Kansas	40	42	82
Tennessee	33	34	67

Recap and Twitter Reaction

While Kansas led for much of the first half, Tennessee was able to hang tough. It was quite clear from the start that the Jayhawks intended to use their size and athleticism to their advantage.

According to Ben Frederickson of GoVolsXtra, however, the Volunteers were more than willing to sell out in an effort to prevent Kansas from scoring easy buckets around the basket:

Although that did prove effective at various points, the Jayhawks were able to make them pay by converting from the free-throw line. Kansas hit 11 of 14 attempts while Tennessee was converted on just 50 percent of its 12 freebies.

Another area in which the Jayhawks excelled early was jump shooting against Tennessee's zone defense. They made a modest five of 14 shots from long range. However, the threat of the three-point shot from the likes of junior forward Perry Ellis forced the Vols to move out defensively, per Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star:

Ellis scored 11 points in the first half to lead Kansas, but it was a true team effort as seven Jayhawks dropped at least three points in the opening half.

Conversely, Kevin Punter, Jabari McGhee and Detrick Mostella accounted for all but 10 of Tennessee's first-half points. Mostella was especially deadly from downtown, as he made a pair of trifectas, including a four-point play that reminded The Times Free Press' Patrick Brown of a certain NBA star:

With Tennessee trailing by eight with just over two minutes remaining in the half, a potential momentum shift occurred as Kansas sophomore guard Wayne Selden Jr. committed a flagrant foul, according to Benton Smith of KUSports.com:

Punter converted both free-throw attempts, but the Vols were unable to cut into the lead more than that as they squandered their ensuing possession.

A three by Kansas freshman Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk stretched the lead to seven, and the Jayhawks led by as many as nine in the closing seconds, but a McGhee layup made the Tennessee deficit 40-33 entering the locker room.

In addition to poor free-throw shooting, the Volunteers suffered from an inability to box out the big, athletic Jayhawks in rebound situations, per Brown:

The Jayhawks came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, and freshman forward Cliff Alexander led the way. With Kansas leading 49-40, Alexander threw down two consecutive alley-oop dunks off passes from sophomore guard Frank Mason III.

As pointed out by Wes Rucker of 247Sports, the Volunteers made it far too easy for the explosive debutante:

Also, Dodd was left scratching his head regarding Tennessee's decision to shift its focus away from protecting the rim:

While everything seemed to be going Kansas' way, Tennessee managed to stop the bleeding. Another Mostella three with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game allowed the Vols to cut the Jayhawks' lead to just six points.

Following a wasted Kansas possession, Mostella stepped up once again and hit another three. According to Frederickson, the sharpshooting freshman clearly found himself in the zone after sinking that shot:

Mostella's make to pull within three was supplemented by a Derek Reese steal and layup from Punter to make the score 54-53 in favor of Kansas. Jayhawks head coach Bill Self called for a much-needed timeout after that in hopes of getting his team refocused.

The tactic worked well for Kansas as it finally ended a lengthy field-goal drought with a Mason three-pointer to extend the lead to four.

Kansas nursed a two-point lead with roughly seven minutes remaining, and while forward Jamari Traylor had a golden opportunity to add to it, he was called for a charge on an attempted dunk.

According to Bleacher Report's CJ Moore, Self was burned by his seemingly unwavering support of Traylor despite his poor play throughout the game:

Tennessee's Armani Moore tied the game shortly thereafter, but Kansas was able to seize the lead once again after a pair of free throws as well as an old-fashioned three-point play from Alexander with less than six minutes left.

A Mason runner put Kansas up 71-64 when the final television timeout occurred with just over three minutes remaining, which meant the Volunteers' backs were firmly against the wall.

Kansas made the situation even bleaker as Ellis immediately converted a three-point play, which gave him 20 on the afternoon and put Tennessee down by double-digits.

Per Troy Machir of Sporting News, Ellis was the difference for Kansas, as he helped the Jayhawks maintain and extend their lead in the closing minutes:

Tennessee needed to be perfect down the stretch in order to pull off the unlikely comeback, but the Vols went cold from the field and ultimately could not avoid being serenaded by the tune of "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk."

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