NEW YORK _ Kansas is one victory away from claiming its fifth straight early-season college basketball tournament title.
The No. 2-ranked Jayhawks (4-0), who placed first at the HoopHall Miami Invitational in 2017-18, the Hall of Fame Classic in 2016-17, Maui Invitational in 2015-16 and Orlando Classic in 2014-15 (last losing to Villanova in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2013-14), upended unranked Marquette 77-68 Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center.
Dedric Lawson scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Lagerald Vick scored 16 points, Marcus Garrett added 11 and Devon Dotson had 10 for the Jayhawks, who, after surviving an early first-half barrage of Marquette 3s (11 of 21 the first half, 14 of 31 for game), will meet No 5-ranked Tennessee, a 92-81 semifinal winner over Louisville, in Friday's 8:30 p.m. finals. Marquette will meet Louisville in the consolation game at 6 p.m.
Sam Hauser scored 20 points and Markus Howard had 18 for Marquette, which fell to 3-2 with the loss.
KU used a 22-0 run to open the second half to erase a nine-point halftime deficit and roll to victory.
Lawson had six points, Udoka Azubuike four and Dotson two in that surge. Marquette missed its first 10 shots of the final half and didn't score its first bucket until the 10:43 mark.
Marquette made 11 of 21 3-pointers in the first half and led 47-38 at the break. The 11 3s came close to setting a record for most 3s in a half versus KU. Villanova hit 13 in the first half of last year's Final Four semifinal victory over the Jayhawks in San Antonio.
Hauser hit five 3s, good for 17 points, and Howard added three in the initial half, one in which Marquette led by as many as 12, 42-30.
Lawson and Vick scored 11 apiece for KU in the first half as the Jayhawks were 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Vick, who came in 15 of 20 from 3-point range the past two games, was 3 of 3 beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
KU used an early 11-0 run to lead 16-8 at the 13:44 mark. The Jayhawks maintained that eight-point margin, 19-11, at 13:01.
However, from that point on, Marquette rolled thanks to a torrid 3-point shooting display.
The Golden Eagles used a 14-3 run to grab a 25-22 advantage. The run increased to 21-7, giving Marquette a 32-26 advantage at 5:49. The run increased to 25-9 and 31-11 as the Golden Eagles led 42-30 at the 2:11 mark.
Marquette hit six 3s in that 31-11 surge and held a nine-point lead at halftime.
In the first semifinal contest Wednesday, No. 5-ranked Tennessee defeated unranked Louisville 92-81. Junior forward Grant Williams, the preseason player of the year in the SEC, scored 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting with nine rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Admiral Schofield contributed 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting (4 of 8 on 3s) with six rebounds and four assists.
Sophomore forward Jordan Nwora put up 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting with 10 rebounds for Louisville. He had eight of the Cardinals' 14 turnovers.
Junior forward Dwayne Sutton scored 12 points on 4-for-6 3-point shooting with five rebounds for Louisville. Senior forward Akoy Agau came off the bench to score 11 points with five rebounds.
