Kansas Jayhawks’ Christian Braun makes ESPN Events Invitational all-tournament team
Kansas junior guard Christian Braun was chosen to the ESPN Events Invitational all-tournament team Sunday night at the conclusion of the three-day, eight-team competition in HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.
Braun, a 6-foot-6, 218-pound graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School, was joined by tournament MVP Malachi Smith of Dayton, plus DaRon Holmes of Dayton, Nick Muszynski of Belmont and Tyson Jolly of Iona.
Braun scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting (1-of-3 from three) with five rebounds in the Jayhawks’ 71-59 first-round victory over North Texas. He followed with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals in a 74-73 semifinal loss to Dayton. On Sunday he had 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting (2-of-5 from three) with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 96-83 victory in the third-place game.
“I thought C.B. was pretty solid in all the games,” KU coach Bill Self said after Sunday’s victory, KU’s fifth of the season in six tries. “For the most part I thought Christian played well. You could say he was probably our best performer down here and Ochai (Agbaji) second,” Self added.
Braun was not satisfied with KU winning two of three games at the tourney, the one loss coming to tourney champ Dayton. The Flyers beat Belmont, 63-61, in Sunday’s title game.
“I don’t think we played to the best of our ability this whole tournament,” Braun said Sunday. “We really have to focus on defense and get back to what Kansas does. It felt good to get out of here with a win, but it wasn’t a win in the normal Kansas fashion.”
Of his own play, he said: “I felt better from the way I had been playing,” Braun said noting he was trying to be “aggressive, letting it fly, playing loose.”
KU will next meet St. John’s at 6 p.m. Central time Friday at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.
