Kansas basketball created some pre-Thanksgiving resiliency in Las Vegas. The Jayhawks first channeled an Oklahoma City Thunder attitude in beating Syracuse. But Wednesday sparked fan reactions after taking down Tennessee in comeback fashion.

KU erased a late 12-point deficit to pull off the 81-76 comeback win in the Players Era Tournament held at MGM Grand. Fiory Bidunga ignited the rally by throwing down the left-handed dunk at the 15:28 mark of the second half.

Kansas sliced the lead to four off Elmarko Jackson nailing this three-pointer.

But Jackson wasn't through — cutting inside and hitting this contested layup attempt to extend the Jayhawk lead to six.

KU and head coach Bill Self went on to hand the No. 17 Volunteers their first loss of the season. And the win fired off excited reactions.

Article Continues Below

Notable reactions for Kansas upset of Tennessee

Kansas Jayhawks guard Elmarko Jackson (13) reacts in the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2025 Players Era Festival third place game at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Jackson joined Melvin Council Jr. as the top scorers on KU's side with 17 points. Although the social media account Hoops Herald outlined the list of obstacles Council went through: Playing for four institutions including at the junior college level before leading the scoring charge.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports was another who praised the Jayhawks — notably the national champion winning head coach.

“Nobody did a better coaching job this week than Bill Self. One day after Tennessee beats Houston, Kansas beats the Vols to complete a stretch of three power conference wins in three days in Las Vegas — all without Darryn Peterson,” Rothstein posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN was another lauding the work of the head coach. KU indeed was without Peterson throughout the Vegas event. Kansas also entered the tourney unranked nationally. Now, Self and company likely will hear some top 25 chatter after taking down Tennessee in epic, comeback fashion.