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Kansas TBT Alumni Team JHX Hoops Beats KSU Squad Purple Reign to Advance to Round of 16

Originally posted on Kansas Jayhawks on SI
By Dillon Davis | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 12:21 AM ET

The Kansas basketball alumni team playing in this year’s The Basketball Tournament (TBT) advanced to the Round of 16 after a thrilling finish against the Kansas State alumni team on Monday night in Kansas City.

JHX Hoops beat Purple Reign in front of a split KU-KSU crowd inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City thanks to some late heroics from former KU guard LaGerald Vick.

With the game tied at 57 and the Elam Ender (target score) sitting at 58, Vick stole a pass from Purple Reign’s Austin Trice and drove the length of the floor to hit the game-winning layup in what ended up being his only points scored during the contest.

Vick was then swarmed by his coaches and teammates after helping the JHX team advance past their former Wildcat foes.

LAGERALD VICK, YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE LEGEND!

THE FORMER @KUHoops STAR HITS THE ELAM ENDER FOR @JHXhoopsTBT AND THEY ADVANCE TO THE ROUND OF 16! pic.twitter.com/yrg7T5Bpi6
— TBT (@thetournament) July 22, 2025

It was an exciting finish to a game with a lot of back-and-forth between the two teams. Purple Reign had the chance to end it late with a 57-53 lead, but they were unable to close the deal thanks to a missed layup and missed set of free throws from Shaun Williams.

JHX took advantage of Purple Reign’s miscues and were able to tie the game up thanks to some clutch free throws from former KU big man David McCormack and former KU guard Zeke Mayo.

Former First Team All-Big 12 Kansas point guard Tyshawn Taylor also played a big role in JHX Hoops’ win thanks to a layup which tied the game at 57 apiece. He then came up with a huge defensive rebound after a missed shot from former KSU forward Dominique Sutton.

Mayo would finish the game as JHX’s leading scorer with 14 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 shooting from three-point range, while McCormack nearly finished with a double-double scoring 9 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in his first TBT game.

The leading scorer for Purple Reign (ironically) ended up being former KU big man Cam Martin who finished the game with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field.

The win moves the JHX Hoops team onto the Round of 16 against the top-ranked team in the Kansas City region – and 2023 TBT champion – Team Heartfire.

The game is set for 6 p.m. CT Wednesday at Municipal Auditorium, with tickets now available. The game will also be streamed live on TBT’s YouTube channel.

This article first appeared on Kansas Jayhawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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