Akron Falls to USC in Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Opener

Friday, December 22

Honolulu, HI

7:30 p.m.

University of Akron

USC

Akron Falls to USC in Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Opener

December 22 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic • Tournament Brackets: Eastern Standard Time | Hawaiian Time

Honolulu, Hawaii – The Akron Zips men's basketball team opened the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a strong performance and four-point lead at halftime, but USC used a 26-2 second-half run to secure an 84-53 win on Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Zips controlled the scoreboard for the initial 22:33 of Saturday's game, starting just after the opening tap. Akron controlled the first possession as sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) recorded the first points on a turnaround jumper on the baseline. Utomi scored five of the Zips' first eight points en route to an 11-point showing. By the first media timeout, the Zips established a seven-point lead, 14-7, as Utomi buried a 3-ball.

Akron won the following four-minute segment, as freshman Jaden Sayles (Cincinnati, Ohio) lifted Akron to its largest lead of the night, 16-7, with the first of three dunks. Sayles led Akron's scoring efforts with a career-high 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. He added a 2-of-2 performance from the charity stripe with three rebounds, a steal, and a blocked shot.

The Trojans cut the deficit to five points, 16-11 at the 11-minute mark, and Akron answered with a triple from freshman Virshon Cotton (Milwaukee, Wisc.). The Zips fought to keep the lead between 5-7 points when USC finally cut the lead to three with 2:01 remaining in the half.

Sayles and Cotton buried four consecutive free throws, two each, to push the lead back to seven points, 31-24. A third dunk by Sayles kept the lead at six points, but with time expiring in the half, USC buried a midrange jumper. Akron lead 33-29 at halftime.

For the first 2:33 of the second half, Akron kept the lead as the two teams battled back-and-forth, trading buckets. At the 16:44 mark, USC tied the game for the first time since their initial bucket of the game. On the ensuing possession, they took their first lead and never looked back. The Trojans proceeded with a 26-2 run over the next six minutes, extending the lead to 20 points, 60-40 with 10:12 left in the game.

Zips' freshman Eric Parrish (Cypress, Texas) scored 11 of Akron's 20 second-half points.

Elijah Stewart led the Trojans with 20 points, including a 3-of-7 showing from downtown. Chimezie Metu and Jonah Mathews followed with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

USC outscored Akron 55-20 in the second half.

The Zips will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 23 against Princeton at 6:30 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the Diamond Head Classic on ESPN3, 1350 AM, or GoZips.com.