Akron Falls to Mississippi State in Inaugural Barstool Sports Invitational

Friday, November 11

Philadelphia, Pa.

7 PM

University of Akron

1-1,0-0MAC

Mississippi State

2-0,0-0SEC

Mississippi St.

Akron

Akron Falls to Mississippi State in Inaugural Barstool Sports Invitational

November 12 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score PDF

Philadelphia, Pa. – The Akron men's basketball team could not overcome an explosive offensive outburst by Mississippi State as the Bulldogs pulled away for a 73-54 win at the inaugural Barstool Sports Invitational at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night.

Senior Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) led the Zips' offense with 20 points and six assists while emerging as Akron's only double figure scorer. Junior Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) and sophomore Garvin Clarke (Nassau, Bahamas) added nine and eight points, respectively.

The Bulldogs (2-0) size and length seemed to give the Zips (1-1) trouble as Mississippi State controlled the battle of the boards, 43-25. Despite the lopsided numbers on the glass, The Akron defense recorded 10 first-half takeaways and only committed four turnovers to keep the game close.

The Bulldogs limited Akron to shooting just 29.6 percent from the floor (8 of 27) and 20.0 percent from deep (3 of 15). In contrast, Mississippi State shot a sizzling 59.1 percent from the floor (13 of 22) and made three triples with only one miscue from deep. Mississippi closed out the first half on a 6-0 scoring run for a 35-27 advantage.

After the break, Akron used a 12-3 run to take a 39-38 lead at the 15:08 mark. Junior transfer Sammy Hunter started the run with a three-pointer from the corner and Castaneda contributed five points with a long-range jumper and a pair of free throws. Junior Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) added a spin moved and layin from the paint and Freeman capped the run with a strong post move. Mississippi State responded with a run of their own, draining 7 of 9 shots with three consecutive 3-point field goals to take a 61-47 lead to the 7:34 mark. The Bulldogs continued to have a hot hand, eventually pushing the lead to as many as 20 points.

Tolu Smith led Mississippi State with 26 points and eight rebounds, while D.J. Jeffries registered 15 points. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 52.7 percent from the field (29 of 55), including a 50.0 percent effort from deep (7 of 14). The Bulldogs finished the game with 14 turnovers.

The Zips will be back in action at James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 15, hosting Morgan State. The non-conference contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.