Akron Places Fourth at Cayman Islands Classic

Wednesday, November 23

Cayman Islands

5 PM

University of Akron

3-3,0-0MAC

Nevada

6-1,0-0Mountain West

Akron

Nevada

Enrique Freeman and Tavari Johnson Five 2022

November 23 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score PDF

GRAND CAYMAN – The Akron men's basketball team placed fourth overall at the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic as the Zips fell 62-58 to Nevada at John Gray Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The Zips finished the tournament 1-2, defeating Western Kentucky (72-53) to advance to the semifinals before falling to LSU (73-58).

Freshman Tavari Johsnon (Chicago, Ill.) led the Zips offense with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the 3-point arc. Senior Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) followed in scoring for Akron with 11 points, while junior Enrique Freeman added nine points and a team-best nine rebounds. Senior Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich.) pulled down a second-best seven rebounds as the Zips and Wolf Pack were deadlocked at 33 rebounds apiece.

Akron's defense kept them in the game until the shooting caught up. The Zips started the game shooting 0 of 8 from the floor and only allowed Nevada to score seven points. Johnson provided the offensive spark off the bench, scoring the Zips first bucket with 12:31 showing on the clock. Johnson followed with six points, including a steal and a breakaway layin for the lead, 11-9. Junior Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) added an old-fashioned 3-point play, Castaneda registered three points and Freeman capped the 15-4 run with a dunk. With the Zips ahead 15-11, the two teams traded baskets for the rest of the half as Akron led 24-20 at halftime.

Akron limited the Wolf Pack to shooting just 25.9 percent from the field (7 of 27), including a 12.5 percent (1 of 8) effort from beyond the arc. The Zips shot 38.5 percent from the floor and (10 of 26), but only connected with one trifecta in 10 attempts.

After the break, the Zips led by as many as seven points after a Johnson 3-pointer with 4:47 left to play in the game. A costly turnover prevented Akron from taking a nine-point, 58-49 advantage. Instead, Nevada scored five consecutive points to cut the Zips advantage to two, 56-54. Freeman answered with a floater from the right side, and Nevada countered with another big 3-point field goal. In the final minute of the game, the Wolf Pack established the final lead of the game as Kenan Blackshear drove the left side of the lane for a layup, 59-58.

Will Baker led the Wolf Pack scoring efforts with 20 points, while Blackshear registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jarod Lucas was second in scoring with 16 points.

The Zips will be back in action in Huntington, W.Va., battling Marshall at the Cam Henderson Center on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.