Philadelphia, PA - Mississippi State got its first win away from Humphrey Coliseum this season as they defeated Akron 73-54 at the Barstool Sports Invitational.
Senior center Tolu Smith led the way with 26 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs and helped Mississippi State get out to a 35-27 halftime lead with 12 first-half points.
The Zips got themselves right back in it, taking a 39-38 lead just four minutes into the second half, but it was all Mississippi State after that as they held Akron to just 16 points in the final 16 minutes.
D.J. Jeffries exploded for 15 points while hitting two three-pointers, and Shakeel Moore contributed to the stout defensive night with four steals. Oregon State transfer Dashawn Davis also added eight points and four assists with two three-pointers.
1) Defense the star of the show.
The early theme of this season has been the dominant defense that Mississippi State has played, and it really showed tonight.
Akron returned four starters from an NCAA Tournament team last season, and Mississippi State put the clamps on them, holding them to just 32.7% from the field and 22.2% from three. Only one Akron player scored in double figures, and that was guard Xavier Castaneda with 20, but it was a very inefficient night as he shot 5-14 from the field.
Normally when you see a defensive performance like this, you'd assume it was turnovers that caused it, but the Bulldogs only forced nine turnovers and blocked zero shots. It was an overall effort from the whole team, as they were effective on switches, not giving Akron easy looks. MSU forced the Zips to settle for jump shots on most occasions, as Akron only scored 20 points in the paint. It also helped Mississippi State dominate the glass as they won the rebound battle 43-25.
2) Shooting stands out.
The shots were falling for Mississippi State tonight as they connected on 7 of their 14 three-point attempts. The Bulldogs had five different players hit from deep, and Dashawn Davis and D.J. Jeffries each hit two.
The dominance of Tolu Smith on the inside allowed for State to get plenty of open looks. Smith had a clear size advantage as he bullied his way to 11-13 night from the field, and with the Zips' defense collapsing on him, the Bulldog shooters made him pay.
3) Davis is a Dawg
Mississippi State may have found a gem in former Oregon State guard Dashawn Davis.
The 6'2" guard had a solid opening night as he knocked down two three-pointers Monday, but he tweaked his ankle in the 2nd half, which kept him out of practice all week. Due to that, Davis did not get the start, but he still battled through it and put on a show as he scored eight points and dished out four assists, and led the team with a +25 +/-.
"What a gutty performance," head coach Chris Jans said. "He was going to be a game-time decision. Andrew Kegley, our trainer, and Dashawn worked tirelessly to try to get him back to be able to perform on the court, and he gave us a gutty performance."
Davis was someone who really struggled at the three-point line last season at Oregon State, shooting just 18.8% from three, but he's made four of his five three-point attempts this season, and Jans says he's back to what he was in junior college.
"We knew him from junior college. We had recruited him at New Mexico State," Jans said. "We looked at all his numbers closely. Talked to a bunch of people that had coached him previously, and most importantly, just looking at all the video, it was structurally sound. Last year he was put into a situation where he had to take a lot of tough shots, and his percentages showed that. They had a tough year last year at Oregon State when he was up there, and I just think he took some bad shots."
Mississippi State will have a quick turnaround as they'll travel back to Starkville to host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday. The Golden Lions rank #356 in KenPom rankings, but they'll be no pushover as they almost pulled an upset on #14 TCU as they lost by just one point.
