Arizona State only shot 32% from the field in a blowout loss to Mississippi State 71-56.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Final from Chicago.
ASU falls, 71-56, in the season opener
A chance to bounce back on Saturday with our home opener against Texas Southern at 1:30 PM
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 9, 2023
Trey Fort led Mississippi State to the win, dropping 21 points, 14 of which came in the first quarter, and Mississippi State shot 40% from beyond the ark to lead the Bulldogs to a win at the Barstool Sports Invitational in Chicago.
PLAYER OF THE GAME TREY FORT pic.twitter.com/zoXUMeGp8O
— Hail State Stool (@HailStateStool) November 9, 2023
It didn’t start great for Arizona State. After taking the lead 10-9 with 11:37 left in the first half, Arizona would score 8 points the rest of the half while Mississippi State scored 20. It felt like Miss State would score every drive.
Arizona State doubled its half-point total in the second half. Most of those points came in garbage time, which felt like it started with 12 minutes still in the half. The entire second half felt like the Barstool announcers were roasting ASU for how poorly they were shooting. Arizona State just couldn’t find the three-point shot until garbage time. Team captains Jamiya Neal and Frankie Collins combined for 15 points and scored 5/18 from the field.
Kamari Lands led the Arizona State Sun Devils with 13 points. Jose Perez looked great in the first half but didn’t score in the second. One bright spot for ASU was Zane Meeks. The forward from Prairie Village, KS, made two three-pointers late in the game and showed he could be a shooter for ASU.
Arizona State moves to 0-1 and will need to figure out something because this was an embarrassing performance for Bobby Hurley’s squad, which is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance. As for Mississippi State, they move to 1-0 and look like legit contenders in the SEC and have a chance to build on their First Four loss last year.
