CHICAGO – The Arizona State men's basketball team fell in its season opener, dropping a neutral site contest to the Mississippi State Bulldogs 71-56 Wednesday night at the Barstool Sports Invitational at Wintrust Arena.
The Sun Devils led 10-9 eight minutes into the game, but the Bulldogs, a 2023 NCAA Tournament team that was 21-13 a year ago and has had six straight winning seasons, put it together quickly and went on a run to put the game away by the half with a 39-18 lead.
Louisville transfer Kamari Lands led the Sun Devils with 13 points, but ASU was just 5-of-21 (.240) from the three-point stripe while Mississippi State was 10-of-26 (.380). MSU outrebounded the Sun Devils 44-31 and outscored ASU 12-3 in second-chance points.
KAMARI LANDS TOP SCORING GAMES
15 at Georgia Tech (Feb. 25, 2023)
15 vs. Florida State (Feb. 4, 2023)
15 vs. Western Kentucky (Dec. 14, 2022)
13 vs. Mississippi State (Nov. 8, 2023)
13 at No. 19 Miami (Feb. 11, 2023)
13 vs. No. 9 Arkansas (Nov. 21, 2022)
ASU'S EARLIEST SEASON OPENERS
Nov. 6, 2018: ASU 102, Cal State Fullerton 94, 2 OT
Nov. 7, 2022: ASU 62, Tarleton 59
Nov. 8, 2023: Mississippi State 71, Arizona State 56 (Barstool Invitational in Chicago)
Nov. 8, 2013: ASU 96, UMBC 61
MATCHUP WITH MISSISSIPPI STATE
This was the third meeting between the two programs, all of which have taken place at neutral sites. The Sun Devils took down No. 15 Mississippi State, 72-67, back in 2018 at the MGM Main Event semifinals in Las Vegas, and earned a 70-69 victory at a tournament in Honolulu back in 1987.
NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
ASU won all three of its non-conference regular season neutral site games last year, beating Creighton in Las Vegas and No. 20 Michigan and eventual Atlantic 10 Champion VCU in Brooklyn. Chicago is added to the list of places where Coach Hurley's Sun Devils have played neutral site games non-conference games, joining Las Vegas (five games), New York (five games), Bahamas (four games), Connecticut (four games), Phoenix (one game), Shanghai (once in 2019), Los Angeles (two games) and Florida (three games).
UP NEXT
ASU returns to Tempe to host Texas Southern -- another 2023 NCAA Tournament team -- in its home opener at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 11). Tickets for Sun Devil Men's Basketball 2023-24 non-conference games are on sale now. Visit the following link for more information. Conference games will become available on Friday, Nov. 24. Ticket packages start at just $90 and the home schedule features match-ups against top ranked USC, UCLA and Arizona. Season Tickets and Mini Plans are now available.
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