Castaneda's 31 leads Akron over Buffalo in MAC quarterfinals

Published Mar. 9, 2023 8:48 p.m. ET

Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — Xavier Castaneda scored 31 points and Enrique Freeman added 19, leading Akron to a 101-77 win over Buffalo in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday night.

The third-seeded Zips (22-10) advanced to face rival and second-seeded Kent State in Friday's semifinals. Akron and Kent State (26-6) split their regular-season matchups with the Golden Flashes winning 89-84 in overtime at home last week.

Top-seeded Toledo (26-6) will face Ohio (19-13) in the other semifinal with the winners meeting in Saturday's title game for the MAC's automatic NCAA bid.

Castaneda made five 3-pointers — three in a span of 2:23 — in the second half to help the Zips pull away. Castaneda's 3-pointer with 9:06 left put Akron up 78-48.

Yazid Powell scored 25 and LaQuill Hardnett added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Bulls (15-17).

Castaneda scored 14 points in the first half, helping Akron build an 18-point lead.

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