Murray State outpaces Akron 115-100 in Vegas shootout

Layne Taylor’s 23 points helped Murray State defeat Akron 115-100 on Saturday in Las Vegas.

The MAC and MVC rivals met out west in the Jack Jones Classic quadrupleheader hosted by UNLV.

Taylor also contributed eight assists for the Racers (8-3). Javon Jackson scored 20 points while going 9 of 13 and added five assists. JJ Traynor had 16 points.

Murray State took the lead for good with 15:19 left in the first half. The score was 47-42 at halftime, with Roman Domon racking up 10 points. Murray State outscored Akron by 10 points in the second half, and Taylor scored a team-high 18 points in the second half to help their team secure the victory.

The Zips (8-3) were led in scoring by Tavari Johnson, who finished with 28 points. Sharron Young added 20 points for Akron. Amani Lyles had 16 points and five assists.

Murray State will host Drake on Thursday night in both teams' Missouri Valley Conference opener..