Rockets Scorch Nets En Route to 78-58 Victory Over Kent State

Saturday, February 11

Toledo, OH

2:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

13-12 (6-6MAC)

Kent State

13-12 (5-7MAC)

Kent State

TOLEDO

Senior guards Jonathan Williams (left) and Jordan Lauf celebrate the Rockets' 78-58 victory.

Photo by: Toledo Athletics

Rockets Scorch Nets En Route to 78-58 Victory Over Kent State

2/11/2017 4:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)Post-Game Notes

TOLEDO, OH – A red-hot shooting day propelled Toledo to a convincing 78-58 triumph over Kent State on Saturday afternoon in Savage Arena. The Rockets (13-12, 6-6 MAC) posted an impressive 65.2 field-goal percentage against the Golden Flashes (13-12, 5-7 MAC) for their highest shooting mark in nearly 15 years.

The senior tandem of guard Jonathan Williams and forward Steve Taylor, Jr. topped UT offensively with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Joining the duo in double figures were sophomores Jaelan Sanford and Nate Navigato with 15 and 13 points apiece.

Williams also dished out a game-high six assists with just one turnover in 38 minutes to help Toledo register a season-high 24 assists. Senior guard Jordan Lauf topped the Rockets on the boards with eight rebounds in addition to tying his career high with five assists.

In addition to its remarkable field-goal percentage, the Rockets shot 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from three-point range and a season-high 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the charity stripe.
Sophomore guard Jaylin Walker came off the bench to lead Kent State with 13 points, while the Golden Flashes' leading scorer, Jimmy Hall, was limited to 10 points, eight points under his season average.

The Rockets led for virtually the entire contest and took their first double-digit lead, 30-20, following a Williams' trey with 7:19 remaining in the first half. Kent State responded with an 8-2 spurt to cut its deficit to four, but UT was able to restore its lead back to 10, 44-34, at halftime when Sanford hit a trey at the buzzer.

After the visitors registered the first two points of the second half, the Rockets answered with four straight baskets from Williams, Taylor, Sanford and Lauf. Toledo took its largest lead of the game, 75-53, following back-to-back layups from Taylor.

Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 14 with a trip to Akron, OH to face MAC East Division leader Akron. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.