Nov. 17, 2006

Final Stats |  Notes

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) - Toledo (0-2) fought hard for a second-straight game but came up on the short end again in a 78-65 loss to Big Ten foe Iowa (2-0) in the opening round of the Paradise Jam tournament.

Senior guard Justin Ingram led the Rockets with 22 points, four steals and four rebounds and finished one point shy of his career scoring high. Senior forward Keonta Howell added 16 points and six rebounds, while senior forward Florentino Valencia registered 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds and junior guard Kashif Payne dished out a game-high seven assists.

Freshman forward Tyler Smith led the Hawkeyes with 28 points, six rebounds and five assists. The Rockets limited Iowa's leading scorer, senior Adam Haluska, to 10 points on 2-of-15 shooting but were hurt inside by Smith and junior forward Kurt Looby (13 points, game-high nine rebounds). Looby played only two minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls.

"We knew Tyler Smith was a good player from talking to other coaches," Joplin said. "We also knew Adam Haluska was going to take his shots and we just wanted to make him work hard. I thought we did a good job against him but their inside guys killed us. We did a good job of limiting our turnovers in this game but we couldn't keep them off the boards."

Iowa enjoyed a 51-30 rebounding advantage on the boards, but much of the damage came in the second half when UT was outrebounded 30-11.

"Iowa's best shot in the second half was a missed shot," Toledo Head Coach Stan Joplin said. "They really crashed the boards and played more physical against us in the second half and that really hurt us because we're undersized. We did a good job in the first half keeping them off the boards."

The Rockets trailed by a 33-30 margin at halftime and were within 64-58 following a basket by sophomore guard Jonathan Amos with 5:32 remaining in the contest. However, Iowa scored the game's next six points on a layup by sophomore forward Cyrus Tate, a Smith jumper on a fast break and a Looby dunk.

Toledo will face Middle Tennessee State (1-2) on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7:00 p.m. AST. The Blue Raiders dropped a 71-62 decision to No. 10 Alabama in the first game of the tournament.