ATHENS, OH ? Toledo couldn't contain Ohio's prolific three-point attack on Saturday afternoon in a 91-58 setback at The Convo. The Bobcats (13-11, 6-5 MAC) entered the contest with MAC-high 37.9 three-point field-goal percentage and connected on 14-of-23 attempts from behind the arc (including 8-of-9 in the second half) for a 60.9 percentage.
Senior G Jonathan Amos led UT offensively with a career-high 32 points and his performance made him the 40th member of the Rockets' 1,000-point club. Senior G Ridley Johnson was also in double figures for Toledo (4-21, 2-9 MAC) with 11 points.
Senior F Jerome Tillman tallied 25 points and seven rebounds to lead the Bobcats and solidify his standing as the MAC's leading scorer and rebounder. Senior F Justin Orr (19 pts.), freshman G Steven Coleman (13 pts.) and senior G Michael Allen (11 pts.) also scored in double digits.
Ohio's 91 points were the most allowed by the Rockets since a 91-80 setback in Athens on Jan. 31, 2007. The Bobcats' 14 treys were also the most three-point field goals UT has allowed in a game in school history. The hosts registered a 60.8 field-goal percentage from the field, including a 70.8 mark (14-of-23) in the second half.
“We didn't play any defense basically the whole second half,” Toledo Head Coach Gene Cross said. “Anytime you give up 70 percent in a half and 89 percent from three-point range you might as well not even be out there. To Ohio's credit, they made shots when they were open and we left a lot of them open.”
Tillman sparked Ohio to a quick start in the contest by scoring six of his team's first 13 points. Amos brought UT within 13-9 with his first basket of a 12-point individual scoring run. Ohio scored 10 straight points before Amos scored again though to take control of the contest.
The Rockets trailed by as many as 14 points in the opening stanza but scored the last four points of the first half on baskets from senior G Anthony Byrd and Johnson to make it a 10-point game, 39-29.
Ohio ended any hopes of a Toledo comeback however by scoring the first 10 points of the second half to take a 49-29 lead. The Bobcats scored 52 points in the second half for the most points in a half by a UT opponent this season.
“I wish there was a way to quantify my disappointment,” said Cross about the way his team opened the second half. “It's very frustrating and utterly disappointing to go out and lay an egg the way we did and to not fight back. One of the things I try to pride myself on as a coach is to battle. You may lose but the least you can do is fight through adversity. As the head coach of this program, I need to find a way to muster up some fight in our guys.”
Toledo returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 18 when it hosts Ball State. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. at Savage Arena.
