EDINBURG, TX - Offensive fireworks were on display in Toledo's season opener vs. Texas State (3-0) on Friday evening, but the Rockets came up on the short end of a 94-91 decision to the Bobcats. It was UT's first game in four days at the Texas-Pan American Tip-Off Tournament.
Toledo (0-1) had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but junior G Dominique Buckley's three-point attempt rimmed out. Buckley had knocked down a trey with 16.6 seconds remaining on the Rockets' previous possession to bring UT within 93-91.
"We're a talented team offensively and we showed that tonight," Toledo Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "I didn't think we started the game well defensively and it caught up to us. We had some lack of communication on a couple of switches and gave up some open shots. We're going to play a talented USC-Upstate tomorrow night and we're going to have to bounce back from this and have short-term memory."
Sophomore G Rian Pearson's career-high 25 points spearheaded a Rockets' attack which saw five players score in double figures. Joining Pearson in double figures were freshman G Julius Brown (17 pts.), sophomore F Matt Smith (career-high 15 pts.), freshman G Ryan Majerle (11 pts.) and sophomore F Reese Holliday (10 pts.). Holliday also grabbed a career-high tying 13 rebounds for his sixth career double-double and helped the Rockets register a 34-26 advantage on the boards.
Toledo converted 26-of-27 free throws in the contest for the second-highest percentage (96.3 percent) in school history. The Rockets previously knocked down 32-of-33 attempts (97.0 percent) vs. Old Dominion on Dec. 9, 1995.
Junior C Matt Staff led the Bobcats with 22 points.
UT played the majority of the second half with a small lineup after Smith and sophomore C DeLino Dear each picked up their third and fourth fouls in the first five minutes of the second stanza.
UT rallied from a 56-48 deficit early in the second stanza and eventually took a 62-61 lead on a Pearson lay-in with just over 11 minutes remaining. The lead then exchanged hands several times until UT appeared ready to take control after Pearson's two free throws provided the Rockets a 78-74 advantage at the 4:56 mark. TSU regained the lead, 81-80, with four minutes left though when Smith fouled out and Vonn Jones sank a pair from the charity stripe.
With the score tied at 85-85, Toledo went scoreless for nearly two minutes as TSU went on a 6-0 run. Brown ended the Rockets' drought with a three-point bomb to cut UT's deficit to 91-88 with 36.9 seconds left. The Rockets appeared to force a five-second violation on the ensuing in-bounds pass, but the Bobcats were granted a late timeout.
Texas State then made three-of-four free throws in the closing seconds for its final margin of victory.
Toledo will face USC-Upstate at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday followed by the host Broncs on Sunday and Victory (TN) Univ. on Monday.
