TOLEDO, OH – Senior guard Jonathan Williams scored 24 points to lead Toledo to a convincing 78-56 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday evening in Savage Arena.

The Rockets opened their season-long five-game homestand by turning in their best defensive performance of the season as the Lions' 56 points and 37.7 field-goal percentage were season lows by a UT opponent. SE Louisiana entered the contest with shooting marks of 47.4 percent from the field and 41.6 from three-point range.

Toledo (5-6) also forced the Lions (6-5) to commit 18 turnovers and registered a season-high nine steals en route to a 23-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

Joining Williams in double digits was sophomore guard Jaelan Sanford and senior guard Jordan Lauf with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Toledo held a 41-35 advantage on the boards despite playing without senior forward Steve Taylor Jr., who was sidelined due to injury and is tied for fourth in the nation with 11.8 rpg. Senior center Zach Garber and redshirt freshman center Luke Knapke led the way on the boards nine rebounds apiece.

UT took the lead for good thanks to a 9-0 spurt that led to an 18-10 advantage following a Sanford trey with 10:45 remaining in the first half. Williams provided the Rockets their first double-digit margin, 25-14, four minutes later with a three-pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions.

Toledo expanded its 33-26 halftime advantage back to double digits, 38-28, following sophomore forward Nate Navigato's trey with 18:38 to play.

UT extended its lead to 49-34 on Lauf's corner trey with 13:49 remaining and the Lions weren't able to climb to within closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

The Rockets return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 20 with a matchup against Missouri Valley Conference foe Loyola (IL). The Ramblers are 10-2 this season following an 81-75 (OT) win today at Illinois-Chicago.



Coach Kowalczyk's Post-Game Comments


Senior guard Jordan Lauf's Post-Game Comments