TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo (12-1) turned in a dominant defensive performance on Saturday afternoon en route to its 10^th straight victory, a convincing 77-45 triumph over Penn (10-3) in Savage Arena. The victory came against a Quaker squad which had posted wins over defending NCAA champion Villanova and Miami (Fla.) earlier this season.
 
Penn's 45 points were the fewest by a Rocket opponent since a 59-44 win over Eastern Michigan in the 2014 Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals. In addition, Toledo limited the Quakers to a 30.5 field-goal percentage, the lowest by a UT opponent since Miami (Ohio) shot 30.4 percent on Feb. 13, 2016.
 
Seniors Jaelan Sanford and Nate Navigato paced a balanced attack with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Sophomore Marreon Jackson also scored in double digits for the fourth time in five games, finishing with 12 points and a team-high three steals.
 
Junior Willie Jackson tied his career high with 16 rebounds to go along with eight points. He teamed with junior Luke Knapke (9 pts., season-high 10 rebounds) and freshman AJ Edu (6 pts., 7 reb.) to help the Rockets own a 45-35 advantage on the glass.
 
Knapke and Edu also dominated the paint defensively with four and two blocked shots, respectively.
 
Junior AJ Brodeur led Penn with a game-high 19 points.

Toledo will begin league play on Friday, Jan. 4 with a nationally-televised matchup vs. West Division rival Ball State (9-4). Tip-off time for the contest will be 7:00 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
FIRST HALF

• Toledo led for the first six minutes with its biggest advantage coming after Chris Darrington's trey put the Rockets up, 9-4, at the 15:08 mark.
• The lead changed hands four times over the next 11 minutes until an 8-0 spurt put UT ahead to stay, 30-25, with 2:44 remaining in the half. Four different Rockets – Jaelan Sanford, Nate Navigato, Willie Jackson and Marreon Jackson – scored during the stretch.
• Sanford closed out the half with a pair of baskets in the final 1:10 to give UT a 34-27 halftime lead.
• Toledo shot 55.2 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

SECOND HALF

• The Quakers cut Toledo's lead to six twice in the first three minutes after halftime.
• Back-to-back three-pointers from Navigato provided the Rockets their first double-digit cushion, 44-32, with 16:29 remaining. 
• Six straight points from AJ Edu pushed the Rockets to their first 20-point lead, 57-37, with just under 10 minutes remaining.
• Penn's deficit didn't fall under 18 points the rest of the way.
• The Rockets limited Penn to 18 points and a 24.1 shooting mark in the second half.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Rockets' 12-1 start matches their best start since opening the 2013-14 campaign with a 12-1 record.
• Toledo is 7-0 at home for the first time since winning all 15 home games in its 2013-14 season.
• Toledo had fewer than four players score in double digits for just the third time this season.
• The Rockets' seven three-pointers and 19 three-point shots were their fewest since a 67-60 win over UC-Irvine on Nov. 21.
• Toledo held a double-digit rebounding advantage for the seventh time this season.
• UT registered a season-high seven blocked shots.
• The Rockets committed just 10 turnovers, marking the fifth straight home game UT has had 10 or fewer miscues.
• Willie Jackson registered his ninth double-digit rebounding effort this season.
• Luke Knapke blocked a season-high four shots.

Highlights from UT's victory over Penn.


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Senior Nate Navigato post-game.