Toledo, Ohio – Junior center Luke Knapke scored all of his game-high 16 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Toledo to a 75-52 victory over Ohio at Savage Arena Friday night.
 
Sophomore guard Marreon Jackson and senior guard Jaelan Sanford each added 14 points for the Rockets, who won their third straight game and improved to 15-3, 3-2 in MAC play.
 
Knapke hit 7-of-8 shots in the opening 20 minutes as Toledo led by as many as 23 points in the first half. Ohio was able to cut its deficit to 10 in the second half but never seriously challenged the Rockets.
 
The Rocket defense held Ohio (9-7, 1-4 MAC) to 32 percent (19-of-59) from the floor and outrebounded the Bobcats, 39-32. Freshman center AJ Edu paced the defense with five blocked shots in just 14 minutes of play. Toledo shot 29-of-60 (48.3 percent) from the floor and connected on 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Senior Gavin Block was the Bobcats' only-double digit scorer with 12 points. UT limited Ohio's two leading scorers, sophomores Jason Carter (16.9 ppg) and Teyvion Kirk (16.3 ppg), to 15 points on 6-of-25 shooting.
 
FIRST HALF

• Toledo scored the first seven points of the game and opened up a 12-2 lead. Sanford and Knapke each scored five points in the run.
• After a pair of Ohio free throws, consecutive three-pointers from Navigato and Edu stretched the Rockets' lead to 18-4 with 13:43 left in the first half.
• Knapke capped a 7-0 run with a baseline jumper to make the score 30-7 at the 8:58 mark.
• Connor Murrell's three-pointer at the 3:34 mark capped a 12-7 Bobcat run that cut the lead to 37-22.
• Knapke hit 7-of-8 shots for 16 points in the first half.

SECOND HALF

• Ohio fought back, cutting the lead to 49-39 with 14:32 left.
• Toledo pushed the lead back to 17 when Chris Darrington hit a three-pointer, forcing Ohio to call a timeout at the 11:14 mark.
• Sanford's three-pointer with 2:48 remaining gave the Rockets an insurmountable 70-48 lead.
• At the 1:38 mark Nate Navigato hit a three-pointer, his 277^th of his career, setting the all-time UT record.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• AJ Edu's five blocked shots tied his season high.
• Knapke was 7-of-9 from the field and he's the only Rocket to score in double digits in UT's first five MAC games.
• Toledo has defeated Ohio in three straight meetings.
• Navigato is tied for third place in MAC history with Miami's Landon Hackim at 277 three-point field goals.

UP NEXT
 The Rockets will visit Kent State on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Tip-off time at the M.A.C. Center is 7:00 p.m.


Highlights from UT's win over Ohio.


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Junior Luke Knapke post-game.