TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team (3-1) cruised to a 112-68 victory over Howard University (0-5) on Sunday afternoon in Savage Arena to improve its record to 3-0 in the Men Against Breast Cancer Invitational. The Rockets will travel to Notre Dame on Thursday, Nov. 21 to battle for the tournament title. The contest will be televised on the ACC Network and tip off at 8:30 p.m.

Toledo's 112 points today were its most points scored since a 115-109 win at Central Michigan on Feb. 6, 1993. The Rockets' point total was the second most scored in Savage Arena history, trailing 119 scored vs. Prairie View A&M on Nov. 29, 1990.

Junior Marreon Jackson spearheaded the Rocket explosion by tying his career high for both points (27) and assists (10), while senior Luke Knapke contributed 21 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Knapke also became the 47^th Rocket in program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career with a basket to end the first half.

Junior Dylan Alderson (13 pts.), redshirt freshman T.J. Smith (12 pts.) and senior Willie Jackson (11 pts.) also scored in double digits. Smith also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to help Toledo register a 40-30 advantage on the boards.

"It was great to get everyone involved in the game today," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk. "Our bench really produced when they received the opportunity, and we're going to need them to keep improving through this season."

In addition to Smith's double-digit effort, freshmen Luke Maranka and Donavan Moore contributed eight and seven points, respectively, off the bench.

Senior Charles Williams paced the Bison with 21 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Toledo broke the game open with 13-2 spurt to take a 31-19 lead with 9:19 remaining in the first half.
• Dylan Alderson knocked down a three-pointer and drove for a layup to increase the Rockets' cushion to 40-21 three minutes later.
• Marreon Jackson's steal and fast-break layup gave Toledo its largest lead of the half, 51-31, 1:34 before intermission.
• Luke Knapke led the Rockets in the first half with 14 points and seven rebounds.
• Marreon Jackson contributed 13 points and five assists.

 SECOND HALF

• Howard reduced its deficit to 63-47 five minutes into the second stanza, but the Rockets answered with an 11-1 spurt for a 74-48 advantage to eliminate any doubt of the game's outcome.
• Luke Maranka's three-point field goal gave Toledo a 102-63 lead and put the Rockets over the century mark with 4:09 remaining.
• Marreon Jackson was the only Rocket to score in double digits in the final 20 minutes with 14 points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Toledo won its ninth straight home opener under Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk.
• The Rockets' 44-point victory was their largest since last year's 101-57 victory over Detroit Mercy. The win was UT's 18^th victory of 11 points or more since the start of the 2018-19 season.
• Toledo has won all three of its meetings vs. Howard.
• Toledo's 35 free throws made matched its most since hitting 35-of-46 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 28, 2012.
• The Rockets' 44 free-throw attempts were their most since attempting 45 vs. Youngstown State on Nov. 15, 2016.
• Marreon Jackson's 27 points matched his career high set in the Rockets' season opener at Valparaiso. He also was the first Rocket to make 10 or more free throws without a miss since Justin Drummond at Northern Illinois knocked down 12 at Northern Illinois on Jan. 31, 2015.
• T.J. Smith registered career highs in points (12) and rebounds (9).

Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Junior Marreon Jackson post-game.