KENT, Ohio – Junior Marreon Jackson poured in a career-high 32 points, but it wasn't enough as Kent State remained unbeaten in the M.A.C. Center with an 84-77 victory over Toledo in Mid-American Conference men's basketball action on Tuesday evening.

"It was good to see Marreon get his confidence back, make shots and play with toughness," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said.

Senior Willie Jackson tallied 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Rockets (8-7, 0-2 MAC), notching his ninth double-double of the season and finishing one point shy of a career scoring best.

Five Golden Flashes scored in double figures with senior Philip Whittington, senior Antonio Williams and junior Danny Pippen each scoring 16 points.

Kent State (12-3, 2-0 MAC) shot 52.4 percent from the field, marking the first time this season the Rockets have allowed an opponent to shoot higher than 45 percent. The Rockets posted a 40.0 shooting mark and were 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from behind the three-point arc.

The contest was a back-and-forth affair that saw nine lead changes and six occasions when the score was tied. Toledo fell behind 10-2 early but rallied to take a five-point lead later in the first half. Willie Jackson's two free throws put the Rockets up 58-55 with 8:58 remaining, but the Golden Flashes responded with a 17-2 run to take control.

"I thought we played with great effort except for the first three minutes of the game," Kowalczyk said. "Our four captains rallied our team and showed great leadership after we fell behind early. The big difference in the second half was Kent State taking advantage of Luke Knapke's foul trouble. We had to double (Philip) Whittington in the post and they ended up hitting some big threes."

Toledo returns to Savage Arena for its next two games. The Rockets will host Western Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 11 and Central Michigan on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Both contests will tip off at 7:00 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Kent State hit five of its first six shots and took advantage of two Toledo turnovers to take a 10-2 lead less than four minutes into the game.
• Toledo rallied to knot the score at 13-13 on Willie Jackson's layup just before the 10-minute mark.
• The Rockets eventually took a 21-20 lead four minutes later following back-to-back three-pointers from Marreon Jackson.
• Luke Maranka's three-point play and another Marreon Jackson trey extended UT's lead to 27-23 at the 3:55 mark.
• Four more points from Marreon Jackson gave the Rockets their largest cushion of the half, 31-26, just over a minute later.
• Kent State ended the half with a 7-2 spurt to even the score at halftime, 33-33.

SECOND HALF

• Spencer Littleson's trey gave the Rockets their first lead of the second half, 37-35, less than two minutes after intermission.
• Marreon Jackson increased the advantage to 40-37 after he knocked down three free throws a minute later.
• After Kent State responded with an 8-0 burst, Toledo fought back again and used an 8-0 spurt of its own for a 58-55 lead.
• Luke Knapke began the run with a three-pointer and Marreon Jackson followed with another three-point bomb. Willie Jackson capped it off with a pair of free throws.
• Antonio Williams put KSU back on top 61-58 with two trey before Knapke's layup made the score 61-60 with 7:19 left.
• The Golden Flashes then took control with an 11-0 run. The Rockets climbed to within seven points on two occasions but couldn't get any closer.