Rockets Explode for 16 Treys in 80-53 Win Over Oakland

Thursday, November 26

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:15 pm

University of Toledo

1-1,0-0MAC

Oakland

0-2,0-0Horizon

Toledo

Oakland

Senior Spencer Littleson exploded for 24 points in Toledo's 80-53 win over Oakland.

Photo by: Haley Boehm

Rockets Explode for 16 Treys in 80-53 Win Over Oakland

11/26/2020 7:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Senior Spencer Littleson buried a career-high eight three-point field goals on his way to 24 points to lead Toledo to a dominating 80-53 triumph over Oakland on Thursday afternoon in its second game of the Xavier Invitational. The Rockets (1-1) will wrap up play in the tourney tomorrow against the host Musketeers (2-0) in a 12:00 p.m. matchup televised on FS1.

Littleson's eight three-pointers were one shy of the school record held by Kent Murphree on Nov. 24, 1991. Toledo also nearly tied the school mark for three-pointers in a game with its 16 triples, one away from the record vs. Wright State on Dec. 22, 2003.

"I thought we started the game out well on the defensive end and that really set the tone for us," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk about the Rockets limiting Oakland to a 31.4 field-goal percentage. "Spencer made shots and defended very well. He's our heart and soul out there."

Freshman Ryan Rollins (17 pts.), senior Marreon Jackson (12 pts.) and junior Setric Millner Jr. (11 pts.) joined Littleson in double digits for a second-straight outing. Jackson also dished out a team-high eight assists and helped the Rockets register an impressive 25 helpers on their 28 field goals.

"I don't think I've ever seen a percentage that high for assists to field goals," Kowalczyk said. "We shared the basketball about as well as you can and that has to be a school record."

Toledo controlled the glass as well with a 45-30 advantage over the Golden Grizzlies. Millner Jr. grabbed a team-best nine boards with junior Jonathan Komagum and sophomore AJ Edu collecting eight apiece.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

Toledo answered an early Oakland spurt with an 8-0 run to take an 11-7 lead just over four minutes into the game.
Back-to-back treys from Marreon Jackson and Ryan Rollins gave the Rockets their first double-digit margin, 19-9, with 10:54 remaining in the opening stanza.
Toledo grabbed control when seven different Rockets scored during a 17-1 burst that led to a 36-16 cushion with 3:12 to play before halftime.

SECOND HALF

The Rockets opened the second half with a bang to expand their halftime lead to 48-20. Jackson fed Rollins for a slam and Littleson hit a triple in the first 41 seconds after the break.
Littleson connected for three straight triples on two different occasions in the final 20 minutes.
Rollins' trey with 1:58 to play pushed Toledo's lead to 78-46, its largest advantage on the day.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Toledo leads its all-time series vs. Oakland by an 11-6 margin and has now won four in a row vs. the Golden Grizzlies.
Four Rockets scored in double figures for a second-straight contest.
Senior Marreon Jackson has scored in double figures in a career-high 23 straight contests.
Senior Spencer Littleson's eight treys tie Marreon Jackson (2018), Nate Navigato (2018) and Mark German (1986) for second-most three-point field goals in a game in program history.