TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team fought off a feisty Western Michigan squad and punched its ticket to Cleveland on Monday evening with a 76-73 victory in a first-round Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament matchup in Savage Arena.
 
The No. 7 seeded Rockets' victory places them in the quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Bowling Green (21-11) on Thursday, March 12. Tip-off time for the contest is 6:30 p.m. in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse with streaming on ESPN-Plus.
 
Junior Marreon Jackson paced the Toledo (17-15) with 25 points, including 18 in the opening 20 minutes. Seniors Willie Jackson and Luke Knapke each registered a double-double for the second-straight game. Willie Jackson tallied 22 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Knapke contributed 18 points and 11 boards.

Junior Michael Flowers led Western Michigan with a season-high 35 points, while junior Brandon Johnson notched 19 points and seven rebounds.

"I thought tonight was a gutty performance by our guys," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We moved the ball well offensively and had 16 assists with only eight turnovers. I thought we guarded for 40 minutes. Western Michigan's runs were created by (Michael) Flowers and (Brandon) Johnson hitting incredibly tough shots. I thought Willie and Spencer (Littleson) did a great job defensively against them."
 
The Broncos held a 43-37 advantage in the rebounding department, but Toledo was able to offset that by going 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range and committing just eight turnovers.
 
The Rockets started strong in each half only to see Western Michigan rally from double-digit deficits. Toledo held a 16-point advantage in the opening 20 minutes before the Broncos closed to within four late in the half.
 
In the second stanza, the Rockets scored the first 10 points after intermission and eventually built their lead to as many as 19 points. Flowers trimmed the Rockets' lead to a single point, 70-69, at the two-minute mark. Willie Jackson tipped in a miss on Toledo's next possession for a three-point lead. He then came up with a steal that turned into a 74-69 lead with 54 seconds left.
  
FIRST HALF

• WMU missed its first seven shots as the Rockets took an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes.
• Marreon Jackson tallied five points during the quick start, including a three-point field goal to break former Nate Navigato's school record of 94 treys (2017-18) in a season.
• Jackson buried another three at the 13:18 mark to push Toledo's lead to 18-6.
• Jackson then scored five straight points to extend the Rockets' cushion to 27-11 with 9:56 remaining in the half.
• Toledo's remained in double digits until the Rockets hit a cold spell and missed eight of nine shots to allow the Broncos to reduce their deficit to 36-31.
• Jackson ended the half with a three-pointer at the buzzer to give him 18 first-half points and the Rockets a 41-34 lead.

SECOND HALF

• The Broncos repeated their slow start from the first half by again missing their first seven shots.
• Toledo took advantage by scoring 10 straight points to take a 51-34 advantage.
• The Rockets remained in control until another offensive drought allowed WMU to reduce its deficit to 66-61 with 5:35 to play.
• Luke Knapke's layup and Willie Jackson's two free throws gave Toledo some breathing room with a 70-61 lead at the 4:18 mark.
• Flowers then scored eight straight points to bring WMU within 70-69 with 1:58 showing on the clock.
• Marreon Jackson missed a layup on Toledo's next possession but Willie Jackson's tip-in gave Toledo a three-point lead.  
• The Rockets scored the game's next four points to take a 76-69 lead and secure the win.

Highlights from Toledo's win over Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament.


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Junior Marreon Jackson post-game.


Senior Willie Jackson post-game.