TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo secured the No. 1 seed in the 2021 Mid-American Conference Tournament on Saturday evening with a dominating 91-44 victory over Western Michigan. The win improved the Rockets to 19-6 overall and 14-3 in league play and was their ninth straight over the Broncos.Â
Â
"We obviously played really well tonight," Head Coach
Tod Kowalczyk said. "Western is a lot better than they played. We just had a really good night. I thought the key to the game was our defensive intensity at the start. Winning a share of the regular season is important for us, but we still have a lot to play for Tuesday night at Central Michigan."
Senior
Marreon Jackson produced another strong all-around game to lead Toledo, finishing with 22 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and a career-high tying five steals in just 29 minutes.
Â
Jackson's backcourt mates, senior
Spencer Littleson and freshman
Ryan Rollins, enjoyed standout performances as well. Littleson scored 17 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting, while Rollins tallied 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Junior
JT Shumate and sophomore
Keshaun Saunders also finished in double figures with 13 points each.
Â
Toledo never trailed and held a 54-16 halftime lead after shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 10-of-18 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. The Rockets finished with a 54.5 shooting mark and a 41.9 (13-of-31) three-point FG%.
Â
Western Michigan was limited to a 28.8 FG% and a 3-of-26 showing behind the three-point arc by the stifling Toledo defense.
Â
Toledo will have a chance to gain sole possession of the MAC regular-season title when it travels to Central Michigan (6-15, 2-12 MAC) on Tuesday, March 2. Tip-off time at McGuirk Arena in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. is set for 5:00 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Â
FIRST HALF
- Toledo jumped right on the Broncos with Spencer Littleson and Ryan Rollins each hitting three-pointers en route to a 12-1 lead in the game's first four minutes.
- Another Littleson triple increased Toledo's margin to 27-12 and forced the Broncos to take the game's first timeout at the 8:12 mark.
- Marreon Jackson then spearheaded an 18-0 spurt to increase the Rockets' lead to 47-14 just over three minutes before halftime.
- Toledo scored the final seven points of the opening stanza to take a 54-16 lead to the locker room.
Â
SECOND HALFÂ
- The Broncos trimmed the Rockets' lead to 58-28 with a 12-4 run in the first two minutes after halftime.
- Jackson responded with five straight points and Rollins followed with a steal and dunk to put Toledo in front 65-28 at the 15:58 mark.
- The Rockets took their largest lead, 91-40, on Mattia Acunzo's jumper with 3:02 to play.
INSIDE THE NUMBERSÂ
- Toledo's 14 MAC victories are its most since posting a 14-4 mark in the 2013-14 season. The Rockets also finished 14-2 in the 2006-07 season, the last time UT earned the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament.
- The Rockets' 47-point victory was their second-largest ever in a Mid-American Conference game, trailing only 52-point win over Buffalo on Feb. 11, 1999.
- Western Michigan's 44 points and 16 first-half points were the fewest scored by a Division I opponent against Toledo since a 59-44 win over Eastern Michigan in the 2014 MAC Tournament.
- Toledo has swept its season series vs. Western Michigan four straight years.
Highlights from Toledo's win over Western Michigan.
Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.
Senior Marreon Jackson post-game.