TOLEDO, Ohio – Sophomore Ryan Rollins and junior RayJ Dennis each registered double-doubles to lead Toledo to an 83-70 win over Ball State on Tuesday night in Savage Arena. The victory kept Toledo (14-4, 6-1 MAC) in a virtual tie at the top of the Mid-American conference standings with Ohio (14-2, 5-0 MAC) heading into Friday's nationally televised matchup with the Bobcats in Athens, Ohio.
 
"I don't think we played all that well tonight even though we had 21 assists and just six turnovers," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We didn't take very good shots in the first half, which is uncharacteristic for us. We also got dominated on the offensive glass and that hasn't happened. We had to do a better job of taking good shots and rebounding the ball, and that's something we did in the second half."
 
Rollins scored a team-high 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists, while Dennis tallied 12 points and tied his career high with 10 boards. The duo was joined in double figures by juniors JT Shumate (16 pts.) and Setric Millner Jr. (15 pts.).
 
Freshman Payton Sparks paced Ball State with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
 
Toledo held Ball State to just to 36.6 percent from the floor. The Rockets were out-rebounded, 49-37, but made up for that difference by only committing six turnovers and forcing 13 Cardinal turnovers.
 
Toledo also connected for a season-high 11 three-point field goals and dished out 21 assists, its most against a Division I opponent this season. The Rockets converted 12-of-15 free-throw attempts but saw their streak of 29 consecutive free throws end in the second half.

Friday's contest against Ohio will tip off from The Convo at 6:00 p.m. and be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
FIRST HALF

• Ball State jumped out to an 11-6 lead following a Tyler Cochran three-pointer with 15:48 to play in the half.
• Toledo held the Cardinals scoreless for 7:33 midway through the half resulting in a 17-0 run for a 28-17 advantage with 7:01 left.
• Payton Sparks' put-back layup at the buzzer trimmed the Rockets' lead to 38-35 at halftime.
• Toledo held Ball State to 36.1 percent from the floor but the Cardinals out-rebounded the Rockets by a 30-15 margin in the opening 20 minutes

SECOND HALF

• Toledo came out of the locker room determined and extended its lead to 50-40 with a 12-5 run capped off by RayJ Dennis' driving layup with 16:22 to play.
• The Rockets extended their lead to 75-52 with 8:31 left thanks to a 14-2 run culminated by JT Shumate's three-point play and a pair of free throws.
• Ra'Heim Moss' two free throws gave Toledo its largest lead of the night, 81-54, with 6:22 left.
• The Cardinals ended the contest with a 16-2 run to cut their deficit in half.

Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Sophomore Ryan Rollins post-game.