Rockets Cruise to 82-54 Victory at Central Michigan

Tuesday, January 4

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

10-4,2-1MAC

Central Michigan

2-11,1-1MAC

Toledo

Central Mich.

Sophomore Ryan Rollins tallied a team-high 21 points in Toledo's 82-54 win at Central Michigan.

Photo by: Joe Robbins

Rockets Cruise to 82-54 Victory at Central Michigan

1/4/2022 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – Sophomore Ryan Rollins scored 21 points to lead four Rockets in double figures as Toledo (10-4, 2-1 MAC) rolled to an 82-54 Mid-American Conference road win over Central Michigan on Tuesday evening in McGuirk Arena.

"We played well for stretches and did some good things tonight, but I think we can certainly play better," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "Central Michigan has some talent, and they were coming off a win at Kent State last week. We only had six turnovers tonight and that was important. It's really important for us to take care of the ball, because we are a really good offensive team."

Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss tallied a season-high 13 points and three steals to join Rollins in double digits. Juniors JT Shumate and RayJ Dennis added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Freshman Kevin Miller topped the Chippewas (2-11, 1-1 MAC) with 14 points and four assists.

Toledo controlled the boards by registering a 44-34 advantage on the glass. Junior Setric Millner Jr. led the way with eight rebounds, while Dennis, freshman Kooper Jacobi and Shumate each grabbed six boards.

The Rockets continued to excel on the defensive end, limiting the hosts to a 33.3 field-goal percentage. It is the fourth straight contest Toledo has held its opponent to a 33.3 shooting mark or lower.

Toledo is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 2:00 p.m. when it hosts Northern Illinois (3-7, 0-0 MAC) in Savage Arena. The Huskies have yet to play a league game after having their last four contests postponed.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

The Rockets and Chippewas started strong on the offensive end with the game tied at 11-11 at the first media timeout.
Toledo started to take control by taking a 22-13 lead thanks to a 9-2 run that Ryan Rollins capped off with a dunk with 11 minutes left in the first half.
A 7-0 Chippewa spurt reduced the Rockets' lead to two but Rollins scored six straight points to ignite a 15-2 burst that put Toledo in front 42-27 just before halftime.
Harrison Henderson's layup right before the buzzer cut the Rockets' lead at intermission to 44-33.

SECOND HALF

CMU carried that momentum into the second stanza and closed to within 48-43 less than five minutes into the second half.
Keshaun Saunders ended that spurt with a three-pointer, and Kooper Jacobi and RayJ Dennis followed with baskets for a 55-43 cushion that forced CMU to take a timeout with 13:52 remaining.
Toledo's lead didn't dip below double digits the rest of the way.
The Rockets eliminated any hopes of a Chippewa rally with a 10-0 spurt for a 70-48 margin with four minutes left.