TOLEDO, Ohio – Senior JT Shumate tied his career high with 33 points and junior RayJ Dennis tallied 17 points and a career-best 12 assists to propel the Toledo men's basketball team to a 112-90 non-conference victory over Oakland (1-3) on Wednesday evening in Savage Arena.

"I was worried about this game because I know how good of a coach Greg Kampe is and their zone defense is a challenge to play against," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk after the Rockets opened the season with three straight wins for the first time in five years. "I thought our start was fantastic. Our energy and ball movement led to 29 assists. We played really unselfish basketball and answered their runs by staying together and by making shots."

Shumate and Dennis were joined in double digits by senior Setric Millner Jr. (21 pts., 9 reb.) and sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. (20 pts.).

The Rockets shot 61.6 percent from the field, including a scorching 73.5 percent in the first half. UT was nearly as hot from three-point range, hitting 14-of-26 attempts (53.3 percent) from behind the arc. Toledo's 14 treys were one more than it made in its first two games.  Shumate was 15-of-21 from the field, Millner knocked down 9-of-12 shots, while Maddox connected on 8-of-10 attempts.

"The flow of the game was crazy for us," Shumate said. "It felt like we weren't missing a whole lot. We were crashing the offensive boards and a lot of shots were going in."

The Rockets also dominated the boards by a 50-30 margin with junior Tyler Cochran grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds.

Toledo scored the game's first six points and never looked back. A 12-0 spurt put the Rockets in front 23-8 with 14:03 remaining in the first half. UT's lead grew to as many as 24 points before settling for a 57-37 halftime advantage.

Oakland closed to within 11 points with 10:53 remaining but the Rockets responded by scoring 10 unanswered points to put the game away.

Sophomore Trey Townsend topped the Golden Grizzlies with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Oakland shot 41.6 percent from the floor and 36.1 percent (13-of-36) from three-point range.

Toledo returns to action next week when it travels to Estero, Fla. for the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Rockets will open tournament play on Monday, Nov. 21 with an 11:00 a.m. matchup vs. Summit League foe Kansas City.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Toledo 112 points are tied for the most under Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk.
• The Rockets' 29 assists are tied for second most in program history, three shy of the school record of 32 at Central Michigan on Feb. 6, 1993.
• The last time Toledo shot over 60 percent vs. a Division I opponent was a 61.8 mark vs. Ohio on Jan. 8, 2021.
• RayJ Dennis' career-high 12 assists are tied for fifth most by a Rocket and the most since Julius 'Juice' Brown dished out 12 vs. Central Michigan on Jan. 11, 2014.
• Setric Millner Jr.'s 21 points tied his season high and are the most points he has scored in Savage Arena.
• Dante Maddox Jr. tied his career high with four three-point field goals.
• EJ Farmer tied his career high with eight points, matching his total from last year at Central Michigan (Jan. 4).

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• JT Shumate scored nine points and Setric Millner Jr. six to spark a quick Rocket start that led to a 23-8 advantage less than six minutes into the game.
• Toledo pushed its lead to 20 points when a Shumate jumper gave UT a 34-14 cushion with 9:13 to play in the first half.
• The Rockets took their largest lead of the opening 20 minutes after Millner's jumper increased UT's advantage to 53-29 at the 2:45 mark.
• Toledo shot 73.5 percent in the first half with Shumate (19 pts.), Millner (14 pts.) and RayJ Dennis (12 pts.) scoring in double digits.

SECOND HALF

• Oakland reduced its deficit to 15 points in the first two minutes after intermission, but Toledo didn't let the Golden Grizzlies come closer than 11 until 10:53 remained.
• Tyler Cochran scored five straight points and Dante Maddox Jr. added a three-pointer as part of a 10-0 spurt to push the Rockets' lead back to 89-68 with nine minutes left.
• Toledo hit the century mark when a Maddox triple increased the Rockets' margin to 102-81 with 3:34 left.
• Shumate led UT in scoring in the second half as well, finishing with 14 points. Maddox was the only other Rocket in double figures with 11 points.