TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior
RayJ Dennis scored a career-high 23 points and senior
Setric Millner Jr. tallied a double-double on Monday night in Savage Arena to lead Toledo to a wire-to-wire 85-70 season-opening victory over Valparaiso.
"Tonight's win was obviously a great start to our season," Head Coach
Tod Kowalczyk said. "I thought our ball pressure, communication and ball-screen defense were on point at the start of the game. That took Valpo out of a lot of its offense. We got away from that after halftime. Give them credit but giving up 44 points in the second half was too much. We were a little lackadaisical and committed some turnovers that led to baskets."
Millner tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets and was joined in double digits by sophomores
Ra'Heim Moss (15 pts.) and Dante Maddox (10 pts.).
Dennis was extremely efficient offensively by knocking down 10-of-15 field-goal attempts and 2-of-4 shots behind the three-point arc. The Rockets shot 52.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes before cooling off in the second half to finish with a 45.7 shooting mark.
The Rockets held a 40-32 advantage on the glass with junior
AJ Edu grabbing seven boards to support Millner's double-digit rebound total.
Toledo dominated the first half primarily thanks to a 15-0 run that gave the Rockets a 21-4 advantage just over eight minutes into the contest. UT's lead remained at 20 or more points until the Beacons cut their deficit to 78-61 with 5:11 to play.
Toledo returns to action on Friday, Nov. 11 when it travels to Philadelphia, Pa. to face Conference USA favorite UAB (1-0) in the Barstool Sports Invitational. The game will be played at the Wells Fargo Center with a tipoff time of 5:10 p.m.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Toledo won its home opener for the 12th straight season and has defeated Valparaiso in its last three meetings. The Rockets lead their all-time series vs. the Beacons by a 9-6 margin.
- Junior RayJ Dennis' career-high 23 points was one more than his previous best of 22 at Northern Illinois last year.
- Senior Setric Millner Jr. registered his fifth career double-double.
- Sophomore Ra'Heim Moss tied his career high with four steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- The Rockets never looked back after JT Shumate took the opening tip and drove for a layup five seconds into the game.
- Toledo held the Beacons scoreless for over six minutes as part of a 15-0 run to take a commanding 21-4 lead at the 11:56 mark.
- The Rockets' lead didn't dip below 13 points the remainder of the game and a Setric Millner Jr. slam put Toledo ahead 33-11 with 7:49 left in the first half.
- Dante Maddox's three-pointer 2:39 before halftime increased UT's cushion to 46-20.
- Toledo shot 52.6 percent in the first half and limited Valpo to a 32.4 mark.
- Millner (13 pts.) and Dennis (10 pts.) were the only double-digit scorers in the first half.
SECOND HALF
- The visitors opened the second half with a 6-1 spurt, but RayJ Dennis and Ra'Heim Moss quickly answered with buckets for the Rockets.
- Toledo's lead remained 20 points or more until a 6-0 Valpo burst cut the Rockets' margin to 78-61 with 5:11 left.
- Maddox responded with his second triple of the game to push Toledo's lead back to 20.
- Dennis and Moss paced the Rockets in the second half with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Postgame Press Conference
