YPSILANTI, Mich. – Toledo cruised to its ninth straight victory Tuesday night with an 86-66 triumph at Eastern Michigan (8-12, 3-6 MAC). The 20-point win kept the Rockets (18-4, 10-1 MAC) a game ahead of second-place Ohio (17-3, 8-1 MAC) in the league standings.

"We didn't play well tonight even though we did some really good things," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We need to play better. There were too many turnovers and defensive mistakes, and we need to clean some things up."

Junior JT Shumate led Toledo with 24 pts and was joined in double digits by sophomore Ryan Rollins (19 pts.), redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss (15 pts.) and junior RayJ Dennis (12 pts.). Moss also grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds to register his first double-double as a Rocket.

Moss' performance helped Toledo dominate the glass by a 46-29 margin.  Dennis, Rollins and Shumate each grabbed seven rebounds, while junior Setric Millner Jr. added five.

Redshirt freshman Noah Farrakhan led four Eagles in double figures with 17 points.

Toledo continued to excel in the shooting department, posting a 53.0 field-goal percentage for its fourth straight game making more than half its shots. The Rockets also limited Eastern Michigan to a 37.5 shooting mark.

Toledo returns to action on Friday, Feb. 4 when it travels to Muncie, Ind. to face Ball State (10-11, 5-5 MAC). Tip-off time is set for 9:00 p.m. on ESPNU.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• EMU jumped out to a 7-2 lead but Ryan Rollins' three-pointer evened the score at 7-7 at the first media timeout.
• Toledo snapped a 16-16 deadlock with a 7-0 burst midway through the first half. Rollins ignited the spurt with a triple and JT Shumate and Ra'Heim Moss followed with baskets.
• The Rockets maintained their lead and took a 45-35 advantage to the locker room thanks to Moss' three-point play with a minute remaining in the half.
• Toledo committed just three turnovers in the opening 20 minutes with Shumate leading the way with 18 points.

SECOND HALF

• Toledo took complete control by scoring the first eight points of the second half.
• Rollins hit a pair of jumpers followed by jumpers from Setric Millner Jr.  and Shumate.
• RayJ Dennis registered three straight baskets to give the Rockets a 60-41 cushion with 14 minutes left.
• Toledo led by as many as 24 points before settling for the 20-point win.

 
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