Toledo Suffers First Home Setback of Season to Kent State

Tuesday, February 15

Toledo, Ohio

6:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

20-6,12-3MAC

Kent State

16-9,11-4MAC

Kent St.

Toledo

Junior RayJ Dennis led Toledo with 21 points against Kent State on Tuesday.

Photo by: Ross Achter

Toledo Suffers First Home Setback of Season to Kent State

2/15/2022 9:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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TOLEDO, Ohio – Kent State handed Toledo its first home defeat of the season on Tuesday night with a 72-59 victory over the Rockets (20-6, 12-3 MAC) in Savage Arena.

"We got frustrated early and that set us back," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We didn't move the basketball, we didn't cut, and we didn't trust each other. We started to compete in the second half, but every time we did make a run they made a play. They broke our spirit several times tonight by hitting shots right at the end of the shot clock."

Junior RayJ Dennis paced Toledo offensively with 21 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome a Golden Flash squad that is on a seven-game winning streak. Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss (11 pts.) and sophomore Ryan Rollins (10 pts.) also scored in double digits for the Rockets.

Junior Sincere Carry topped Kent State (16-9, 11-4 MAC) with 23 points and five assists.

Toledo shot 35.5 percent from the field, while the Golden Flashes posted a 49.1 shooting mark. KSU was red-hot in the first half with a 59.3 FG% en route to building a 36-20 cushion after 20 minutes.

The Rockets return to Savage Arena on Saturday, Feb. 19 for a matchup vs. Central Michigan (6-17, 5-7 MAC). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN3.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

RayJ Dennis' jumper capped off a 6-0 spurt to give Toledo a 9-6 lead at the 15:24 mark.
The Rockets then went the next nine minutes without a field goal as the Golden Flashes put together a 19-2 run to take a 25-11 advantage.
Toledo responded with a 7-0 burst on a Setric Millner Jr. jumper, a Dennis triple and a Ryan Rollins layup to cut the Golden Flashes' lead to 25-18 just over five minutes before halftime.
Kent State scored the final six points of the half to take a 36-20 lead to the locker room.
Sincere Carry led Kent State with 16 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting, while Dennis tallied 13 points by knocking down 5-of-7 shots.

SECOND HALF

Toledo started the second half strong and reduced its deficit to 38-27 when Millner slammed home Dennis' alley-oop pass less than two minutes after the break.
The Golden Flashes' lead hovered between 11 and 14 points for the next six minutes when Ra'Heim Moss buried a triple to bring the Rockets within 50-40 with 11:30 remaining.
Kent State answered with a 7-0 run though to take its largest lead of the night.
Toledo fought back to within 10 points on two occasions down the stretch but couldn't come any closer.