KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Junior
Setric Millner Jr. exploded for a career-high 28 points and sophomore
Ryan Rollins tallied 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to catapult Toledo to a dominating 92-50 victory over Western Michigan on Tuesday night in University Arena. The 42-point victory kept the Rockets (22-6, 14-3 MAC) in a first-place tie with Ohio (23-5, 14-3 MAC) at the top of the Mid-American Conference.
"I was deathly afraid of this game because Western Michigan has been playing hard," said Head Coach
Tod Kowalczyk after the Rockets posted their 11
th straight victory over the Broncos. "They were up 16 against Buffalo in their last game and beat a good Akron team last week."
Toledo led by a 41-36 margin at halftime before holding the Broncos scoreless for over 10 minutes in the second half as part of a remarkable 28-0 run.
Redshirt freshman
Ra'Heim Moss scored 12 points and grabbed seven boards, while junior
RayJ Dennis tallied 11 points, a team-high nine rebounds and seven assists.
The Rockets shot 51.4 percent from the field and tied their season high with 11 three-point field goals. Toledo limited the Broncos (6-22, 2-15 MAC) to a 27.7 field-goal percentage, including a miniscule 16.1 percent in the final 20 minutes. WMU's shooting mark was the lowest by a Rockets' Division I opponent this season.
"I thought our defense was at an all-time high," Kowalczyk said. "Our strong defense helped us get into transition. We also had very good spacing tonight and made the extra pass. We didn't settle and take bad shots."
Toledo dominated the rebounding department as well, controlling the glass by a 57-30 margin. The Rockets grabbed 19 offensive boards, the same number as WMU's defensive rebounds.
Toledo is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 26 when it hosts Miami in Savage Arena. The contest will tip off at Noon and be televised nationally on ESPNU.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- The Rockets jumped out a 14-5 lead early as all five starters scored before the first media timeout.
- WMU rallied to within 16-13 with an 8-2 spurt but Setric Millner Jr. scored five points and Rollins two during a 7-0 burst that gave Toledo its first double-digit lead, 23-13, at the 10:39 mark.
- B Artis White answered with back-to-back triples to reduce the Broncos' deficit to four and WMU eventually gained a 29-28 lead on Lamar Norman's Jr. three-pointer 5:32 before halftime.
- Millner responded with two straight treys to put the Rockets back in front to stay.
- Toledo shot 50.0 percent and was 7-of-15 from three-point range in the first half. Millner Jr. led the Rockets with 17 points.
SECOND HALF
- JT Shumate scored five points and Ryan Rollins tallied four before WMU burned a timeout with Toledo leading 50-36 less than three minutes after intermission.
- Toledo held a 69-36 lead by the time the Broncos scored their first points of the second half with 9:48 remaining. WMU missed 13 straight shots during this stretch.