Rockets Capture Back-to-Back Outright MAC Titles for First Time

Friday, March 4

Toledo, Ohio

6:30 p.m.

University of Toledo

25-6,17-3MAC

Bowling Green

13-18,6-14MAC

Bowling Green

Toledo

Toledo won its second-straight MAC title on Friday night with its 96-56 win over Bowling Green.

Photo by: Daniel Miller/University of Toledo

Rockets Capture Back-to-Back Outright MAC Titles for First Time

3/4/2022 10:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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TOLEDO, Ohio – A season-high 6,712 fans saw Toledo make history on Friday night in Savage Arena as Toledo (25-6, 17-3 MAC) captured back-to-back outright Mid-American Conference titles for the first time ever with a dominating 96-56 triumph over arch-rival Bowling Green. The Rockets' 25 wins are tied for second in program history with the 2018-19 squad. In addition, Toledo's 40-point victory was its largest ever over the Falcons.

"Winning back-to-back titles is a great accomplishment and I'm proud of our guys and staff," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "It was a great way to end our home season. Our fan base is awesome, and I think they really appreciated this team and how they played for each other."

All five starters scored in double-figures for the Rockets and combined to shoot an amazing 68.8 percent (33-of-48).

Junior JT Shumate paced Toledo with 22 points and finished a nearly perfect 8-of-9 from the field. Junior Setric Millner Jr. poured in 19 points, while sophomore Ryan Rollins tallied 18 points. Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss registered his third double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Junior RayJ Dennis nearly notched a double-double as well, finishing with 12 points and a career-high nine assists.

Toledo shot 57.8% from the field and was a scorching 12-of-24 from three-point range. The Rockets dished out a season-high 25 assists and committed only eight turnovers.

The Falcons could only muster a 35.4 shooting mark en route to a season-low point total. Senior Daeqwon Plowden paced the Falcons with 19 points.

Toledo took control midway through the first half and held a 47-28 halftime lead. Bowling Green never threatened in the second half as the Rockets led by as many as 44 points.

Toledo will open the 2022 MAC Tournament vs. No. 8 seed Central Michigan on Thursday, March 10 at 11:00 a.m. in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

First Half

Setric Millner Jr. hit a jumper and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to give Toledo an early 10-5 lead.
Bowling Green rallied with a 7-2 run capped off by a Daeqwon Plowden jumper to even the contest, 12-12, at the 12:24 mark.
RayJ Dennis' three-pointer ended a 12-2 spurt to put Toledo in front, 24-14, with just under nine minutes left in the half.
Toledo dominated the rest of the way, burying eight of its last nine shots for a 47-28 cushion at the break.
Toledo shot a blistering 20-of-31 (64.5%) from the field and held BG to 35.5 percent.
Millner and Ra'Heim Moss each had 12 points at the half.

Second Half

The Rockets' hot shooting continued by going a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor to open the half with a 17-5 burst that extended their lead to 64-38.
Toledo followed that up with a 21-4 run capped off by Keshaun Saunders' three-pointer for an 85-45 margin with 7:03 to play.
Kooper Jacobi's layup with 2:49 remaining gave the Rockets their largest lead, 96-52, with 2:49 remaining.