TOLEDO, Ohio – Balance was the theme of the night for the Toledo men's basketball team as it opened the 2023-24 season with a dominating 94-60 home victory over Detroit Mercy.
 
"You never know what to expect from your team in the first game of the season," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said after the Rockets won their 13^th home opener in a row. "I'm really excited about how hard we played and how connected we were defensively. It wasn't always pretty. We made some mistakes, but our overall production was tremendous and we forced 23 turnovers." 
 
Junior Ra'Heim Moss led the Rockets with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He was joined in double digits by redshirt freshman Javan Simmons (14 pts.), junior Dante Maddox Jr. (12 pts.) and freshman Bryce Ford (11 pts.) Two more Rockets – juniors Tyler Cochran and Andre Lorentsson – finished with nine points apiece to help UT to a 45-7 advantage in bench points.
 
"I'm proud of how hard we played and fought," Moss said. "We have a lot of freshmen on the team and they've done a good job of listening and trying to do the right thing to help us keep winning games."  
 
Cochran also grabbed a game-high five steals and helped Toledo force Detroit Mercy into 23 turnovers.
 
The Rockets were extremely efficient offensively, shooting 50.8% from the field, 60.0% (12-of-20) from three-point range and 80.0% (20-of-25) at the free-throw line. UT also dished out 18 assists and committed just nine turnovers.
 
Toledo returns to action this weekend when it hosts Louisiana in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Tip-off time in Savage Arena on Saturday, Nov. 11 is set for 7:00 p.m.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Ra'heim Moss scored eight early points to give the Rockets an 18-9 lead over the Titans just over five minutes into the game.
• The Rockets and Titans exchanged baskets over the next six minutes when Bryce Ford's back-to-back triples ignited a 14-3 Toledo spurt for a 38-21 lead with six minutes left in the first half.  
• Toledo took a 16-point lead into halftime, 51-35, and overcame a hot shooting half for the Titans (15-of-23, 65.2%) by forcing 13 turnovers.  
• Moss led the Rockets with 13 first-half points while Ford was 3-of-3 from three-point range.  

SECOND HALF

• The Rockets blew the game open when Tyler Cochran capped a 10-0 run with seven consecutive points for a 69-40 cushion at the 12:53 mark.  
• The closest the Titans could come the remainder of the game was 26 points with UT leading by as many as 35 points.

ROCKET ROUNDUP

• Toledo leads its all-time series vs. Detroit Mercy by a 38-25 margin and has won its last six meetings vs. the Titans.
• Eight different Rockets made a three-point field goal.
• All 11 Rockets scored at least four points with 10 players on the court for 13 or more minutes.
• Bryce Ford topped Toledo with a plus-26 +/- rating and made three triples in his first three shots as a Rocket.