YPSILANTI, Mich. – Toledo overcame an off-shooting night and grinded out a 70-63 victory at Eastern Michigan on Saturday night to remain in a first-place tie in the Mid-American Conference. The victory extended the Rockets' winning streak to nine games and kept UT (19-6, 10-2 MAC) tied for the top spot in the MAC with Kent State (20-5, 10-2 MAC).

"We're a veteran team and we won this game in grind-out fashion," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk, who won his 250^th game on the Rocket bench. "Our leadership showed tonight, and we just buckled down and got stops. We just need to continue to get better."

Junior RayJ Dennis registered his fourth career double-double by leading the Rockets with 18 points, a career-high tying 10 rebounds and team-best three steals. Senior Setric Millner Jr. and sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. each scored 17 points to provide Toledo a balanced scoring attack.

Junior Tyson Acuff tallied a game-high 36 points for Eastern Michigan (6-19, 3-9 MAC) and was the only Eagle to score in double digits.

Toledo shot 39.3 percent from the field for its second-lowest mark of the season. The Rockets also were just 5-of-23 (21.7%) from three-point range but knocked down 17-of-20 free-throw attempts (85.0%).

The Rockets, who entered the game ranked 13^th nationally with a 48.8 FG%, overcame their subpar shooting performance by dominating EMU on the glass with a 44-32 rebound advantage.

Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 14 when it hosts Miami (8-17, 2-10 MAC) in Savage Arena. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN+.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Toledo's nine-game winning streak is tied for third in the nation with Southern Miss and trails only Eastern Washington (15) and Oral Roberts (10).
• UT's five-game road winning streak is tied for seventh nationally.
• The Rockets are 42-9 in league play and 19-6 in conference road games since the start of the 2020-21 season.
• Toledo has now won six straight games vs. Eastern Michigan, including its last three in Ypsilanti.
• The Rockets committed 14 turnovers, the first time in six games UT has had double-digit miscues.
• Toledo's 12-rebound advantage matched its largest margin in a conference game this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• After four lead changes in the first four minutes, Toledo took a 12-8 lead on baskets from RayJ Dennis and Setric Millner Jr.
• Dante Maddox Jr. buried a triple at the 11:17 mark to increase the Rockets' margin to 19-12.
• EMU answered with a 7-0 run to take a 24-23 lead on Orlando Lovejoy's jumper with 8:17 remaining in the half.
• Neither team scored for nearly three minutes when Maddox hit another trey for a 26-24 advantage.
• Millner Jr.'s three-point play increased UT's cushion to 32-26 3:25 before halftime.
• Toledo took a 34-31 lead to the locker room with Millner Jr. and Maddox Jr. each scoring a team-high 10 points.

SECOND HALF

• Toledo took a pair of five-point leads in the first six minutes after halftime.
• EMU went on an 11-4 spurt to take a 46-44 lead on Tyson Acuff's four-point play at the 11:57 mark.
• Acuff increased the Eagles' lead to 53-48 with a triple just over three minutes later.
• The Rockets then went on a 15-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 63-55 advantage and gain control.
• Maddox Jr knotted the score at 53-53 with a steal and dunk and Dennis' driving layup put the Rockets up 63-55 with 4:23 to play.
• Toledo's lead didn't drop below five points down the stretch as the Rockets knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.