Rockets Clinch Share of Third Straight MAC Title with 99-65 Win at CMU

Tuesday, February 28

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

24-6,15-2MAC

Central Michigan

10-20,5-12MAC

Toledo

Central Mich.

Junior RayJ Dennis tallied 21 points and six assists in addition to scoring his 1,000th point as a Rocket in Toledo's 99-65 win at CMU.

Photo by: Jack Reeber

Rockets Clinch Share of Third Straight MAC Title with 99-65 Win at CMU

2/28/2023 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

Senior Setric Millner Jr. pours in career-high 32 points to lead UT to 14th-straight victory

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Toledo men's basketball team had a night to remember on Tuesday evening in McGuirk Arena with its 99-65 triumph over Central Michigan (10-20, 5-12 MAC), a victory that clinched a share of a third-straight Mid-American Conference title. The Rockets (24-6, 15-2 MAC) also tied a single-season school record with their 14^th consecutive win.

Senior Setric Millner Jr. paced Toledo with a career-high 32 points, knocking down 11-of-15 shots from the field and a career-best 6-of-7 from three-point range. He also tied for the team lead with six rebounds.

"We didn't have a great start tonight at either end of the floor, but Seth played great and kept us in the game," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We were efficient, really moved the ball and made shots."

Junior RayJ Dennis produced a milestone of his own by becoming the fifth Rocket ever to score 1,000 points in his first two seasons. He scored 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting and dished out a game-high six assists in 29 minutes.

The duo's stellar shooting performance helped Toledo shoot 58.5% as a team and 56.3% (9-of-16) from three-point range. Those numbers were dwarfed by an amazing 28-of-28 performance at the free-throw line that shattered the school record for free throws without a miss by eight, and just six shy of the NCAA record of 34.

Sophomore EJ Farmer also tied his career high with 15 points. Sophomores Dante Maddox Jr. and Ra'Heim Moss also scored in double digits with 10 points apiece.

Toledo held a 45-34 halftime lead and came out of the locker room by scoring the first 15 points to blow the game open.

Toledo will wrap up its regular season on Friday, March 3 with a trip to Muncie, Ind. to face fourth-place Ball State (20-10, 11-6 MAC). The Rockets lead second-place Kent State (24-6, 14-3 MAC) by a game in the MAC standings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

Both teams started fast with the Rockets trailing 13-11 just over four minutes into the game.
RayJ Dennis' three-pointer put Toledo up 18-15 with 13:39 remaining in the half.
CMU responded with a 7-0 spurt over a five-minute span to put UT down 22-18 at the 8:51 mark.
The Rockets took the lead for good with a 13-2 spurt that gave UT a 31-24 advantage 4:14 before the half. Setric Millner Jr. scored seven points to key the game-changing run.
Toledo took a 45-34 lead at intermission after shooting 52.0% from the field. Millner led the way with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

SECOND HALF

The Rockets didn't let up after halftime, scoring the first 15 points with five different Rockets finding the scoring column.
CMU's Mark Garland hit three-straight treys to bring the hosts within 74-56 with eight minutes to play.
Toledo exploded with a 19-3 burst down the stretch to take a 93-59 lead with 3:35 remaining.
The Rockets shot 64.3% in the second half and held CMU to a 34.8 mark.