Toledo Moves MAC Record to 5-0 with 77-66 Win Over Buffalo

Tuesday, January 16

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

11-6,5-0MAC

Buffalo

2-15,1-4MAC

Buffalo

Toledo

Photo by: Haley Boehm

Photo by: Bree Bee

Photo by: Bree Bee

Photo by: Haley Boehm

Toledo Moves MAC Record to 5-0 with 77-66 Win Over Buffalo

1/16/2024 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Rockets extend regular-season conference winning streak to league-record 20 games

TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior Dante Maddox Jr. scored a team-high 21 points to help the Toledo men's basketball team remain unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play on Tuesday night with a 77-66 victory over Buffalo (2-15, 1-4 MAC) in Savage Arena. The win extended the Rockets' regular-season MAC winning streak to a league-record 20 games and left UT (11-6, 5-0 MAC) in a first-place tie with Akron (13-4, 5-0 MAC).

"We were hurt tonight by Buffalo's length and size, but we made the plays we needed to at winning time," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We found a way to win, and our program takes a lot of pride in winning any way possible."

Joining Maddox in double figures were redshirt freshman Javan Simmons (career-high 20 pts., 10-of-13 FG), junior Ra'Heim Moss (18 pts., 9 reb., 7 asst.) and junior Tyler Cochran (11 pts., team-high 10 reb.).

Senior Isaiah Adams paced the Bulls with 24 points. The Rockets limited Buffalo's leading scorer Sy Chatman to 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting.

Toledo shot 46.0% from the field, slightly better than the Bulls' 43.5 shooting mark. Toledo also held a 39-35 rebounding advantage, marking the fourth straight contest it has grabbed more boards than its opponent.

The contest featured eight lead changes with the Rockets finally pulling away with an 8-0 spurt to take a 70-61 lead with three minutes to play.

Toledo returns to action on Friday, Jan. 19 with a trip to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. to face Central Michigan. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.

BY THE NUMBERS

Toledo has won its first five MAC games for the seventh time in program history. The school record for most wins to open a MAC season is seven held by the 1978-79 and 2006-07 squads.
UT's 20-game winning streak is four more than the previous record held by Miami.
The Rockets have won their last six meetings vs. Buffalo.
Ra'Heim Moss tied his career high with seven assists.
Dante Maddox Jr. scored in double digits for a career-high 11th straight game and scored his 1,000th career point on a free throw in the second half.
Tyler Cochran registered his second double-double as a Rocket and the eight in his career.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

Neither team led by more than four points until a 7-0 run gave the Rockets a 21-14 lead at the 9:45 mark.
Toledo took its largest lead of the half, 26-17, on Javan Simmons' layup that led to a Bulls timeout just over eight minutes before halftime.
The Bulls closed out the half with a 10-2 spurt to even the score at 33-33.
Dante Maddox Jr. led Toledo offensively with 11 pts, with Simmons adding 10 points.

SECOND HALF

Simmons buried a jumper to ignite a 10-0 Rocket run that put UT ahead 47-39 with 14:32 to play.
Buffalo answered by scoring 11 straight points over the next two minutes to take a 48-47 lead at the 12:35 mark.
Neither team led by more than two points for the next six minutes until a Ra'Heim Moss three-pointer put Toledo in front, 62-56.
The Bulls responded again by scoring the next five points to reduce their deficit to one.
Simmons then helped the Rockets put the game away with a putback capping off an 8-0 burst for a 70-61 lead with three minutes left.