TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior Dante Maddox Jr. poured in a career-high 26 points and the Toledo men's basketball team pulled away in the second half for an 88-72 victory over Bowling Green in the Battle of I-75 on Saturday afternoon in Savage Arena. The victory before a near-record crowd of 7,318 fans was the Rockets' fifth in a row over the Falcons (14-6, 5-3 MAC) and more importantly moved UT (13-7, 7-1 MAC) into a first-place tie with Akron in the Mid-American Conference standings.

Juniors Tyler Cochran and Ra'Heim Moss also played key roles for the Rockets by producing double-doubles. Cochran tallied 17 points in addition to a game-high 10 rebounds and five steals, while Moss contributed 14 points and a career-best 10 assists. Redshirt freshman Javan Simmons added 14 points and two blocked shots. Junior Andre Lorentson also came off the bench to score nine points with three big triples in the second half.

"That was an unbelievable atmosphere and I thought it was a well-played game by both teams," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk after improving to 15-6 vs. Bowling Green as the Rockets' head coach. "We didn't handle their zone well in the first half and probably settled for too many threes. Dante and Dre then both hit some huge threes in the second half and not turning the ball over as much as we did in the first half really helped us."

Junior Marcus Hill topped Bowling Green offensively with 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting.

Toledo shot 55.9% from the field and 42.3% from three-point range. UT was on fire in the second half, hitting 9-of-14 three-point shots and 69.0% of its overall attempts. Bowling Green shot 47.5% and was 8-of-23 (34.8%) from behind the arc.

The Rockets out-rebounded the Falcons by a 36-26 margin, the largest advantage UT has owned on the boards this season.

"Bowling Green is a good offensive rebounding team and for us to win the glass by that much was really important," Kowalczyk said. "I thought Tyler had some very big rebounds."

The Rockets return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 30 with a home matchup vs. Western Michigan (8-12, 5-3 MAC). Tip-off time for the contest is set for 7:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN+.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Today's attendance of 7,318 fans was the third-largest in Savage Arena since it was renovated in 2008.
• Dante Maddox Jr's six three-point field goals were a career high.
• Tyler Cochran has three double-doubles in his last four games.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Bowling Green hit five straight shots early, including a three-pointer by Da'Shawn Phillips to jump out to an early 11-5 lead.
• Both sides struggled to score at the midpoint of the half as BG maintained a 19-13 lead.
• Dante Maddox Jr. hit a three-pointer to cap a 9-2 Toledo run and cut the lead to 21-18 with 5:10 left in the half.
• Following a Maddox layup, Tyler Cochran stole an inbound pass and drove in for a bucket to put Toledo in the lead, 28-27, for the first time since early in the contest.
• After BGSU regained the lead, Cochran made a jumper and a free throw in the final minute to tie the game 31-31 at the half. 
• The Rockets shot 13-of-30 (43.3%) from the floor but outrebounded BG 21-17 and committed just two fouls.
• Cochran led the way with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and also grabbed six rebounds.

SECOND HALF

• Andre Lorentsson made back-to-back three-pointers to give the Rockets a 46-42 lead. Seconds later, a steal by Ra'Heim Moss led to a Sonny Wilson layup to cap an 11-3 run that gave UT a 48-42 lead with 15:48 to play.
• Bowling Green answered with a 14-3 spurt though to take a five-point lead, 56-51, with 12:15 left.
• Toledo took control with a 16-2 burst that was capped off by Tyler Cochran's contested layup for a 67-58 cushion with 7:02 remaining.
• The Rockets increased their lead to 85-68 with just over two minutes to go on an Andre Lorentsson three-pointer.