ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Toledo men's basketball team nearly pulled out a victory at Michigan in its exhibition game at the Crisler Center on Friday night but ended up on the short end of a 96-92 decision against the Wolverines.

"There's no questions that there were a lot of positives for us tonight," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We were really hurt by a stretch in the first half where we played timid and ended up being down 12 points at halftime. That's something we will learn from. This game will benefit us a lot as continue to prepare for our season."

Sophomore Javan Simmons led five Rockets in double figures with a game-high 21 points. The reigning Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year also grabbed a team-high five rebounds and knocked down 9-of-10 free-throw attempts.

Joining Simmons in double digits were sophomore Sam Lewis (17 pts., 6-8 FG), junior Seth Hubbard (16 pts., 4-6 3FG), senior transfer Isaiah Adams (15 pts., 6-8 FG) and sophomore Sonny Wilson (14 pts.). Wilson led UT with four assists and three steals.

Roddy Gayle Jr. and L.J. Cason each scored 20 points to lead Michigan.

Toledo shot 54.1% from the field and hit eight shots in a row during a second-half stretch to climb within 60-54 and force the Wolverines to take a timeout with just under 14 minutes remaining. 

The contest remained close the rest of the way, and Adams knocked down a jumper to pull UT with two points, 86-84, with 2:32 remaining. Michigan answered with a 7-1 run though to eliminate any hopes of a Rocket victory.

The Rockets will open their 2024-25 regular season in Alabama on Monday, Nov. 4 against Troy in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.  Tip-off time for the contest is 6:00 p.m. CT.