TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team is heading to next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament with some momentum after posting a 96-82 victory over Ohio before 5,397 fans on Friday night in Savage Arena.

The Rockets (17-14, 10-8 MAC) will be the No. 4 seed in the tourney and face the No. 5 seed Bobcats (16-15, 10-8 MAC) on Thursday, March 13 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland at approximately 1:30 p.m.  For more information or to purchase MAC Tournament tickets, please visit utrockets.com/mactournament.

Sophomore Javan Simmons tied his career high for a second-straight game with 22 points to lead five Rockets in double figures. He also grabbed seven rebounds and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the field, becoming the second Rocket ever to make 10 or more field goals without a miss. JT Shumate set the school record when he made 11-of-11 shots at Miami on Jan. 26, 2021.

Joining Simmons in double digits were Sam Lewis (20 pts.), Seth Hubbard (17 pts.), Sonny Wilson (13 pts.) and Bryce Ford (10 pts.).

QUOTING HEAD COACH TOD KOWALCZYK
 
"This was obviously a really important game for us. Our guys have been practicing hard and staying together even though things haven't been going our way. Shoutout to the over 5,300 people who showed up tonight. It would have been easy to get down on this team after what we've been through the last three-and-a-half weeks. It hasn't been a bad year for us just a bad few weeks. That's a big difference. We played exceptional from start to finish. Our pace of play was great, and we got the ball into Javan early. Now we're looking forward to Cleveland."

GAME RECAP
A back-and-forth first half featured 12 lead changes and 11 times with the score tied. Toledo took the lead for good with a 12-2 run to end the half and take a 47-41 lead to the locker room. The Rockets' lead grew to as many as 11 points before the Bobcats closed to within five, 70-65, with 8:09 remaining. Sam Lewis' layup pushed Toledo's lead to 84-74 with 3:21 remaining to put the game away.

TEAM STATS
Toledo: 59.7 FG%, 28.6 3PTFG% (4-of-14), 90.0 FT% (18-of-20), 31 Reb., 16 Asst., 7 TO
Ohio: 49.2 FG%, 36.4 3PTFG% (8-of-22), 88.9 FT% (16-of-18), 27 Reb., 13 Asst., 8 TO

ROCKET ROUNDUP

• Simmons' performance helped the Rockets to a 58-40 advantage in points in the paint.
• Seth Hubbard tied his season high with 17 points in addition to grabbing a career-high nine rebounds.
• Sam Lewis registered his team-high nine 20-point outing of the season.
• Five or more Rockets scored in double digits for the 12^th time this season.
• Toledo's 59.7 FG% was its highest vs. an NCAA Division I opponent this season.
• Toledo has won 13 of its last 14 meetings vs. Ohio, including seven in a row over the Bobcats in Savage Arena.

UP NEXT
Toledo will face No. 5 Ohio (16-15, 10-8 MAC) on Thursday, March 13 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland at approximately 1:30 p.m. The winner of the Rockets-Bobcats contest will face either No. 1 seed Akron or No. 8 seed Bowling Green on Friday, March 14 at 5:00 p.m.