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  • A Huge Win At Ball State For Toledo MBB Produces A Record Night For The Rockets

A Huge Win At Ball State For Toledo MBB Produces A Record Night For The Rockets

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Basketball

Junior RayJ Dennis put the Rockets on his back Friday night and poured in a career-high 32 points as the Toledo men's basketball team made history with its 87-81 triumph at Ball State (20-11, 11-7 MAC).

With the victory, the Rockets (25-6, 16-2 MAC) became the first current Mid-American Conference member to win three straight outright league titles and also extended their school-record winning streak to a nation-best 15 games.

"It's a historical accomplishment and to go 16-2 in this league is hard to do," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "Now 100% of our focus is on rest and getting ready for the conference tournament."

Dennis was joined in double digits by senior Setric Millner Jr. (13 pts.), senior JT Shumate (12 pts.) and sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. (12 pts.).  Shumate led Toledo with seven rebounds, while Millner Jr. grabbed five boards.

In addition to his scoring exploits, Dennis dished out a game-high seven assists and shot 12-of-20 from the field.

"It feels really good and it's something we can't take for granted," Dennis said. "We have our sights set on Cleveland now, and we know there's a lot of good teams we're going to face."

Toledo also continued its red-hot shooting by shooting 55.0%, marking the sixth-consecutive game it has made at least half of its shots. The Rockets also knocked down 10-of-15 three-point attempts (66.7%), the fifth-straight game UT has shot 50.0% or higher from behind the arc.

Toledo hit 11-of-12 free throws but saw its consecutive free-throw streak end at 42.

The Rockets are the No. 1 seed in this year's MAC Tournament and will open play on Thursday, March 9 vs. Miami in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Toledo has a 72-21 (.774) overall record over the last three seasons. The Rockets are also 48-9 (.842) in league play during the stretch and 22-6 (.786) in MAC road games.
  • Toledo is the only MAC school to win 13 or more league games five of the last six years.
  • RayJ Dennis became the third Rocket to score 30 or more points this season, joining JT Shumate and Setric Millner Jr.
  • The Rockets' 66.7 three-point FG% was their highest since shooting 63.2% vs. Central Michigan on Feb. 25, 2020.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

  • Setric Millner Jr. buried a triple to cap off a 7-0 run to give Toledo an early 9-4 lead it would not relinquish.
  • AJ Edu's putback extend the Rockets' advantage to 25-18 at the 6:54 mark.
  • The Cardinals climbed back within 29-26 just two minutes later, but Dennis buried a triple for a 32-26 cushion four minutes before halftime.
  • Dennis' layup gave Toledo its largest lead of the half, 40-31, 1:23 before intermission.
  • The Rockets took a 40-35 advantage to the locker room.
  • Dennis led UT with 15 points, and the Rockets shot 51.4% from the field.

SECOND HALF

  • Toledo took its first double-digit lead, 49-39, on Dante Maddox Jr.'s four-point play with 17:16 remaining.
  • Maddox Jr.'s triple just over three minutes later gave the Rockets their largest lead of the night, 59-44.
  • UT's lead remained in double figures until an eight-point Cardinals' spurt made the score 63-58 with 9:52 to play.
  • Jaylin Sellers' two free throws closed the gap to 67-63, but Dennis hit two free throws and JT Shumate followed with a three-point for a 72-64 Rocket lead with 7:13 left.
  • A Dennis triple and a Millner Jr. jumper gave Toledo more breathing room and an 80-69 advantage with 3:53 to play.
  • Ball State hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to account for the final margin of victory.
  • Toledo shot 60.0% from the field in the second half and made all six of its three-point shots.
  • Dennis led the Rockets with 17 points and five assists.