Toledo men clinch share of Mid-American Conference championship

Feb. 28—About two hours before tip-off on Saturday, Toledo men's basketball coach Tod Kowalczyk climbed each step on the south side of Savage Arena, all the way up to Row 28 before sitting in a gold chair back seat in quiet thought for 20 minutes.

Perhaps he was pondering the possibilities of the day because four hours later, the Toledo Rockets clinched a share of the Mid-American Conference championship in a 91-44 liquidation of Western Michigan, Toledo's first MAC title since 2013-14 and the second in Kowalczyk's 11-year tenure.

But there was no on-court celebration or ceremonial net cutting. Kowalczyk is waiting until the trophy belongs to only one school.

"They haven't said we're sole MAC champs. We just clinched a share," he said. "I told the guys in the locker room, even as a kid, I was really bad at sharing. I don't want to share anything. We're playing for a lot on Tuesday night, and our attention to detail and energy will show that."

Toledo left little doubt about its motivation Saturday, bucking the Broncos in historic fashion.

The 47-point margin was the second-largest MAC win in program history, and it assured the Rockets of the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. If they win Tuesday at Central Michigan (or Friday against Ball State), UT will capture its first outright MAC title since 2006-07.

"Winning the regular season is a big deal for us," Kowalczyk said. "It is."

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Western Michigan had 17 field goals for the game. Toledo had 21 field goals in the first half. The 17th came with 4:06 left before halftime. The Broncos made three 3-pointers. UT's third 3 came in the sixth minute.

The Rockets led by 25 points less than 16 minutes into the game, an advantage that swelled to 38 by halftime — 54-16. Toledo could have scored zero points in the second half and still had its 11th double-digit MAC win.

"It was a great statement game," said senior guard Marreon Jackson, who had a game-high 22 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and a career-high five steals.

UT ended the first half on a 25-2 run after shooting 60 percent from the field and making 10 of 18 3-point attempts.

At halftime, Kowalczyk told Jackson to write "0-0" on the whiteboard and to implore his teammates to start the second half strong.

"For us to come out and play that well in the second half," Kowalczyk said, "that's a sign of really mature guys that didn't get sloppy and didn't play to the level of competition."

The Rockets shot 54.4 percent for the game and 41.9 percent from 3. Their largest lead was 51 points.

Spencer Littleson had 17 points, Ryan Rollins had 16 points, five rebounds, and six assists, J.T. Shumate had 13 points and six rebounds, and Keshaun Saunders had 13 points.

"I can't really explain it," Jackson said, "but going into the season and all the practices, we shoot like this. We've had games where we've shown everybody how we can shoot and how we move the ball. [Kowalczyk] has a great offensive mind, and we just follow his lead."

Western Michigan shot 28.8 percent from the field and a woeful 11.5 percent from beyond the arc. Toledo forced 14 turnovers, including 10 in the first half. The Broncos missed their first six shots as UT raced out to a 12-1 lead.

Guard B. Artis White, who is averaging 14.8 points on 42 percent shooting from 3, had six points and made just two of 11 3-point attempts.

"Games like this, you don't want to give them confidence early," Kowalczyk said. "I think B. Artis White is very good. He's the next generation great point guard and first-team all-league guy."

Toledo's offense has often excelled under Kowalczyk, one of the best tacticians in all of college basketball. But it sometimes come at the expense of the defense, leaving Toledo vulnerable on an off-shooting night. The 2020-21 season has been different.

The Rockets rank 15th nationally (out of 357) in 3-point percentage defense, 78th in defensive effective field-goal percentage, and 140th in adjusted defensive efficiency. All three are either the best or second-best rankings under Kowalczyk.

"Our defense, we're getting better at some things," he said. "At this time of year, teams can get bored with repetition, bored with practice. This team hasn't. They've had fun, and we try to make it fun.

"That's why we did the intrasquad scrimmage with me reffing and [Brian] Jones reffing. You have to make it fun for them. But you also have to work on getting better. I think this week we accomplished both and got some rest."

First Published February 27, 2021, 7:08pm