ROCKETS OUT-MUSCLED IN LOSS

It was a game that saw Toledo play a first-half of basketball about as well as this team can play, taking a 40-31 lead into intermission; and it was a game that saw UT in command for much of the second half. But in the crunch, the Midnight Blue and Gold just didn't have an answer for the inside presence of Buffalo's 6-7 Javon McCrea, 6-10 Mitchell Watt, or 6-7 Titus Robinson.

Buffalo arrived in Toledo with a 6-2 conference record and riding a five-game winning streak. The Bulls had beaten three consecutive West Division opponents, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Ball State, and they were looking to make Toledo their fourth victim in cross-division games.

The Rockets, on the other hand were just coming off of a hard-fought 86-72 road loss at Akron that saw them play well for 27 minutes, only to fade in the stretch.

The opening period belonged to the Rockets; Matt Smith drained a triple to give Toledo a 15-13 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining, and the spirited play continued until Rian Pearson closed out the first half scoring with a basket for that nine-point 40-31 advantage.

Pearson had the hot hand for Toledo before the break, scoring 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. As a team Toledo shot 48.4% and connected on 6-of-10 offerings from outside the 3-point line. Auraum Nuirankh had eight points to lead the Bulls. McCrea, Buffalo's leading scorer on the season (16.1) played just six minutes in the half after picking up his second personal foul and did not score.

Toledo held its own on the glass, coming up with 17 rebounds to Buffalo's 19.

The visitors were whistled for five offensive fouls in the first 20 minutes.

The Rockets went up by 13 points, 46-33, early in the second half when Richard Wonnell hit a little turn-around shot and Pearson added a pair of jumpers.

With UT up 49-37, Pearson was whistled for his third personal foul, and whether it was a coincidence or not, Toledo seemed to lose some of its steam at this point. After the Toledo foul, Titus Robinson, a 6-7 senior forward who is Coach Reggie Witherspoon's favorite Bull off the bench, accounted for six consecutive Buffalo points to close the gap 49-43.

Toledo managed to make it a 54-45 game as a result of a pair of Juice Brown free throws and a trey from Reese Holliday with 10:09 to play, but the Bulls then began to seriously attack the basket with their “Bigs” The visitors tied the game at 55 on the strength of five layups and their mastery on the offensive glass was beginning to take its toll. Funny thing, Buffalo was causing havoc in the paint and Toledo players were being swatted to the floor with regularity at both ends of the court, but it was the Buffalo players who seemed to be stepping up to the foul line

UB took its first lead of the second half, 59-58, with 5:06 to play when McCrea scored on a layup. It was a stalemate until the 3:26 mark when Holliday converted a pair of free throws and Curtis Dennis scored on a jumper to put the Rockets back on top 65-62.

McCrea made a pair of free throws but Toledo still had a one-point lead and the ball with 2:02 remaining. Watt then fouled Holliday who went to the line for two shots and a chance to possibly make it a 67-64 game. Holliday missed both shots however, and Buffalo retook the lead, 67-65, when Dave Barnett drilled one from 3-point land on the ensuing possession.

All was not lost yet as McCrea was fouled by Wonnell while shooting with just 41 seconds to go. McCrea missed both shots, but got his own rebound and passed the ball to teammate Jarod Oldham who was immediately fouled by Dominique Buckley. Oldham made his first shot then missed the second, but again it was a Buffalo player, Watt this time, who grabbed the rebound, keeping the possession with the visitors.

Toledo had no choice but to foul and Pearson grabbed Tony Watson, sending him to the line. The junior guard converted both charity tosses putting the Bulls up 70-65 with just 29 ticks left on the clock.

After a 30-second Toledo timeout, Dennis lofted a triple attempt that was partially blocked by Robinson who quickly closed out the scoring with a dunk, giving Toledo yet another close game that goes into the loss column.

Pearson once again stepped up to give a very strong performance. He finished with a game-high 26 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Brown had 10 points and nine assists. Robinson had 14 points to pace the Buffalo attack. After playing just six minutes in the first half, McCrea added 12 second-half points and eight rebounds.

Toledo was thoroughly beaten on the glass 50-32 with Buffalo bringing down 18 offensive rebounds. Those rebounds gave the Bulls a 38-12 edge in points scored in the paint.

Watt had 13 rebounds to take game honors and his physical presence in the paint made the difference in the contest as he and his fellow post players were responsible for making some of the Toledo players alter their shot attempts.

After going 6-of-10 from beyond the 3-point line in the first half, the Rockets attempted just three more long distance shots in the final period, finishing with 7-of-13 for the game.

Tod Kowalczyk surprised the announced crowd of 4,099 by giving the 6-9 sophomore Wonnell his very first start. It would have been a wonderful story had the big walk-on made the difference in the game, but he had just two points and one rebound in 21 minutes of action.

“I feel bad for our guys.” said Kowalczyk, “They played their hearts out. We competed and did all the things we needed to do to win the game, but our rebounding numbers in the second half really hurt us. I'm disappointed that we lost the game.”

Toledo plays another cross-over game at Savage Arena this Wednesday, February 8, at 7:00 P.M. Ohio University will be the opponent.