December 8, 2009 - Gene Cross called it a
tale of two halves, but perhaps the first half of Toledo’s contest with Wright
State at Savage Arena was just an extension of last season’s 50-35 loss played
at the Nutter Center in Dayton. UT made it a game in the final period on Tuesday
but ultimately came out on the short end of 66-56 count.
I'm
sure you remember that debacle which occurred exactly one year and a day before
the return game at Savage. In that memorable encounter, Toledo registered almost
twice as many miscues (26) as shots on basket (14) and recorded just four
assists. In the first half of this game Toledo had four assists, 14 turnovers,
and just seven shots from the floor. The Toledo youth reared its ugly head
against a veteran defensive-minded Wright State team and the visitors took full
advantage of it to sprint out to a 32-19 half-time lead. The Raiders, a
perennial power in the strong Horizon League put a starting line up on the floor
consisting of three seniors and two juniors.
Of Toledo’s 14 first-half turnovers eight
of the miscues were committed in the first six minutes of the game when the
Raiders were streaking out to 13-3 lead.
“They jumped us right from the beginning.
We looked scared, had no poise, and they took advantage of it,” said Coach Gene
Cross. “We're experiencing new things and we haven't experienced a defensive
team like Wright State until this evening.”
To their credit, the young Rockets came
out in the second half and played their tails off, at one point battling to cut
the deficit to five points, 57-52, but when the game was on the line, the WSU
veterans stepped up and made the key plays to cement the win.
Once again freshman wingman Jake Barnett
led Toledo on the floor as he tallied 13 points and snagged five rebounds.
Commenting on the game Barnett said, “We came out slow in the first half again
and they got a good lead on us. We're a fighting team but we just can't get over
the hump. Once we string two halves together against a good team we'll get some
wins. In the second half we really dug in, forced some turnovers, and threw up
some shots that were going in.”
Junior Justin Anyijong had 12 points and
seven rebounds for Toledo, and freshman Stephen Albrecht finished with 10
points. When Barnett spoke of throwing up some shots in the second half his
reference may have been to Albrecht who twice got off a pair of off-balance
shots that found their mark as the shot clock was winding down.
Wright State’s starting guard combination
of Vaughn Duggins and Todd Brown had 17 and 16 points respectively for the
visitors while forward Cory Cooperwood added 14 markers in the win.
One positive for Toledo was the play of
walk-on guard Jay Shunner. The sophomore from Ann Arbor played a season-high 27
minutes, recording seven points, three rebounds, and two steals. One of
Shunner’s thefts came at 6:57 of the final period when he stole the ball from
Duggins and went the distance for a layup to cut the lead to 53-45.
"He has been playing well in practice and
if you practice hard, you'll play,” Cross said. “He came in and gave us some
really good minutes. All I care about is productivity, and if you do your job
you're going to play."
Freshman guard Malcolm Griffin got into
the game for eight minutes but was held scoreless in two attempts.
A key statistic in the first half was an
18-0 edge that the Raiders had in points off turnovers. Toledo was much better
in taking care of the ball during the final period with just six miscues.
Another telling stat was the 16-for-18
performance at the free throw line by WSU. Toledo could get to the line just
five times, making good on three charity tosses.
Speaking of his team’s play in the final
20 minutes, Cross said, ”We just settled down in the second half and took our
time. I thought we played like we had nothing to lose. We were down 13 in the
first half and we couldn't have played a worse half but, I thought our guys
felt in the second half that we could really compete with them.”
The Rockets (2-7) return to Nichols Court
on Thursday for a game with IPFW. The Mastodons, who play in the Summit League,
are 2-4 on the season with wins over Madonna and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Former Indiana star Dane Fife is the head coach at IPFW.