Bowling Green guard Da’Shawn Phillip (5) celebrates hitting a three-point jump shot over Toledo guard Dante Maddox Jr. (21) during the second half of a game on Saturday at Savage Arena in Toledo. Toledo defeated Bowling Green 88-72. (Scott W. Grau|Sentinel-Tribune)
TOLEDO — Toledo junior Dante Maddox Jr. was 8-for-9 from the field, including 6-for-7 from behind the arc, to score a career high 26 points in leading the Rockets to an 88-72 Mid-American Conference victory over Bowling Green in front of 7,318 fans at Savage Arena.
Maddox even threw up several three-point shots from beyond 23 feet, including one closer to 29 feet, as the Rockets shot 69% from the field (20-for-29) in the second half, including 9-for-14 from the arc (64%) in scoring 57 second half points.
Andre Lorentsson, a 6-foot-8 junior forward from Sweden, also connected on 3-of-5 shots from the arc in the second half, scoring nine points.
It was a rude awakening to the MAC for Bowling Green first-year coach Todd Simon and his zone defense, which locked down in the first half, forcing the Rockets to take bad shots, but the Rockets got guys open and connected in the second half.
It is Toledo’s fifth-straight victory over BG, and it moves the Rockets into a first-place tie in the MAC with Akron.
“That was an unbelievable atmosphere and I thought it was a well-played game by both teams,” said Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk after improving to 15-6 vs. Bowling Green State University as the Rockets’ coach.
“We didn’t handle their zone well in the first half and probably settled for too many threes. Dante and Dre then both hit some huge threes in the second half, and not turning the ball over as much as we did in the first half really helped us.”
Toledo improves to 13-7 overall and 7-1 in the MAC while BGSU loses its second straight, falling to 14-6 and 5-3.
BGSU junior guard Marcus Hill led the Bowling Green effort with his fifth straight 20-point game finishing with 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting in addition to his team-leading three assists.
BGSU senior guard Da’Shawn Phillip followed with a season-high 13 points and a team-high six rebounds. Phillip was 5-for-5 from the field, including 3-for-3 from downtown.
Both senior guard Trey Thomas and senior center Jason Spurgin posted 12 points apiece for the Falcons.
Senior forward Rashaun Agee closed out the scoring with 10 points, seeing all five Falcon starters reach double-digit points for the third time this season.
Toledo juniors Tyler Cochran and Ra’Heim Moss also played key roles for the Rockets by producing double-doubles.
Cochran tallied 17 points in addition to a game-high 10 rebounds and five steals, while Moss contributed 14 points and a career-best 10 assists.
Redshirt freshman Javan Simmons added 14 points and two blocked shots. Junior Andre Lorentson also came off the bench to score nine points with three big triples in the second half.
Toledo shot 55.9% from the field and 42.3% from three-point range. UT was on fire in the second half, hitting 9-of-14 three-point shots and 69.0% of its overall attempts. Bowling Green shot 47.5% and was 8-of-23 (34.8%) from behind the arc.
The Rockets out-rebounded the Falcons by a 37-25 margin, the largest advantage UT has owned on the boards this season.
“Bowling Green is a good offensive rebounding team and for us to win the glass by that much was really important,” Kowalczyk said. “I thought Tyler had some very big rebounds.”
In the second half, Toledo was able to blow the game wide open thanks to a series of offensive rebounds and steals.
That led to a 9-0 run by the Rockets, taking what was a close game at 59-58 to a 67-58 Toledo lead with just over seven minutes remaining, and soon after rhe Rockets pushed into double figures, where it remained the rest of the game.
“The turnovers and the second chance points really fed into their offense and dug us a hole,” said Simon.
In addition, BGSU only got seven chances from the free throw line, and even though they made six, it falls far short of previous games. Toledo was 11-for-17 from the line.
“We’re a physical driving team, and in some games you see those same drives don’t convert to free throws, and that does not play to our strength,” said Simon. “We rely on getting to the free throw line.”
Sam Towns, a 6-9 senior forward, returned to the lineup for the Falcons for the first time since Dec. 2. Towns logged a rebound, steal and block, playing just under 13 minutes for BGSU.
The Falcons will continue their current road trip with the next stop being in Muncie, Ind. against the Ball State Cardinals on Tuesday (Jan. 30) for a 7 p.m. tip. BGSU’s next home game is set for Feb. 3 when the Falcons host Central Michigan in a 5 p.m. start.
( — By Sentinel-Tribune Sports Editor J. Patrick Eaken with contributions from BGSU Athletics)
