Despite loss to Central Michigan, Toledo men earn outright MAC title

Mar. 3—MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The good news for Toledo is that it secured an outright Mid-American Conference championship.

The bad news for the Rockets is that they squandered a 17-point second-half lead, suffering an 81-79 setback at Central Michigan Tuesday.

"Every game hurts," UT senior guard Spencer Littleson said. "We're trying to get momentum going into the tournament. It was definitely still a big one for us."

The Chippewas (7-15, 3-12) scored on a Meikkel Murray putback off of an offensive rebound with 3.0 seconds left to take their first lead since the 11:40 mark of the first half. After back-to-back-to-back timeouts, Toledo (19-7, 14-4) threw a full-court pass to Ryan Rollins who attempted to get Littleson the ball but was intercepted by a Central Michigan player, and time ran out.

The final sequence included two calls that left Tod Kowalczyk red-faced and screaming at officials as they walked off the court. Prior to Central Michigan's game-winning basket, the Chippewas lost control of the ball, and it rolled across halfcourt. An official said Toledo touched the ball, preventing an over-and-back call, but replays seemed to indicate otherwise.

On the final play, Rollins was taken down by a Central Michigan defender, sending Kowalczyk into a tirade.

"I can list several issues," he said. "Just pick one of them."

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The Rockets clinched the outright title before they even took the court due to Akron's loss to Buffalo and the Kent State-Ohio cancellation. It's Toledo's first outright MAC championship since 2007 and the ninth conference title in program history.

"It doesn't satisfy us tonight at all," Kowalczyk said. We wanted to win the game."

Toledo was a 17-point favorite over the Chippewas, who hadn't won since Jan. 16.

The Rockets trailed 16-15 before scoring 11 consecutive points and 23 of the next 29. UT led 42-32 at halftime and 54-37 when the clock read 14:44. Central Michigan still trailed by 14 with just over six minutes left. At the four-minute mark, ESPN's win projection calculator gave the Rockets a 92.5 percent chance to win.

But, just as the coronation on the UT bench was beginning, the Chippewas found life. Caleb Huffman scored 19 of his game-high 26 points in the second half — 12 came in the final 6:29 — and 14 of Murray's 24 points came after halftime.

"They hit some unbelievably tough shots," Kowalczyk said. "Give them credit. I did not think defense was the issue. Huffman took some contested, wild shots. He's a good player."

Central Michigan shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and made four of its final five shots. Huffman and Murray combined to make 12 of their last 14.

"[Huffman] got hot," Littleson said. "We were playing good defense. He was just hitting some tough shots. And we did not make shots at the end of the game. We took a couple tough ones and just couldn't get them to fall."

Toledo turned the ball over a season-low four times, yet the offense didn't possess its usual crispness. The Rockets shot 41.4 percent from the field and made 11 of 26 3-pointers. They were one for five down the stretch.

Ryan Rollins led Toledo with 17 points, Littleson had 16 points, Marreon Jackson had 15 points and 14 rebounds (only two points after halftime), and Setric Millner, Jr., had 14 points.

"I just thought we lost composure on offense," Kowalczyk said. "We got stagnant. We didn't execute like we can. [CMU] switched everything. That probably bothered us a little bit. We need more from J.T. [Shumate, seven points]. We need more from Marreon."

On. Nov. 19, MAC coaches submitted their votes for the preseason standings. Toledo had one first-place vote, and it came from Kowalczyk. Eight of 12 coaches voted Bowling Green first. The Rockets were sixth, behind BG, Ohio, Akron, Buffalo, and Ball State.

UT has beaten all five of those schools, except Ball State. The Rockets can avenge that defeat Friday at Savage Arena.

"I'm proud of this group," Kowalczyk said. "We'll regroup, and we'll be fine."

First Published March 2, 2021, 7:06pm