CLEVELAND — The Rockets’ 2012 campaign came to a close on March 8 with a 65-57 loss to Ohio in the third round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Tod Kowalczyk, photo by Vincent D. Scebbi

“It was a disappointing loss for us,” UT head coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “The first half we didn’t play particularly well but I thought we grinded out, defended and did some really good things. The start of the second half we truly just didn’t compete for about the first eight minutes and then we bounced back and made a run but it was too little too late.”

With the loss, the seventh-seeded Rockets finish the season with an 18-16 record. Their 12-win improvement from last season’s 4-28 team is the second-largest improvement this year behind only USC-Upstate which racked up 15 more victories than in 2011. The No. 3 seed Bobcats (25-7) will move on and play No. 2 Buffalo at 9:30 p.m. March 9.

“I’m disappointed we left some out there, losing six games on our final possession,” Kowalczyk said. “I think that being a young team with eight scholarship guys it has been a great learning experience for us and I think it has been a step in the right direction. We have clearly the best freshman in the league in Juice Brown and Rian Pearson is one of the best players in the league as a sophomore. I think there are some good things on the horizon for us.”

After combining for 41 points and 28 rebounds in the first two games of the tournament, Pearson was held to just eight points on 2-of-7 shooting with four rebounds. The sophomore guard had 18 points and 17 rebounds in the first meeting of the two schools, which prompted Ohio head coach John Groce to defend Pearson with more size this time around.

“It affected me pretty well,” Pearson said. “I couldn’t do what I wanted to do and I think it got me frustrated for a bit. I tried to just keep my teammates involved and do what I had to do.”

“I thought he was one of the few guys all year in the league that we had no answer for,” Groce said. “He was absolutely terrific and I think he’s a great player. I really respect his competitiveness, he is a warrior. He tried to make some plays today and I thought we were fortunate. The size bothered him and we tried to trap him a little bit and keep him off-balance.”

Junior guard Curtis Dennis (5 of 9) scored a team-high 17 points with five rebounds off the bench for the Rockets while sophomore Reese Holliday (5 of 8) had 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Freshman point guard Juice Brown (3 of 9) had nine points and two assists.

In a 77-73 UT victory in the first matchup between the teams on Feb. 8, the Rockets outrebounded Ohio 45-30 and held a 36-20 advantage in points in the paint. This time around, the Bobcats dominated the glass 38-29, including a 15-5 edge in offensive boards. OU also outscored Toledo 28-16 in the paint.

“We only had five offensive rebounds,” Kowalczyk said. “When we beat them at our place we had 20 offensive rebounds. I’m sure that’s all John Groce talked about with his team this week is rebounding and second chances.”

Tags: Curtis Dennis, John Groce, Juice Brown, MAC Tournament, Mid-American Conference, Ohio University, Reese Holliday, rian pearson, Rockets basketball, Tod Kowalczyk, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2012 at 9:40 am and is filed under Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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After leading by 15 in the second half, the Rockets survived a late scare to grab a 75-72 victory over Central Michigan in the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.

Toledo (18-15) will move on to play No. 3 seed Ohio (24-7) at 9:30 p.m. March 8.

Tod Kowalczyk, photo by Nick Kneer

The 11th-seeded Chippewas (11-21) cut the lead to one point at 70-69 with 20 seconds remaining before freshman point guard Juice Brown made two free throws to extend the lead to three. CMU star Trey Zeigler missed both of his free throws with 13 seconds left, and the Rockets held on for a 75-72 win.

“Lately our end-of-the-game situations have been good. It’s just that lull in the second half where we let teams back at us,” UT head coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “Tonight we let their press fluster us and I thought we got awfully casual with our turnovers against the press. They have a pretty good press, good athletes and some length but that should not have happened; we should have closed that out a lot earlier.”

Sophomore guard Rian Pearson (7 of 17) recorded a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds. He has now had 41 points and 28 rebounds in the first two rounds of the MAC Tournament.

“He is a high-energy guy when he plays at both ends,” Kowalczyk said. “I am just very, very proud of the season that he had. He has come a long way. He plays so hard and demands so much from his teammates that it is infectious. When you have a guy that plays that hard with that type of energy, it’s a good thing.”

MAC Freshman of the Year Brown (5 of 12) added 18 points and five assists while sophomore guard Reese Holliday had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting with nine rebounds.

CMU’s Zeigler continued his success against Toledo, scoring 17 points with eight assists. In three games this season, he has recorded 69 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists against the Rockets.

It was his free-throw shooting, however, that haunted Zeigler late as UT chose to intentionally foul him with a three-point lead and 13 seconds remaining. The Chippewas star missed both free throws as the 51 percent free throw shooter finished 1 of 6 from the line in the loss.

With a matchup against the Bobcats looming, Toledo has now won seven of its last eight games. Ohio has posted a 5-3 record in its last eight games including a 77-73 loss to the Rockets in Toledo on Feb. 8, the team’s lone meeting of the season.

Ohio is led by junior point guard D.J. Cooper who averaged 14.1 points and 5.6 assists on the season, being named First-Team All-MAC.

Tags: Central Michigan University, Juice Brown, MAC Tournament, Mid-American Conference, Reese Holliday, rian pearson, Rockets basketball, Tod Kowalczyk, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2012 at 10:12 am and is filed under Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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In the first round in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, Toledo held off a late push to secure a victory over Miami (OH) on March 5 at Savage Arena.

With the win, the Rockets (17-15) advance to the next round of postseason play, which takes place at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. UT will face Central Michigan (11-21) in the second round at 9:30 p.m. March 7; the Chippewas upset Bowling Green.

Rian Pearson, photo by Nick Kneer

“That is a great way to start out the conference tournament,” UT head coach Tod Kowalczyk said.

“We feel really good to advance to the second round of the tournament,” sophomore guard Rian Pearson said. “I’m pretty excited.”

On the day he was chosen third in the MAC Player of the Year voting, Pearson (8 of 14) had a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double on the year. The sophomore guard bested the 12 points and six rebounds of Miami’s Julian Mavunga, the second place finisher in the voting.

“I am happy for Rian and I hope it motivates him,” Kowalczyk said. “The two guys that were ahead of him were both seniors so I think that bodes great for the future of Rocket basketball. I think that will motivate him to try and win it next year.”

Junior forward Matt Smith (4 of 11) also scored in double figures for the Rockets with 12 points and eight rebounds. Freshman point guard Juice Brown (4 of 10) scored nine points while sophomore forward Reese Holliday grabbed eight rebounds off the bench.

The RedHawks started the game strong, taking an early 9-3 lead. Toledo took its first lead with just 3:43 remaining in the half at 24-23. They finished the half with an 8-0 run to grab a 32-24 advantage at the break.

The Rockets continued to pour it on, extending their lead to 16 points with 11:16 remaining. That’s when the game turned, however, as Miami responded with a 20-3 run in the next six minutes to take a 53-52 lead with 5:35 left.

Despite losing the lead, Toledo would not be denied. The Rockets held MU scoreless the remainder of the game and scored eight unanswered to win 60-53.

“I wasn’t going to let my team give up the win,” Pearson said. “We grinded it out and got some big-time defensive stops and rebounds.”

With the victory, Toledo will now focus on facing the Chippewas in the rubber match of this season’s series. CMU won 85-69 in Mount Pleasant on Jan. 7 before the Rockets took game two 72-67 on Feb. 22 in Savage Arena.

Sophomore guard Trey Zeigler leads the Chippewas in points (16.2) and rebounds (6.6) on the season, but struggled in the 54-53 opening round win over Bowling Green with just three points on 1-of-12 shooting. He scored 52 points with 12 rebounds and seven assists in two games against UT this season.

“We went up to their place and didn’t play very well,” Kowalczyk said. “Trey Zeigler is a very good player that has really hurt us. We have played against him four times since we have been here and every time he has played well against us so we have to do a much better job defensively on him.”

Tags: Juice Brown, MAC Tournament, matt smith, Miami (OH), Mid-American Conference, Reese Holliday, rian pearson, Rockets basketball, Tod Kowalczyk, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 at 10:07 am and is filed under Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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On the road in Huntsville, Texas, the Rockets pulled out a hard fought 59-58 victory over Sam Houston State as part of the Sears BracketBuster event.

Reese Holliday, photo by Nick Kneer

Wins down the stretch have been hard to come by this season for Toledo (13-14, 4-8 Mid-American Conference), which is now 3-7 in games decided by three points or less. The Rockets have also let a few leads slip away this season, either leading or being tied in the final 2:32 of seven of their 12 losses this season.

It was not to be in this game, however, as the entire team came up clutch. Junior guard Curtis Dennis, who had just four points with less than three minutes remaining, hit two consecutive jumpers to break ties and give the Rockets a 55-53 lead with 1:38 remaining. Sophomore forward Reese Holliday’s layup with 50 seconds left padded the lead. Freshman Juice Brown hit two clutch free throws to help seal the victory. The Bearkats (11-16, 5-7 Southland Conference) could only chip the lead away to one before time expired with UT grabbing the 59-58 win.

Holliday paced Toledo offensively with 14 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting while Brown scored 12 with a game-high eight assists. Reigning three time MAC West Player of the Week Rian Pearson (5 of 14) scored 12 points with a team-high seven rebounds.

Konner Tucker (6 of 15) and Steven Werner (6 of 8) each led the way for Sam Houston State with 14 points. Werner also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Rockets remain two games back from Eastern Michigan in the MAC West with four league games remaining. Among the four games, three teams have losing conference records before Toledo’s season finale against the Eagles on March 3 at Savage Arena.

Tags: Curtis Dennis, Juice Brown, Reese Holliday, rian pearson, Rockets basketball, Sam Houston State, Sears BracketBuster game, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 19th, 2012 at 12:13 am and is filed under Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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In a season that has featured several second-half collapses, Toledo overcame a 15-0 first half hole and staved off a late second-half rally from Ohio to earn a 77-73 victory over the Bobcats Wednesday at Savage Arena.

“I’m very, very proud of our guys tonight,” UT head coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “I thought we really competed. Obviously, at the start of the game, give [Ohio] credit. I thought they played really well. I thought we had some shots that were pretty good looks that didn’t go, had a couple turnovers which led to transition [points] for them, but our guys weathered the storm.”

Sophomore guard Rian Pearson was again the star for the Rockets, tying a team-high 18 points to go with a career-high 16 rebounds. But it was fellow sophomore Matt Smith who sealed the win for Toledo (11-13, 3-7 Mid-American Conference). The forward hit both of his free throws with 1.2 seconds left on the clock to extend the Rockets’ lead to four.

“It’s what every basketball player in college basketball wants,” said Smith, who also finished with 18 points for UT. “Growing up, you want the crowd all on your shoulders. It’s a two-point game. If you make two, you seal the game, and if not, you’ve got to get back on [defense]. So it was a blessing that I made them.”

Prior to those free throws from Smith, Bobcats forward Ivo Baltic went to the floor after his failed layup attempt on a lob pass from D.J. Cooper, resulting in a no call and a turnover to give possession back to Toledo.

“Bottom line on that deal is you’ve got to stay on your feet and catch the friggin’ ball,” Ohio head coach John Groce said. “Don’t play for the foul. Whether you got nudged or not, you’ve got to catch the ball there. You can’t put the game in the hands of the official on a 50-50 call, and I thought Baltic should’ve stayed on his feet.”

Prior to that play, sophomore guard Reese Holliday appeared to think the game was over and traveled with the basketball as he neared half court to give possession back to OU (19-5, 7-3 MAC) with the score 75-73 in favor of the Rockets.

“I have no idea what he was thinking; none,” Kowalczyk said of Holliday. “But thank God for him that it didn’t cost us the game because he would’ve really felt awful.”

UT had four players finish with double figures in scoring, led by Pearson and Smith’s 18 points. Junior guard Curtis Dennis and freshman point guard Julius “Juice” Brown were the other two, registering 15 and 14 points, respectively.

After going down 15-0, Toledo battled back and made it a 26-14 ballgame with 11:32 left in the first half following a pair of free throws from Smith. Pearson got his first points of the half on UT’s next possession with a putback tip-in, sparking a 15-2 run to give the Rockets a 29-28 lead by the 4:57 mark.

“When we started out the game, [Kowalczyk] told us ‘Just close out the game tonight; play all 40 minutes’ because we tend to give up the game towards the end this season,” Pearson said. “So he just told us to close it out.”

Toledo ended the half on a 24-8 run to lead 38-34 at the break. In the second half the Rockets picked up where they left off, leading the Bobcats 61-48 with 6:50 remaining. However, Ohio’s full court press started giving UT trouble and the Bobcats went on a 25-11 run to take a 73-72 lead at the 1:35 mark after Cooper’s floater in the lane.

But Dennis answered with a floater of his own and got fouled on the Rockets’ ensuing possession, hitting his free throw to give UT a 75-73 advantage with 1:08 remaining. Toledo finished the contest with a 43-32 lead in rebounds, 36-20 advantage in points in the paint and outscored Ohio 17-8 on second-chance points.

“When you lose six games at the buzzer — and Buffalo, that was a seven-point game; that was a one possession game, too — that wears on your confidence,” Kowalczyk said. “Guys start to question themselves. They start to question each other. They start to question the coaches. I mean, that’s just human nature.

“This shows you how good of character guys we have. They stayed together. They believe in each other and stayed together, and that’s not an easy thing to do.”

The Rockets next face Bowling Green (12-11, 6-4 MAC) on Saturday at BGSU. The rivalry game is slated to begin at 4 p.m.

Tags: Bauman's Breakdown, Curtis Dennis, Juice Brown, matt smith, Mid-American Conference, Mike Bauman, Ohio University, Reese Holliday, rian pearson, Rockets basketball, Tod Kowalczyk

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2012 at 11:13 am and is filed under Bauman's Breakdown, Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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It was a tale of two halves as the Rockets fell 72-65 to Buffalo on Feb. 4 at Savage Arena.

Toledo (10-13, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) let a 13-point second half lead slip away against the Bulls. With UT holding a 65-62 lead with 2:44 remaining, Buffalo (14-6, 7-2 MAC) scored the game’s final 10 points to grab the victory.

Rian Pearson, photo by Jason Mack

“Tonight I feel bad for our guys,” Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “They played their hearts out. We competed and did all the things we needed to win the game.

“I’m disappointed we lost the game.”

The Bulls abused UT in the paint in the second half, outscoring the Rockets 24-4 while holding a 16-3 edge in second-chance points. That production was a stark difference from the first half when the Bulls led just 14-8 in points in the paint and were held without a second-chance point.

Kowalczyk stated after the game that he believed the referees on the court missed calls in the post.

“Obviously some rebounding numbers in the second half hurt us,” Kowalczyk said. “Our post defense was tremendous. I don’t know what an offensive foul is in the post anymore, obviously neither does the three guys out working the game tonight either.”

Rian Pearson scored a game-high 26 points for UT on 10-of-22 shooting with eight rebounds. The sophomore guard put himself in contention to become MAC West Player of the Week for the second-straight week recording a combined 55 points and 20 rebounds over the past two games.

“We have to work on closing out games better,” Pearson said. “We know how to start games but we don’t know how to close them out. We need to get more physical. It’s a physical league and we need to focus more on defensive rebounds, trying to grab them and pull them in.”

Freshman point guard Juice Brown had 10 points and nine rebounds while Reese Holliday (2 of 4) and Curtis Dennis (3 of 12) each had nine points off the bench.

Buffalo was led by their inside scorers Javon McCrea (12 pts, 8 reb) and Mitchell Watt (9 pts, 13 reb). Titus Robinson (6 of 8) led the Bulls with 14 points off the bench.

Toledo looks to grab its first home win since Jan. 18 when it takes on Ohio (18-4, 6-2) at 7 p.m. Feb. 8. The Bobcats have won six straight games but have lost two of their last three on the road.

Tags: Buffalo, Curtis Dennis, Juice Brown, Mid-American Conference, Reese Holliday, rian pearson, Rockets basketball, Tod Kowalczyk

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2012 at 11:52 am and is filed under Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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When the University of Toledo men’s basketball team hits the hardwood this season, it won’t just be showing off a new team.

Dominique Buckley, left, and Reese Holliday in the new uniforms.

The Rockets will be outfitted in new jerseys for the 2011 season.

“I love the way these look; they are way better than the ones last year,” said junior guard and Iowa State transfer Dominique Buckley. “The ones last year were bigger and they seemed a little plain; these are official.”

The Rockets will no longer wear gold at home as they did in 2010, they will go back to white. The jerseys also use Nike’s Dri-FIT fabric, which UT head coach Tod Kowalczyk described as “the lightest jersey that Nike has ever made.”

“The new jerseys are a big upgrade from last year,” said sophomore forward Reese Holliday, one of only two returning scholarship players, along with Delino Dear. “They are Dri-FIT jerseys like the major schools wear so we will look elite this year.”

The process of changing to new jerseys started with Kowalczyk. The second-year coach at Toledo has a personal contract with Nike and used the website NikeTeam.com to build the uniforms from scratch.

“Nike has been very, very good to us, so everything we buy is Nike,”  Kowalczyk said. “Ultimately, it’s the players’ decision to pick the jerseys that they feel the most comfortable in.”

“I appreciate the coaches doing this for us, getting us better jerseys than last year,” Holliday said. “New jerseys, new look, new team.”

Tags: Dominique Buckley, Nike, Nike Dri-FIT, Reese Holliday, Rockets basketball, Tod Kowalczyk, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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