In a Saturday matinee game against the University of Pennsylvania at Savage Arena, University of Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said looking at the opposing bench was a bit like staring at his own program.
Penn, a team with marquee wins this season against defending champion Villanova and Miami (Fla.), was riding a six-game win streak, while Toledo was looking for its 10th consecutive victory.
Both teams, playing in midmajor conferences, have built a good resume in nonconference play they feel is worthy of consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
With one final test before the start of Mid-American Conference play, Toledo ran away from Penn in an impressive 77-45 win.
“In my opinion, Penn is a team that is worthy of an at-large look, and we are a team that is worthy of [an] at-large look as well,” Kowalczyk said. “That’s why this was a big game and also because of the amount of respect that our players and our coaches have for the Penn coaches and their players. I love that program and if there is one team that looks like us and plays like us and talks like us, it’s them. But today, we just played better than them.”
Toledo (12-1) won behind 15 points from Jaelan Sanford, 14 points from Nate Navigato, and 12 from Marreon Jackson.
Jackson missed Friday’s practice because of the death of his grandmother a few days earlier.
“He lost his grandmother and he was a pallbearer at the funeral yesterday,” Kowalczyk said. “He came out and was a leader and a tough guy and a warrior and represented his family the right way.”
AJ Brodeur led Penn (10-3) with 19 points and Antonio Woods added eight points.
Toledo closed the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 34-27 halftime lead, then turned in a stellar second-half performance in limiting the Quakers to just 18 points.
“We had that Christmas break and we came back and we had to focus,” Navigato said. “The biggest thing we talked about was defense, and that’s why we’ve been so good this year is because of our defense. We continue to make strides in that. We talked all game long and that’s why we held them to just 45.”
For the first time since the MAC semifinal round in 2014, Toledo held an opponent to 45 points or fewer, and for the first time since 2016 the Rockets held a team to 30.5 percent or less from the field.
“We have to get better at some things,” Kowalczyk said. “We have to be better staying in front of the dribble. Our gap help has been solid and our post defense has been pretty darn solid. I’d like to see us turn some people over and maybe to do that we need to be more creative trapping the ball or double-teaming the post. But our defense has been solid and I think our guys are buying into that.”
In the second half, Penn cut Toledo’s lead to 38-32 after Brodeur made a jumper with 17:30 left. But Navigato responded with two consecutive 3-pointers that pushed the lead back to 12 and the Rockets never looked back.
“It was big for sure,” Navigato said. “They were crowding me all game and that was fine because I was able to drive and open things up for my teammates. But I got two open 3s and I was able to knock those down so it was a big confidence-builder for me.”
Toledo controlled the glass, outrebounding Penn 45-35 thanks to 16 from Willie Jackson and 10 from Luke Knapke.
The Rockets didn’t have their typical 3-point shooting display (7-of-19), but they outscored the Quakers 42-26 in the paint.
Penn coach Steve Donahue was impressed with Toledo’s ability to finish offensive possessions as the shot clock wound down.
“I thought they really played through the shot clock well,” Donahue said. “We took away maybe their initial actions, but they are a good, veteran offensive team and they stayed with it and made a lot of shots that were difficult. ... A lot of teams give up with 10 [on the shot clock] and really throw something up there. That team doesn’t. They trust the system, they trust each other, and they make sure they get good shots.”
First Published December 29, 2018, 10:44 p.m.
