CLEVELAND — The Toledo men’s basketball team will open the Mid-American Conference tournament against a familiar foe: Ball State.
UT beat the Cardinals 89-70 last Friday to close out the regular season. Five weeks ago, Ball State handed Toledo its most lopsided conference loss of the season (81-67). The Cardinals are 12-10 against Tod Kowalczyk, the only team outside Buffalo that has a winning record against the 11th-year UT coach.
Who: No. 1 seed Toledo (20-7, 15-4 MAC) vs. No. 8 seed Ball State (10-12, 8-9)
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland
When: Thursday, March 11, 11 a.m. ET
Point spread: Toledo by 8
TV: ESPN+
Radio: WSPD 1370 AM
Follow: Kyle Rowland
Projected starters
■ Toledo: Marreon Jackson (17.6 ppg), Spencer Littleson (13.7 ppg), Ryan Rollins (13.8 ppg), J.T. Shumate (11.5 ppg), Setric Millner Jr. (12.4 ppg).
■ Ball State: Jarron Coleman (12.3 ppg), Ishmael El-Amin (16.3 ppg), K.J. Walton (16.0 ppg), Brachen Hazen (10.0 ppg), Miryne Thomas (7.6 ppg).
Scouting report
Ball State has given Toledo fits for years. In the first matchup this season, the Cardinals ended the game on a 78-48 run after trailing 19-3. Toledo used its offensive firepower to pull around in Round 2.
The Coleman, El-Amin, Walton combination is to be taken seriously. All three can create instant offense and score with ease. Of course, Toledo can do the same all the way through its lineup. This is a game that could come down to which team makes more 3s.
Prediction
Kyle Rowland: Conference tournaments are among the most unpredictable events in sports. Pressure is a factor. Luck is involved. Weird things happen. There is consternation around the city of Toledo and the MAC tournament. But history can be ignored. The Rockets have rarely entered the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed and, relative to the rest of the league, this is their best team since 1979-80. Losing in the quarterfinals is not in the cards (no pun intended). Toledo, 85-73.
David Briggs: Stranger things have happened than Toledo losing unexpectedly in March, and Ball State is never a great matchup. That includes this season. The Rockets’ strength is shooting the 3, so naturally Ball State’s strength is defending the 3. The Cardinals are holding opponents to 31 percent from beyond the arc (41st nationally). Still, this Toledo team has too much horsepower to be stopped now. Toledo 81-66.
Warm-up reading
How has Toledo’s persistent March nightmare spanned four decades?
UT freshman Rollins plays like a veteran
Toledo sweeps top MAC men’s basketball awards
First Published March 11, 2021, 12:00 p.m.
