KENT, Ohio — For the first time in three years, the Mid-American Conference championship doesn’t run through the Glass City.

Toledo found out Tuesday night what No. 1 Houston and No. 8 Gonzaga learned earlier this season: Kent State is a problem.

Inside a rowdy Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, the Golden Flashes regrouped after a dreadful end of the first half to take down Toledo 75-63.

It wasn’t simply one win in an 18-game MAC schedule. Kent State won the only meeting between the two schools, the Golden Flashes won their 15th consecutive MAC regular-season game, and Toledo fell to 1-2, severely damaging its path to a third straight conference title.

“The story of the night was Miryne Thomas on the offensive glass,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “It was the glass that did us in. We have to correct that.”

One week after Ball State outrebounded UT by nine on the offensive glass, Kent State one-upped the Cardinals with 20 offensive rebounds to Toledo’s 10. Thomas had seven offensive rebounds, which led to 22 second-chance points for the Golden Flashes.

Twenty of Kent State’s 43 second-half points came on second-chance opportunities.

“Effort and toughness,” senior forward Setric Millner, Jr., said in identifying Toledo’s missing ingredients.

Kent State (13-3, 3-0) had 15 offensive rebounds in the second half, nearly as many total rebounds as the Rockets after halftime (19).

“We’re just not attacking the glass the way we should be,” sophomore guard Ra’Heim Moss said. “Shoot, last year we had five guys who averaged over five rebounds. We really have to get back our swagger and doing what we do. Our guys believe it and know we can do it. We’re going to take care of it.”

Millner is the team’s leading rebounder this season with 6.5 per game. No one else averages five.

“I don’t think our guard rebounds have been as good as they were last year,” Kowalczyk said. “That’s why we were such a good rebounding team. But we lost our best rebounder [Ryan Rollins]. Our defensive rebounding numbers aren’t bad. Our offensive rebounding numbers are not good.”

Kent State led for 34 minutes, and it looked like the better team for about the same amount of time.

Toledo trailed 28-18 before ending the first half on a 17-4 run to take a 35-32 lead at halftime. The Rockets held Kent State scoreless the final 2:22. But the Golden Flashes came out of the locker room with a vengeance, outscoring Toledo 12-2 to begin the second half, eventually restoring its 10-point lead at 51-41.

A 13-4 spurt by the Rockets pulled them within one, a margin they couldn’t overtake. Toledo went cold down the stretch, missing seven of its final eight shots.

“We didn’t hit the shots that we wanted,” Moss said.

Toledo (10-6, 1-2) shot 41.4 percent from the field and connected on just seven of 28 3-point attempts.

Millner scored 16, Moss had 13 points, six rebounds, and three steals, and RayJ Dennis finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

True to form, Kent State’s defense caused some havoc, though it wasn’t at the level it’s been throughout the season. Toledo only had 10 turnovers and outplayed the Golden Flashes defensively, limiting the home team to 38.6 percent shooting and a 9-of-27 mark from long range.

Reigning MAC player of the year Sincere Carry (21 points) and fellow guard Malique Jacobs (16) combined for 37 points, but it took 39 shots to get there.

Thomas had 22 points and 13 rebounds.

“Really happy with how we defended,” Kowalczyk said. “Tonight, it was block-outs.”

A season that began with visions of an at-large NCAA tournament bid is in search of consistency, as the Rockets are 7-6 over their past 13 games. There have been sightings of the team that Kowalczyk and others in Lucas County believed would win a historic third consecutive outright MAC championship.

But there have been games when Toledo looked like a middle-of-the-road MAC team that compounds mistakes. Tyler Cochran’s absence didn’t help. Minor, correctable mistakes, however, shouldn’t continue to be part of the narrative in January.

Whichever direction the season veers, the Rockets are in it together.

“There are no worries,” Moss said. “We’re still the same team. We’re coming out here to win games. That’s our goal. We didn’t do that tonight. But we’ll bounce back against Northern Illinois.”

First Published January 11, 2023, 3:52 a.m.