On a warm summer day, the court at Savage Arena was teeming with activity.
The University of Toledo men’s basketball team was a week away from taking a trip to Puerto Rico, and the extra practices weren’t going to be wasted.
The Rockets also weren’t interested in simply shooting baskets or having a low-key scrimmage. It would be easy to slack off in July, a time when college students are more interested in lounging by the swimming pool instead of dripping sweat on a basketball court.
But the nucleus of the 2022-23 Rockets had been tantalizingly close to reaching the apex for a mid-major program: crashing the sport’s biggest party, the NCAA tournament. In 2021, top-seeded Toledo lost to Ohio in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament. In 2022, UT lost to Akron in the MAC semifinals.
■ Matchup: No. 1 Toledo vs. No. 8 Miami.
■ When: Thursday, 11 a.m.
■ Where: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland.
■ TV: ESPN+
■ Regular season: The Rockets won 81-78 at Miami on Jan. 31 and 89-71 in Toledo on Feb. 14.
So July or not, this was not a go-through-the-motions type of day, which is why senior forward Setric Millner, Jr., was furious about several late-scrimmage mistakes, including missed free throws that cost his team a win. He spent nearly a minute yelling, hollering, or screaming — however you choose to define it — at his teammates for their lack of intensity and carelessness.
“That’s why we lost to Akron!” Millner bellowed.
It was the first sign this Toledo team was already identifying imperfections, using them as fuel, and competing at the highest level whenever they stepped on the floor.
Adversity struck at multiple points during the season, first in November, with a disastrous showing at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida, and again in January after a 1-2 start in the MAC.
The Rockets haven’t lost since, carrying a nation’s-best 15-game win streak into the MAC tournament, where Toledo is once again the No. 1 seed.
UT plays No. 8 seed Miami at 11 a.m. Thursday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“The whole season leading up to this, of course, winning three [MAC championships] in a row was one of our goals,” Millner said. “But coaches have done a good job of keeping that one goal in mind, which is to be the best team in the MAC and to push forward and make the NCAA tournament.”
It feels like the year for UT, which hasn’t appeared in the Big Dance since 1980. Four decades later, it’s an entirely different tournament. But Toledo has the ingredient required to make a deep run: guards.
RayJ Dennis, the best player in the MAC and one of the most underrated players in the country, has the makings of being a breakout star on the national scene. Not only does he have a mane of hair that would attract attention and a made-for-TV story about his teeth, Dennis also possesses a big game for the big stage.
Then there’s Dante Maddox, Jr., who’s blossomed into a noteworthy offensive threat. And Ra’Heim Moss continues to garner praise for his defense.
Millner and JT Shumate are forwards, but their versatility and shooting range make them a scouting report problem.
Therein lies the biggest conundrum for opponents: how do you inhibit so many different scorers?
“The biggest thing is we share the ball,” Dennis said. “Nobody is jealous. Nobody cares whose role is what. We have the same goal in mind, and that’s winning.”
It starts on Thursday in the 1 vs. 8 game. Toledo has struggled in the quarterfinals the past two seasons, eking out nailbiters against Ball State and Central Michigan. The angst meter was ratcheted up to a level that foretold a concerning story about what was to come.
If this year is different, perhaps the first sign will come early Thursday afternoon.
“All I’m concerned about is our team playing to our potential,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “Play hard and play to our potential, that should be our focus.”
Millner echoed a similar message, noting that March is a fickle time when most teams play their best, seed be damned. Whether the Rockets win by one of 20, a win is a win, he said.
The psychology of March is different, though. Doubts exist in the most mundane forms. Toledo hasn’t fought the narrative, as it’s been prone to do in recent seasons. This team, with a core of veterans, knows what’s at stake and how empty the past two years felt.
“There’s no coming back from that,” Millner said. “The ways that we lost, we understand that it’s something we can fix. We believe we’re doing the things to fix it, and we’re more prepared this year.”
Consistency and maintaining their current trajectory will make the week more palatable for the Rockets. However, there’s truth to Millner’s previous message about teams playing at a different level in March.
The unexplainable often occurs. Maybe this year that will be ending a 43-year-old drought.
“We just have to stay in our lane, especially individually,” Kowalczyk said. “Just stick to our strengths as a team and play Toledo basketball. This isn’t a time to make changes. Just be who we are, and who we are is really good.”
The seeds sprouted inside Savage Arena on an unremarkable yet humid July day, an afternoon when Millner took charge and delivered a rallying cry that endures today.
First Published March 8, 2023, 3:02 p.m.
