The University of Toledo had a distinct advantage, and the Rockets exploited it in a 111-49 win over NAIA Defiance College on Saturday at Savage Arena.
Led by Javan Simmons, UT outscored Defiance 72-16 in the paint.
The Rockets shot better than 60 percent and had six players finish in double figures.
“We needed a game like this after not playing well our last two games,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “Prior to those two games, we had won five in a row and were playing great. I liked the way we shared the basketball, and that showed with having 25 assists and just five turnovers. We needed to get our edge back, and I thought we started to do that today.”
Sam Lewis scored a game-high 18 points and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the field. Simmons had 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting with eight rebounds, Sonny Wilson had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Jaylan Ouwinga had 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals, Bryce Ford scored 11 points, and Grgur Brcic had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Toledo had 38 bench points, 27 second-chance points, and 25 points off turnovers. The Rockets outrebounded Defiance 50-27 and had 10 fewer turnovers (15-5).
Emmanuel Christian graduate Jalen Brown scored a team-high 12 points for Defiance, which shot less than 30 percent.
The Rockets — who lost their previous two games by more than 30 points — play at Youngstown State at 1 p.m. on Dec. 14.
First Published December 7, 2024, 11:43 p.m.
