The win improves . . .
The Bulls never trailed by more than two on the road as they used an early 17-0 run to take control. Trailing 10-9, the Bulls broke away as seven different players contributed to the game-changing run, which put Buffalo ahead 26-10 with 9:12 left.
Toledo cut the UB lead to nine at 34-25, but Buffalo answered with another big run, scoring 12 straight, capped off on a three from sophomore Ronaldo Segu. A three from Jayvon Graves with just under five seconds left gave UB its largest lead of the first half and sent the Bulls into the break, leading 52-28. The 52 points were the most scored in a first half by UB since the Nazareth win the second game of the year.
Buffalo extended its lead to 26 early in the second half, which would be its largest lead of the night, but Toledo opened the second half on a 14-4 run, pulling within 14. The Rockets would get as close as 12, but UB responded with six quick points to take the lead back to 18. From there, the Rockets would never get any closer than 13.
"I thought we were really sharp in the first half, especially defensively and that let us create some turnovers and get on some run outs," said head coach Jim Whitesell. "All of our guys I thought played real well and we had to play through a little foul trouble, but give Toledo credit. That's a good basketball team and you knew they would make a run there in the second half on their home court, so we just had to hang on and stick with it and overall that's a heck of a road win for our guys."
Graves led all scorers as he finished just shy of his career high with 27 points, 17 of those coming in the first half. He added three rebounds and a game-high five assists.
Sophomore Jeenathan Williams finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Fellow sophomore Josh Mballa also finished with 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Senior Antwain Johnson had 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Fellow senior Davonta Jordan had eight points, five rebounds, three assists, a block, and three steals.
Segu finished with five points off the bench, while freshman Savion Gallion nailed his first career three-pointer in the first, giving the Bulls solid minutes with the guards in foul trouble. Senior Gabe Grant added two points and three boards.
Buffalo again held an advantage on the glass, 40-34, while also leading Toledo in points in the paint, points off turnovers, fast break points, and bench points.
The Rockets shot just 3-for-24 (12.5%) from three-point range, which was its lowest total of the season. However, Toledo was able to stay in the game due to a huge advantage at the free throw line as the Rockets were 22-28 from the charity stripe, while Buffalo managed to go just 10 times, hitting seven.