The victory was Toledo’s sixth victory in its last seven games and leaves the Rockets a game in front of the Huskies and Central Michigan (16-6, 5-4 MAC).
"To get wins at Miami and Northern Illinois this week was really big," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We played great defensively in the first half and then we responded when they made a run at us in the second half. It was an important win for us, because it gives us a leg up in the West Division standings."
Sophomore Marreon Jackson paced the Rockets offensively with 16 points, thanks to a 4-of-7 effort from behind the three-point arc. Senior Nate Navigato contributed 14 points, while senior Chris Darrington tallied 11 points. Senior Jaelan Sanford came up just a point shy of double digits, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and a team-high six assists.
"We received contributions from a lot of players today," Kowalczyk said. "Marreon and Chris each had three three-pointers in the first half, and then Navi and Jaelan led us offensively in the second half. We also did a very good job on the boards with Willie leading us with 10 rebounds."
Senior Dante Thorpe paced the Huskies with 19 points. UT limited the MAC's second-leading scorer, Eugene German (20.5 ppg), to 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting. Senior Dante Thorpe was the only other Huskie in double figures, tallying a team-high 19 points.
Toledo held NIU to a 35.5 field-goal percentage, including a miniscule 24.1 mark in the first half to take a 29-17 advantage. After the Huskies rallied to within 47-46 with 9:50 to play, UT responded with an 18-2 run over the next six-plus minutes to secure the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Toledo jumped out to an early 14-4 lead with 12:05 remaining in the first half thanks to a pair of threes from Marreon Jackson and Chris Darrington.
- Willie Jackson's baseline jumper put the Rockets in front, 25-13, and forced the Huskies to take their first timeout just over four minutes before halftime.
- A pair of layups from Luke Knapke in the final 2:12 of the first half gave Toledo a 29-17 lead at intermission.
- Toledo held a 26-20 advantage on the boards in the first half and limited NIU to just three offensive rebounds.
- The Rockets knocked down 7-of-21 three-point shots in the first half with NIU going 0-for-7 behind the arc.
SECOND HALF
- NIU came out hot in the second half, hitting six of its first eight shots to cut UT's lead to 32-27 with 15:20 to play.
- Nate Navigato answered with a trey following a media timeout to temporarily end the Huskies' rally.
- Northern Illinois eventually cut Toledo's lead to 47-46 with 9:50 remaining on Eugene German's layup.
- Navigato hit another big three and a jumper in the lane to push Toledo's lead to 52-46 and ignite a game-deciding 18-2 spurt.
- Navigato scored all 14 of his points in the second half with Jaelan Sanford adding nine.
- Toledo shot 52.0 percent and 6-of-9 from three-point range in the second half.
Northern Illinois will host Ball State, which has dropped four straight and seven of its last eight.
(Courtesy of UT Athletics)