"I thought we . . .
Jackson continued his recent hot stretch on the road and also dished out seven assists with just two turnovers. He is averaging 32.3 ppg in the Rockets' last three games away from Savage Arena.
"I think the game is starting to slow down for Marreon," Kowalczyk said. "He's making good decisions with the basketball and creating plays for himself and his teammates."
Junior Dylan Alderson and redshirt freshman Keshaun Saunders also were in double digits for Toledo (11-8, 3-3 MAC), finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Senior Willie Jackson paced Toledo on the boards with a game-high 14 rebounds. He finished just shy of a double-double with nine points in 36 minutes.
Sophomore Jason Preston led Ohio (10-9, 2-4 MAC) with 27 points and eight assists.
The Rockets shot 48.3 percent from the field, including a red-hot 64.3 shooting mark in the second half. Toledo limited Ohio to a 38.9 FG%.
Toledo led for over 37 minutes in the contest thanks to a strong defensive start that led to an early 16-6 cushion. The Bobcats rallied to take a 26-25 lead with 4:19 remaining in the opening stanza, but the Rockets ended the half with a 10-2 spurt for a 35-28 lead at intermission.
Knapke scored nine straight points midway through the second half to give Toledo a 62-46 lead with 8:28 remaining. The closest Ohio came down the stretch was eight points with less than a minute to play.
The Rockets return to action on Saturday, Jan. 25 when it hosts arch-rival Bowling Green. Tip-off time in Savage Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
Toledo jumped out to an early 16-6 lead after Ohio missed 10 of its first 11 shots.
The Bobcats rallied to within 21-19 at the eight-minute mark with an 8-0 run but two Willie Jackson free throws ended the spurt.
Ohio's Ben Roderick hit a trey to put Toledo down, 26-25, but Marreon Jackson quickly answered with a pair of baskets to put the Rockets up three at the two-minute mark.
Keshaun Saunders extended UT's lead to 31-26 with a pair of free throws 30 seconds later.
Willie Jackson's breakaway layup gave Toledo a 35-28 halftime lead.
SECOND HALF
Ben Vander Plas scored the first four points in the second half to cut Toledo's lead to three.
Marreon Jackson responded with a three-point field goal for a 38-32 advantage, and the Bobcats didn't draw closer than four points the rest of the way.
Toledo eventually extended its lead to double figures, 51-41, on a Luke Knapke basket with 12:04 to play.
Dylan Alderson pushed the Rockets' lead to 53-41 on their next possession, but Vander Plas responded with a trey to reduce Ohio's deficit to single digits.
Knapke then took over with nine straight points in the paint to give Toledo a 62-46 lead with 8:28 remaining.
The Rockets maintained a double-figure lead until Ohio closed to within 69-60 with 3:02 to play.
Toledo closed out the game by make six straight free throws in the final minute.
(Courtesy of UT Athletics)