Three Rockets receive MAC honors

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Sophomore guard Rian Pearson was named Second-Team All-Mid-American Conference, and junior guard Curtis Dennis was an honorable-mention All-MAC selection Wednesday as voted on by the league’s 12 men’s basketball coaches.

Freshman guard Julius Brown also was named to the MAC’s All-Freshman Team after being named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.

Pearson, who finished third in MAC Player of the Year voting, leads the conference in scoring (16.6 points per game) and is third in rebounding (8.4 rebounds per game) and eighth in steals (1.6 steals per game). He is the only player in the conference to rank in the league’s top 10 in points, rebounds and steals, and is second in the conference with nine double-doubles. In his first season in a Rocket uniform, Pearson has led UT in scoring on a team-high 15 occasions and in rebounding 26 times, including the last 15 contests.

Dennis, who became eligible following fall semester, ranks second on the team in scoring with 12.7 points per game and is ranked 10th in the MAC with 13.3 points per game in conference contests only. Dennis also ranks third on the team with 1.3 steals per game and fourth with 3.6 rebounds per game, and he has scored in double figures on 15 occasions.


Brown ranks fourth in the MAC with 4.9 assists per game and also leads all MAC freshmen with 11.8 points per game and a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio. He has dished out seven or more assists on 13 occasions (career-high nine vs. Buffalo) and ranks fourth for most points scored (378) by a freshman in school history. Only Ken Epperson (420), Jake Barnett (414) and Terry Reynolds (390) have scored more.


Toledo (17-15, 7-9 MAC) will face No. 11 seed Central Michigan (11-20, 5-11) Wednesday, March 7, at 9:30 p.m. in a second-round MAC Tournament contest at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.