Junior RayJ Dennis put the Rockets on his back Friday night and poured in a career-high 32 points as the Toledo men’s basketball team made history with its 87-81 triumph at Ball State (20-11, 11-7 MAC). With the victory, the Rockets (25-6, 16-2 MAC) became the first current Mid-American Conference member to win three straight outright league titles and also extended their school-record winning streak to a nation-best 15 games.
“It’s a historical accomplishment and to go 16-2 in this league is hard to do,” Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “Now 100% of our focus is on rest and getting ready for the conference tournament.”
Junior RayJ Dennis tallied a career-high 32 points and seven assists in Toledo’s 87-81 win at Ball State.
Dennis was joined in double digits by senior Setric Millner Jr. (13 pts.), senior JT Shumate (12 pts.) and sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. (12 pts.). Shumate led Toledo with seven rebounds, while Millner Jr. grabbed five boards.
In addition to his scoring exploits, Dennis dished out a game-high seven assists and shot 12-of-20 from the field.
“It feels really good and it’s something we can’t take for granted,” Dennis said. “We have our sights set on Cleveland now, and we know there’s a lot of good teams we’re going to face.”
Toledo also continued its red-hot shooting by shooting 55.0%, marking the sixth-consecutive game it has made at least half of its shots. The Rockets also knocked down 10-of-15 three-point attempts (66.7%), the fifth-straight game UT has shot 50.0% or higher from behind the arc.
Toledo hit 11-of-12 free throws but saw its consecutive free-throw streak end at 42.
The Rockets are the No. 1 seed in this year’s MAC Tournament and will open play on Thursday, March 9, vs. Miami in Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
