Toledo Tough: MAC Tourney Edition

For the Toledo Rockets, MAC tournament action will commence on Friday night! We will learn our opponent at the conclusion of the Third Round Game which is Buffalo verse either Eastern Michigan or Northern IL. We beat Buffalo at home back in January and we have losses verse both Eastern MI and Northern IL, but I am confident in our team. I am ALL IN, are you?

Also of highlight is that a Toledo player was nominated in each of the 5 All-MAC Squads! Congrats boys!


All-MAC First Team
Julius “Juice” Brown, Jr., G, Toledo
David Brown, Sr., G, Western Michigan
Javon McCrea, Sr., F, Buffalo
Demetrius “Tree” Treadwell, Sr., F, Akron
Shayne Whittington, Sr., F, Western Michigan

All-MAC Second Team
Rian Pearson, Sr. G, Toledo
Quincy Diggs, Sr. G, Akron
Will Felder, Sr., F, Miami
Nick Kellogg, Sr., G, Ohio
Maurice N’dour, Jr., F, Ohio

All-MAC Third Team
Justin Drummond, Jr., G, Toledo
Chris Fowler, So., G, Central Michigan
Richaun Holmes, Jr., F, Bowling Green
Majok Majok, Sr., F/C, Ball State
Karrington Ward, Jr., F, Eastern Michigan

Honorable Mention
J.D. Weatherspoon, Jr., F, Toledo
Kris Brewer, Jr., G, Kent State
Josh Freelove, Sr., G, Buffalo
Connor Tava, So., F, Western Michigan
Jordan Threloff, Jr., C, Northern Illinois

MAC All-Freshman Team
Jonathan Williams, G, Toledo
Aaric Armstead, G, Northern Illinois
Shannon Evans, G, Buffalo
Tucker Haymond, G, Western Michigan
Zavier Turner, G, Ball State

Question of the Day: Are you excited for March Madness?

Michelyn

Toledo Tough: Week in Review & Preview

Weds, Feb. 26th @ Nothern Ill 66-74

Losses are never fun, but sometimes occur towards the end of a great season. What is best about this loss is that the player's were able to turn it around later in the week!

• Toledo leads the all-time series vs. Northern Illinois by a 41-24 margin. The Rockets are 5-7 at NIU’s Convocation Center with five losses in their last six visits to DeKalb
• Toledo was held under a 45.0 FG% for just the ninth time this season and is 6-3 in those contests.
•  UT lost for the first time in 17 games when leading at halftime.
• Toledo’s 12 steals marked a season high against an NCAA Division I opponent.
•  Pearson grabbed a season-high six offensive boards to give him a team-best nine in the contest. He has also led the Rockets in scoring nine times this season to rank second on the team.
• Junior guard Julius Brown tallied four assists to move into third place on UT’s all-time helper list with 520.

Notes courtesy of the University of Toledo Athletic Department

Sat, Mar 1 vs Western MI 96-85 (OT)

If you were not at Savage arena or if you were one of the many fans that left early, welp, you missed the BEST GAME of the season, hands down! Oh, and if you wanted to observe any of the behaviors that I discussed in my post about taking over the reigns for Coach Kemp, well they were all on display plus much more! Wow! And the video highlight:

• Toledo now leads its all-time series vs. Western Michigan by a 79-58, including a 52-14 mark vs. the Broncos in Toledo.
• Toledo’s 96 points were its most in Savage Arena vs. an NCAA Division I team since a 103-66 win over Wright State on Dec. 22, 2003.
• Junior guard Justin Drummond scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He also notched career bests in free throws made (12) and free throws attempted (15) and a season-high eight field goals.
• Junior guard Julius Brown registered his eighth career double-double and his fourth of the season with 18 points and 10 assists. He also sank 9-of-10 free throws to raise his team-best percentage to 87.8 percent.
• Freshman guard Jonathan Williams scored nine points and was perfect on his five free throw attempts. He is now shooting 83.6 percent from the charity stripe.
• Sophomore center Nathan Boothe scored 13 points and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. He also hit his second three-point field goal of the season and fourth of his career.

Notes courtesy of the University of Toledo Athletic Department

This Week

Tues, Mar 4 @ Central MI

Sat, Mar 8 vs. Eastern MI

Question of the Day: Are you excited about March Madness?

Toledo Tough: Week in Review & Preview

Thurs, Feb. 20 @ Bowling Green 60-58

The Bowling Green game was televised on ESPNU at 9:00pm! Did you catch the game? If you did, you may have caught me after the game cheering ecstatically with Rebekkah Bennet, haha. It has been reported that we were both quite comical with our jubilant celebrations! She is observed fist pumping, and I am jumping up and down like a cheerleader - arms in a wide V, screaming! Wow, what a game is all I can say! It is probably a good thing that I am in overall good health, if not I would have had a heart attack, Jesus! 

I am also glad we won because it was Race's birthday, eldest son to Coach Kowalczyk. He made a sign, and it was on TV! 

Sun, Feb. 23 vs. Ball State 85-74

• Toledo leads the all-time series vs. Ball State by a 45-40 margin. The Rockets snapped their three-game home losing streak vs. the Cardinals and swept BSU for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign.
• The Rockets extended their home court win streak to 14 games dating back to last season. UT is one shy of its longest home win streak since winning 15 in a row from Jan. 26, 2006-Feb. 17, 2007.
• Toledo is 21-1 when holding its opponent under 80 points.
• Toledo is 16-0 when outshooting its opponent and when leading at halftime.
• UT put five players in double figures for the fourth time this season.
• Junior guard Julius (Juice) Brown scored 20 or more points for a team-high seventh time this season. He has scored in double digits on 21 occasions and has topped UT in scoring a team-high 10 times. Juice tied his season high with four three-point field goals and has a 50.0 3PTFG% (11-of-22) in his last four contests.
• Senior guard Rian Pearson grabbed four steals in each of the Rockets’ games vs. Ball State this season. He scored 13 points and has tallied double-digit point totals in a team-high 22 games.
• Junior guard Justin Drummond tied his career best with a season-high 34 minutes. He scored 17 points and dished out five assists.
• Junior forward J.D. Weatherspoon established career bests for three-point goals (2) and three-point field-goal attempts (3).
• Sophomore center Nathan Boothe tied his season high with 17 points.

Highlights courtesy of University of Toledo Athletics Department

This Week

Weds, Feb. 26 @ Northern Illinois

Sat, March 1 vs. Western Michigan

February 2014 Currently...

• Over the snow, rainy sleet, and any cold, wet-related weather! I know, I live in Ohio, but I am very hopeful that we have passed all the winter storms. Cold weather, at this point is not bothersome, but being wet + cold = OLD.

Source

• Reading: 
  

• Gloating with the University of Toledo's Mens Basketball season thus far! As of 2/21/2014, our record is 22/4 with five more games before the tip-off the MAC Conference Tournament. Stay tuned to my Tuesday, Toledo Tough Review and Preview posts to stay abreast to last few games in the regular season! 

• Looking forward to my Tampa trip in early March. I am so excited to announce that I will be the emcee for the inaugural Miss Sun Coast and Miss Nature Coast pageant, preliminary to Miss Florida! 

•  Getting sentimental that Mr. Prince is growing and maturing. He is now raising his leg to pee, lol. He's growing into a dog, no longer a puppy; only 4 months until he turns 1 year! Where has the time gone? We did adopt him at the age of 2 months, and he weighed barely 5lbs, now he weighs 13lbs. He is our growing boy, and we love him to pieces! 

• Forging ahead in my 7-week challenge. You can follow my daily eats in WIAW (2.11.2014 & 2.18.2014) posts from the month, as well as my weekly workouts here and here. 

Michelyn

Toledo Tough: Week in Review and Preview

Weds, Feb. 12 vs. Ohio (82-76)

If you recall from last week, our home game verse Ohio was "White Out!" Toledo fans were asked to wear white to the game, and there was also a white headband give-away. I thought the white headband give-away was super cute since our Junior forward, J.D. Weatherspoon (aka Spoon) always wears a white headband! I took to Instagram after the game and saw many of our 6th man crew sporting the white headband with the hashtags such as #Spoon, #WeatherSpoon #6thMan. Maybe you have to be a coaches' wife to really think this is awesome :)

Also, an unplanned twin action occurred between myself and Rebekah Bennet, wife to our Director of Operations, Michael Bennet. If you follow me on Instagram , then you have already seen this picture.

How funny is that? We are both wearing yellow jeans, white shirts, navy accents and our Louis Vuitton purses. I even have that Toledo shirt that she is wearing! And, she was wearing leopard loafers, and I own a pair as well but decided to wear cowboy boots instead, trying to keep those Texas vibes flowing for the Final Four!

• UT has scored 80 or more points in six straight games.
• Toledo is 12-0 at home this season and has won 13 straight games in Savage Arena since the 2012-13 campaign.
• The Rockets are 19-0 when holding their opponent under 80 points and 14-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• UT has scored 80 or more points in 16 of 24 games.
• Toledo is 12-2 in games decided by 10 points or less.
• The Rockets have placed four players in double figures in 20 of 24
• UT is 15-1 when out rebounding its opponent.
• Senior guard Rian Pearson finished one point shy of his career high with 29 points. He tied his career high with 12 field goal attempts and now leads the Rockets with 14.6 ppg. 
• Junior guard Julius (Juice) Brown grabbed a season-high six rebounds to go along with 17 points and six assists.
• Junior forward J.D. Weatherspoon grabbed a team-high eight boards, marking the fourth straight game he has led or shared the team lead in rebounds. He leads UT with 6.9 rpg overall and 8.2 rpg in MAC play.
• Freshman guard Jonathan Williams registered his fifth double-digit scoring effort of the season with 12 points in a season-high 36 minutes. He sank six-of-eight free throws and ranks third on the team with an 81.3 FT%.

Sat, Feb. 15 at Eastern Michigan (44-65)

Welp, this game was not a highlight! Unfortunately we succumbed to the Eagles, but we face them again at home in a few weeks so we will have an opportunity to re-adjust a few things.

• Toledo’s three-game win streak vs. the Eagles was snapped today. The Rockets still lead the all-time series by a 47-44 margin.
• Toledo registered season lows for points (44), points for a half (22), FG% (25.9) and FG% in a half (24.1).
• The last time the Rockets scored 44 points or less in a game was a 42-39 setback at EMU on Jan. 21, 2012.
• The Rockets’ minus-13 rebounding differential was its largest of the conference campaign and the second-highest of the season behind Kansas’ plus-16 advantage.
• Freshman guard Jonathan (Jon Jon) Williams scored in double figures for a second-straight game as well as the third time in the last five contests. In his last five games, he is averaging 10.4 ppg with a 46.2 3PTFG% (12-of-26). For the season, he is averaging 7.4 ppg with a 36.5 3PTFG% (27-of-74).
• Williams also tied his season high with five field goals made and established season best for field-goal attempts (11) and three-point field-goal attempts (8).

This Week:

Thurs, Feb. 20 @ Bowling Green

You can catch this game at 9:00pm EST on ESPNU!

Sun, Feb. 23 vs. Ball State

Enjoy the "Happy" video showcasing the Toledo Rocket's athletic department, Go Rockets!

Michelyn