No. 1 Toledo takes down No. 8 Miami for wire-to-wire victory in MAC men’s basketball tournament

CLEVELAND, Ohio – High-seeded Toledo’s high-powered offense proved an excessive amount of as soon as once more for Miami (OH) because it took down the RedHawks for the third time this season, 91-75 in a Mid-American Convention males’s basketball event quarterfinal at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Thursday.

The Rockets (26-6) advance to face the winner of No. 4 Ball State and No. 5 Ohio on Friday at 5 p.m. Toledo has received 16 straight video games.

“I simply thought, greater than something, only a mature win,” Toledo head coach and MAC Coach of the 12 months Tod Kowalczyk stated. “To be sincere, we did what we have been purported to do. Nothing extra and nothing much less. I believed the primary half we got here out actually targeted.”

Toledo was guided by senior ahead Setric Millner Jr.’s 19 factors, together with 3 of 4 from deep to associate with seven rebounds. Senior ahead JT Shumate’s added 17 factors, 4 rebounds and three blocks. Shumate and Millner shot a mixed 15 of 21 (71.4%) from the sphere.

Junior guard RayJ Dennis, the MAC Participant of the 12 months, had 15 factors, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and two steals whereas sophomore guard EJ Farmer had 19 factors off the bench.

Toledo entered the competition with the nation’s second-highest scoring offense with 85.7 factors per sport. It’s their eleventh sport this season of 90 factors or extra.

The Rockets took a double-digit lead seven minutes into the competition at 19-9. They continued to assault, reeling off an 8-3 run and connecting on 12 of their first 17 photographs (70.5%). A pair of Millner 3-pointers pushed the result in 48-33 by halftime as Toledo shot 62% from the sphere and had 11 assists on simply three turnovers.

“We simply performed to our potential, listened to our coaches and adopted by means of with our sport plan,” Millner stated.

The highest seed stayed one step forward of the RedHawks within the second half, ending 32 of 55 from the sphere (58.2%). Among the many many benefits within the field was the 23-10 bench manufacturing, with nearly the whole output coming from Farmer.

“We might use that each one week,” Millner stated of his teammates affect. “I feel that’s form of the most important distinction between this 12 months’s group and final 12 months is our bench play. Now we have lots of guys which are simply form of popping out and producing.”

Regardless of securing their third straight prime seed, the opening spherical of the MAC Match has examined the Rockets’ resolve the previous two years. Toledo squeaked out two wins towards eight seeds by a mixed margin of three factors. These shaky begins have been left previously within the wire-to-wire victory to open the postseason.

“The questions are very legitimate,” Kowalczyk stated. “We performed a very good Ball State group two years in the past and needed to beat them in time beyond regulation. Final 12 months, Central Michigan sat in that zone, in all probability didn’t deal with it nicely. However this group is totally different. We’re a significantly better zone offense group than we have been final 12 months. We transfer the ball significantly better.”

Miami by no means led however contained the Toledo benefit to simply previous double digits for many of the afternoon, a decent effort towards the elite offense.

“They’re outdated, they’re actually, actually outdated,” RedHawks head coach Travis Steele stated when requested what makes Toledo so potent offensively ” They’re skilled … expert and distinctive. Shumate and Millner are mainly taking pictures forwards. They each shoot it at such an elite degree. You’ve bought to select your poison. Millner and Shumate are extraordinarily tough to protect.”

Anderson Mirambeaux, a 6-foot-8, 305-pound senior switch who spent final season at Cleveland State, created issues for the Rockets at instances. The Division I postseason expertise is one thing that Steele hopes might help his massive man develop right into a monster beneath the basket.

“He’s come on and had an incredible 12 months,” Steele stated. “Hopefully this makes him hungry to take that subsequent step, which we’d like him to do for us to take that subsequent step as a program. He’s bought to proceed to tighten us his physique to assist his protection. Down low, he can handle a ton of consideration. He can move the ball, rating the ball. He’s distinctive in lots of methods.”

Junior guard Morgan Safford led the RedHawks (12-20) with 21 factors and 7 rebounds whereas Mirambeaux chipped in 16 factors and 6 rebounds. Sophomore guard Julian Lewis and fifth-year guard Mekhi Lairy had 13 and 12 factors, respectively.

Escaping the stress of getting to cope with a gap spherical shut name is a welcomed aid for Kowalczyk, who can chill out for at the very least a number of hours.

“It’s good, I’m trying ahead to going again to the room and I’m going to have a chilly beer and watch some movie,” Kowalczyk stated.