The Toledo Rockets men’s basketball team fell to 0-2 on Thursday night, November 5, losing 91-61 to No. 6 Michigan State at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan, according to Reuters. The sixth-ranked Spartans improved to 2-0 with the win, pulling away early and leading by double digits for most of the night against a shorthanded Toledo team.
Toledo actually scored first. The Rockets turned an early Michigan State turnover into a layup by Angel Montas Jr. a little more than a minute into the game, the Detroit Free Press reported. That lead did not last. Michigan State answered with 17 straight points, held Toledo scoreless for nearly five minutes, and built a 29-9 advantage on the way to a 48-25 halftime lead.
The Rockets played without their injured starting center, Austin Parks, and the absence showed most on the glass. Parks is a 6-foot-10 transfer from Ohio State, and without him Toledo had no player taller than 6-foot-9 available, the Detroit Free Press reported. Michigan State outrebounded Toledo 52-27 and scored 27 second-chance points, compared with just six for the Rockets, according to the Associated Press report carried by theScore.
Shooting was the other problem. Toledo was limited to 25 percent shooting from the field in the first half, the Associated Press reported, and finished the game 19-for-57 for 33.3 percent overall, including 5-of-21 from 3-point range, according to Reuters and the Detroit Free Press. Mynor Strong led the Rockets with 11 points, and Jaylan Ouwinga added 10 points in the loss.
Michigan State, by contrast, spread its scoring across the lineup. Freshman Jasiah Jervis scored 16 points, including 13 in the first half, to lead the Spartans, Reuters reported. Jordan Scott added 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds, Jeremy Fears Jr. added 12 points and nine assists, and Coen Carr added 10 points, according to the Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press.
The Spartans opened the second half with the first six points to push the lead to 54-25, Reuters reported. Toledo answered with a brief 7-2 run that cut the deficit to 62-35, but the Rockets were never able to make a significant dent in the lead after that early Michigan State run, according to Reuters.
Next up for Toledo is a trip to Marshall on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. For the Rockets, the quick turnaround offers an early chance to regroup after two losses to open the season, with the status of Parks, their starting center, the central question heading into that game.
Photo: Chlopeck, CC BY