The Rockets extended their revival season by at least one more game, knocking off Miami (Ohio) 60-53 in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference tournament Monday.
Toledo (17-15) moves on to the second round on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, home of the NBA's Cavaliers. The Rockets will face Central Michigan (11-20), a 54-53 upset winner over Bowling Green in another first-round game Monday.
The Rockets were 72-67 winners over the Chippewas at Savage Arena on Feb. 22, but they dropped an 85-69 road game to Central Michigan earlier in the conference season.
Toledo will focus its defensive efforts on Central Michigan sophomore guard Trey Zeigler, who is one of the leading scorers in the MAC at 16.2 points per game. Zeigler will be due to bounce back after a dreadful 1-of-12 shooting performance in his team's opening tournament win.
The Chippewas are also leaning more and more on freshman point guard Austin McBroom, who had 20 points and six assists in the victory over Bowling Green. Toledo point guard Julius Brown matches up against McBroom in a showdown between the top freshmen at the position in the conference.
On the flip side, the Chippewas will need to figure out how to deal with Toledo guard Rian Pearson, who had 21 points and 18 rebounds and shot 8-of-14 from the field in the MAC tournament win over Miami.
The Rockets, who were 4-28 in each of the past two seasons, also ride into this game with considerable momentum, having won six of their last seven games.
ON THE SPOT: Center/forward DeLino Dear is approaching a career crossroads as the Rockets move on in the conference tournament. The 6-foot-9 sophomore and former starter has faded into the background in the playing rotation, and he never got off the bench in the Rockets' opening-round MAC tournament win over Miami on Monday. Dear has played 10 minutes or more only twice in the past 11 games. In the final four games of the regular season, when the Rockets were making a push toward a potential share of the MAC West Division championship, Dear played only 14 total minutes. After starting 30 of 31 games last season as a freshman, Dear has just four starts this season, and he was benched for a couple of games as a disciplinary measure when Rockets coach Tod Kowalczyk was not content with Dear's work ethic.
NOTES, QUOTES
Rockets bounce back in regular-season finale
--After the Rockets saw their window of opportunity slammed shut before they could possibly grab a piece of the Mid-American Conference West Division championship, a little bit of the life came out of the team.
Toledo went into the final week of the season still in the mix for the title, but after Eastern Michigan slipped by Western Michigan in the final seconds on Feb. 29, that eliminated the Rockets while Toledo's game at Northern Illinois was still in progress. Toledo then floundered against the Huskies, falling 65-61.
If the Rockets were looking to send a message that they deserved a better ending to this season of revival, they found a way to do it in the following game.
The Rockets hosted the MAC's West Division outright champion, Eastern Michigan, on the final day of the regular season, and administered a 76-51 beating to the Eagles. Only MAC overall champion Akron handed Eastern Michigan a worse setback in the conference season.
"There was disappointment after we lost, but we just had to bounce back and get our minds right," Toledo guard Rian Pearson said after he scored 27 points and added 11 rebounds in the rout of Eastern Michigan.
The win locked up the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament for the Rockets.
"We needed something to give us a little push toward the playoffs," Pearson said. "We needed to come out and play with confidence."
It is easy to forget just how far the Rockets have come since last season and how far they have moved away from the mess the program was in when previous head coach Gene Cross was fired. Toledo is coming off back-to-back 4-28 seasons.
Toledo finished the regular season in sole possession of second place in the MAC's West Division.
--Sophomore G Rian Pearson had a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds in Toledo's impressive 76-51 win over MAC West Division champion Eastern Michigan in the final game of the regular season. Pearson had his 10th games with 20 or more points, his eighth double-double.
--Junior G Curtis Dennis made his first start of the season in the final regular-season game and helped the Rockets to a 76-51 rout of MAC West Division champion Eastern Michigan. Dennis had 21 points and seven rebounds -- both career highs.
--The Rockets finished the 2011-12 regular season 16-15. That was a 12-win improvement over last season, when the Rockets went 4-28.
BY THE NUMBERS: 4 -- That's how many guards the Rockets started in their regular-season finale against Eastern Michigan. For the first time all season, Toledo went with a lineup of PG Julius Brown, G Rian Pearson, G Dominique Buckley, G Curtis Dennis and F Matt Smith. The combination produced a 76-51 rout of the MAC West champion Eagles.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're glad that we have a game at home. Even though we had a setback against Northern Illinois, I still feel like we've got it going." -- Toledo G Rian Pearson, on his team hosting a first-round game in the conference tournament.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
THIS WEEK'S GAMES:
--vs. Central Michigan, MAC tournament second round in Cleveland, March 7
KEY MATCHUPS: Central Michigan's Austin McBroom and Toledo's Julius Brown will square off in a battle of the MAC's top freshman point guard. McBroom had 20 points and six assists in the Chippewas' Monday win over Bowling Green, while Brown had nine points and two assists Monday against Miami (Ohio).
FUTURES MARKET: When the Rockets started a lineup of four guards and F Matt Smith in their season finale against Eastern Michigan, it was a move that told two stories. First, Toledo is loaded with talented, capable guards. Second, the Rockets have very little inside talent they can rely on. C Richard Wonnell is a workhorse and a blue-collar guy, but he's not a scorer. C DeLino Dear has fallen out of the good graces of coach Tod Kowalczyk, but Dear is not much of a scorer when he's not in the doghouse. The key for the Rockets in the future will be how they address this shortcoming. C Nathan Boothe is a 6-foot-9 recruit coming in next fall, but it's not realistic to expect him to provide a burst of offense around the basket. The long-term solution to this problem has yet to be recruited.
PLAYER NOTES
--Sophomore G Rian Pearson continued his torrid production with a 21-point, 18-rebound performance in the Rockets' MAC tournament first-round win over Miami on Monday. Pearson has nine double-doubles this season and 11 games with 20 or more points. He had 29 points and 12 rebounds when the Rockets faced MAC overall champion Akron, and an 18-point, 17-rebound night against Ohio University.
--Junior G Dominique Buckley has had a lot to do with the Rockets leading the Mid-American Conference this season with 73 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Buckley leads the MAC at 88.9 percent from the line, and he has made his past 13 free throws. In MAC games only, Buckley has shot a crisp 91.3 percent from the line. As a team, Toledo hit 74 percent in MAC games only.
