Toledo men defeat Ball State on Senior Night

The University of Toledo men’s basketball team bid farewell to a trio of seniors with a dominating victory over Ball State.

The Rockets (19-10, 11-5 MAC) defeated the Cardinals 70-59 in UT’s ‘Senior Night’ game Saturday at Savage Arena. It was the last regular season home game for guards Juice Brown and Justin Drummond, as well as forward J.D. Weatherspoon.

The victory kept Toledo in contention for the first seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, but it was a special game for a very different reason in the minds of UT’s three graduating starters.

“We knew it was Senior Night and that makes it extra special,” Drummond said. “It was just coming out with energy. Today we just wanted to stay with what we do and keep our energy high.”

From tip-off to the final buzzer, the Rockets were too much for Ball State (7-20, 2-14 MAC). Toledo never trailed in their final home game of the regular season, leading by as many as 17 points during the contest.

Besides junior forward Bo Calhoun – who accounted for a game-high 30 points and six rebounds for the Cardinals – the Rockets kept the visiting team in check in a victory that snapped Toledo’s two-game home losing streak.

“I thought tonight the important thing was just to give our defense some confidence back,” said UT head coach Tod Kowalczyk. “I don’t think we guarded real well [Wednesday night] against Northern Illinois. I thought the first half [against Ball State] we really defended real well.

“I was really pleased with our energy and our effort in the first half.”

Toledo went on a 7-0 run in the waning minutes of the first half to widen the edge over Ball State heading into halftime.

Juice was responsible for four of those points off consecutive baskets. Toledo’s all-time leader in games played finished his final regular season collegiate home game with only six points and three rebounds, but he added a team-high seven assists.

“I know as a coach and as a father you’re not supposed to have your favorites,” Kowalczyk said. “But I got no problem saying he’s my favorite. [Juice] trusted Tod Kowalczyk when we only won four games. I can’t repay that.

“He’s a special guy… At some point, he will be sitting next to me on the bench here at the University of Toledo.”

Toledo maintained a healthy lead at the beginning of the second half. When Drummond slammed a dunk through the net with 17:39 left to play, UT was up 43-29.

Drummond followed the dunk up with a trey to give Toledo a 48-31 advantage with 15:46 to play. He finished the game with 17 points and seven rebounds.

“Drummond, he’s our backbone,” Kowalczyk said. “He’s our guy, he’s our leader and we look to him just for being solid.”

Calhoun took advantage of a Rockets’ scoring drought early in the second half and the Cardinals clawed back into contention with a 9-0 run to draw within eight of Toledo.

Juice notched a jumper to give UT another double-digit lead over Ball State, but the Cardinals cut the Rockets advantage down to five with a layup by sophomore forward Franko House with 6:57 to play.

Drummond put an end to a three-minute scoring drought with a layup to give the Rockets a 58-51 advantage. Weatherspoon added a pair of jumpers and then launched himself off of the hardwood, taking a bounce off the glass from Drummond for a two-handed dunk that gave UT a 64-53 lead with just under four minutes to play.

“I just wanted to give the crowd something to remember,” Drummond said. “Seeing J.D. tear off the rim is a great memory. We just wanted to give a great game, our last game here. We just wanted to make it special and exciting.”

Weatherspoon finished the game with a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double.

“Weatherspoon has got such an unbelievably positive vibe,” Kowalczyk said. “He’s always smiling and brings electricity to the building. He’s probably the best dunker in college basketball.”

With 43 seconds to play, Juice put the ball up for Weatherspoon, who sent another dunk through. Ball State freshman forward Sean Sellers notched a trey, but UT came right back down the court and sophomore guard Jon Jon Williams added his own dunk for a final dagger.

“It was fun,” Juice said of the game’s end. “It just felt right, just to give you guys a show and play Rocket basketball.

“We all knew there were going to be big distractions today and I think we did a great job of blocking that out as a team today, but on the upside I think it brought energy. The younger guys wanted us to go out in a good way and it just brought energy.”

Toledo will hit the road for the final two contests of the regular season, starting with a matchup at Central Michigan on Tuesday, March 3. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.