Toledo Hands Men's Basketball 99-65 Decision on Senior Day

Tuesday, February 28

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 p.m.

Central Michigan University

10-20,5-12MAC

Toledo

24-6,15-2MAC

Toledo

Central Mich.

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

2/28/2023 10:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boxscore (PDF)Photo Gallery

Freshman Reggie Bass leads Chippewas with 27 points and nine rebounds; Toledo shoots 58.5 percent from the floor, scores opponent-high 99 points, hits a perfect 28-28 from the free throw line; Chippewas honor three seniors in a pre-game ceremony.

By: Greg Hotchkiss

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Setric Millner Jr. scored 32 points and RayJ Dennis added 21 points as Toledo built an 11-point halftime lead then scored the first 15 points of the second half in handing the Central Michigan men's basketball team a 99-65 loss on Senior Night Tuesday evening at McGuirk Arena.

With the loss, Central Michigan (10-20 overall) drops to ninth place in the Mid-American Conference standings with a 5-12 record. Miami (Ohio) is now in eighth place with a 6-11 record following a 77-62 win at Western Michigan. CMU is tied for ninth place with Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan with identical 5-12 records. The top eight teams advance to Cleveland to compete in the MAC Tournament, scheduled for March 9-11 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

One contest remains for Central Michigan as the Chippewas close out the regular season at rival Western Michigan on Friday, March 3 (7 p.m.). CMU needs a victory and a Miami (Ohio) loss to have a chance at the No. 8 seed. The Chippewas defeated Western Michigan 70-69 in the previous matchup in Mount Pleasant.

"We've got to find a way to get one win," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "We can only control our own destiny, you can't worry about what the other teams are doing. We've wasted a few opportunities over the last couple of weeks to put ourselves in position. We've got one game left. At the end of the day, you're playing your biggest rival. If you can't find a way to show up and compete, something's wrong."

Toledo (24-6) entered the game in first place in the MAC standings with a 14-2 record. The Rockets were a perfect 28-28 from the free throw line and registered CMU opponent season-highs for scoring (99 points) and field goal percentage (58.5 percent). They also hit 9-16 3-point attempts.

After scoring 40 points in Central Michigan's Saturday loss to Northern Illinois, Bass started the game off by scoring eight of the Chippewas' first 13 points. He scored 19 of his team-high 27 points in the first half. Bass set career-highs for field goals made (nine), field goal attempts (22), rebounds (nine) and he also dished out four assists. Bass has now scored 20 or more points in each of his last four games played. He hit five 3-pointers, one shy of his career-high of six set against Purdue-Northwest on Nov. 29. It marked his sixth 20-point game of his career, including four straight games.

Sophomore Markus Harding and senior Mark Garland both finished with nine points. Garland, who started the game on Senior Night, scored a career-high 3-pointers in the second half.

Central Michigan battled Toledo in the first half, leading for nearly six minutes. The game was tied 22-22 at the 7:27 mark but Toledo went on a 15-2 run over a four-minute to take control of the game with a 33-24 lead with 3:42 to play in the first half.

"We couldn't score," Barbee said. "You've probably got 60-70 points sitting on our bench in sweatsuits. When you're playing walk-ons for extended minutes, it makes it hard. We competed, we fought in the first half. They shoot 16 free throws and we shoot five. Toledo is a seasoned veteran team, that's why they're at the top of the standings. They have seniors, veterans, and they don't get rattled by anything and they showed that tonight."

A 3-pointer by Millner, Jr. pushed the lead to 36-26 and another pull up jumper by Millner gave Toledo a 38-27 lead. Millner scored 22 of his game-high 32 points in the first half and Toledo grabbed a 45-34 halftime lead.

Toledo scored the first 15 points of the second half to quickly go up 60-34 with 14:34 minutes to play. Meanwhile, the Chippewas missed their first six shots, including four 3-point attempts. Millner started the half off with a driving layup, Dennis swished a 3-pointer, Ra'Heim Moss and AJ Edu both hit two free throws apiece, Dennis and EJ Farmer followed with layups before Taylor finally hit a free throw at the 14:34 mark.

Toledo extended its lead to as many as 27 points (64-37) with 13:22 to play.

Eight Chippewas saw action in their last home game of the 2022-23 season.

Central Michigan celebrated Senior Day by honoring its three senior players and three senior managers in a pre-game ceremony. Those three seniors included Marc Garland, Craig Hodgson, and Miroslav Stafl.

"It's disappointing for the seniors," Barbee said. "Miroslav and Caleb are both injured. I was happy to see Mark as a late addition walk-on, go out on a bang, making those three threes in the second half."

—CMU—