Tide turns for UT

Toledo's Julius Brown, who had 14 points, drives the basket against Ohio's D.J. Cooper. The Rockets dug out of a 15-0 hole to improve their record to 11-13 overall, 3-7 in the Mid-American Conference. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

University of Toledo forward Reese Holliday had two options as he held the ball late in a tight game against Ohio University.

He could smother the ball, get fouled, and try to seal an improbable win at the free-throw line. If that wasn't appealing, there were teammates sprinting up the floor Holliday could have launched the ball to.

Holliday chose a third option. He walked. In this season filled with nutty losses, Holliday inexplicably walking toward UT's bench with 2.2 seconds left on the clock with the Rockets leading by two almost resulted in unmitigated misery.

Luckily for Holliday and UT, his gaffe didn't end up making the difference in a 77-73 win over an Ohio squad that some might argue is the best in the Mid-American Conference. Matt Smith's two free throws with 1.2 seconds left cemented the upset, snapping both UT's three-game losing streak and OU's six-game win streak.

PHOTO GALLERY: Ohio vs. Toledo

At last, one of these zany finishes went the way of the hard-luck Rockets.

"I have no idea what he was thinking," UT coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "None. Thank God for him that it didn't cost us the game because he would have really felt awful. We've found a lot of ways to lose this year. That would have been a new one for me."

Even without Holliday's mindless stroll, the game was whacky. Less than four minutes into the contest Toledo (11-13, 3-7 MAC) trailed 15-0 and had dug itself into a hole that most teams would spend the rest of the evening trying to recover from.

Stunningly UT took the lead only 12 minutes later. Sophomores Rian Pearson and Matt Smith took turns making big plays at both ends of the floor, propelling their team to an improbable 38-34 lead at halftime.

A 12-0 run by the Rockets preceded two Pearson free throws that put them in front with 4:57 to go.

Matt Smith scored 18 points for Toledo to tie for the team lead with Rian Pearson. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

"Me and Rian told [our teammates] we have to chip away, get stops, and we'll be fine," Smith said. "We work too hard to just let it go away."

Smith and Pearson both scored 18 points, and Pearson added a career-high 16 rebounds -- nine on offense. Pearson, the two-time reigning MAC West player of the week, notched a double-double just two minutes into the second half when he pulled down his 10th board. To Kowalczyk, though, Pearson's most impressive accomplishment of late isn't an award, streak, or statistic.

"The best part about him lately is what he says to his teammates," Kowalczyk said.

Pearson's improved leadership was evident when he brought his teammates together for a pep talk down the stretch.

Using an effective full-court press, OU (19-5, 7-3) cut its deficit to single digits, prompting a here-we-go-again reaction from UT. Eight straight points by D.J. Cooper gave the Bobcats the lead with 1:35 to go, and a redux of Saturday's loss to Buffalo, when UT blew a 13-point second-half lead, seemed possible.

"I got my guys together and told them, let's close this game out and get this win," Pearson said.

UT's Curtis Dennis followed with a three-point play to retake the lead. Dennis missed a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left, which, had it fallen, probably would have secured the win. Cooper tried to win the game for OU with a deep 3 that was off slightly with six seconds on the clock. UT got the rebound -- and then Holliday walked.

With one last chance to win or tie, Cooper's inbound pass for Ivo Baltic landed out of bounds along the baseline. From there, Dennis inbounded the ball to Smith.

"It's what every player in college basketball wants," Smith said. "Growing up, you want the crowd all on your shoulders. If you make two, you seal the game."

With just one cross-division game remaining, the West division is just 5-25 against the East. UT is responsible for two of those wins and would like to add a third Saturday at Bowling Green.

Kowalczyk has hinted the confidence of some of his players has waned after a series of tough losses. Wednesday's win should restore that confidence.

"Guys start to question themselves, they start to question each other, they start to question coaches," Kowalczyk said. "That's just human nature. It just shows you how good of character guys we have. They stayed together. They believe in each other."

Contact Ryan Autullo at: rautullo@theblade.com, 419-724-6160 or on Twitter @RyanAutullo.