Rockets light it up from long distance

University of Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk shouts to his team during the second half Saturday. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

BOWLING GREEN -- To say the University of Toledo men's basketball team was struggling with its 3-point shooting on the road this season would be an understatement.

The Rockets entered Saturday's contest at BGSU's Stroh Center having made just 17-of-76 3-pointers in its first five Mid-American Conference road games this season. That's just 22.4 percent shooting, and that's not very good.

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So it was amazing that UT nearly rode an impressive 3-point shooting performance to victory at Bowling Green. The Rockets made 12-of-19 shots from behind the arc, or 63.2 percent of their 3's, in a game the Falcons eventually won 66-63.

Toledo's 12 3-pointers was a season high, as was its shooting percentage. The 19 attempts, the seventh-highest total by the Rockets this season, was perfectly acceptable to coach Tod Kowalczyk.

"It's a two-three zone, and you have to make shots against it," Kowalczyk said. "Taking 19 [3-point shots] against a two-three zone, that's not a lot."

Curtis Dennis was UT's top marksman from long distance, making 5-of-6 3-pointers on his way to 17 points.

"Before the game we've been practicing our shots," Dennis said. "It's about rhythm and finding your touch.

"My teammates and coaches believe in me, and I know I can shoot even though I've been struggling lately. But I've been working at it, and it paid off."

Dennis clearly has snapped out of a shooting funk that had seen him make just 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) of his 3's in the previous four games.

"It was good to see him get his stroke back and knock down some shots for us," Kowalczyk said. "We see it every day in practice; I think he's one of the best pure shooters in the conference.

"I thought he played a very good offensive game."

Julius Brown was 4-for-8 from behind the arc for UT, while Dominique Buckley made 2-of-3 and Matt Smith 1-of-2.

FREE-THROW STRUGGLES: While the Rockets were shooting 3-pointers well, Bowling Green's struggles at the free-throw line nearly cost them a victory.

The Falcons made just 6-of-20 charity tosses, or 30 percent. That 30 percent shooting was the worst effort for BG this season, although the Falcons have shot under 50 percent in three other games. This marked the first time in six games this season the Falcons shot less than 60 percent from the foul line and won.

"We've been up-and-down with free throws," said BG's Scott Thomas, who was 1-for-5 from the line. "Some games we make almost all of them, and other times we hardly make any of them.

"But you have to overcome adversity, and we were still able to get the win."

THAT'S OFFENSIVE: The Falcons also didn't shoot very well from the field, making 28-of-63 shots overall (44.4 percent) and only 4-of-15 3-pointers (26.7 percent).

But what kept BG in the game was its offensive rebounding. The Falcons finished with 21 offensive rebounds, tying their season high, and that led to 21 second-chance points.

"I don't think they shot a very good percentage on their first attempts," Kowalczyk said. "On their second attempts, they probably shot 85 percent. And that was a story of the game."

Bowling Green coach Louis Orr said the offensive rebounding also was a big reason the Falcons scored 40 of their 66 points on shots in the paint.

"That was an advantage we needed to have in the paint," Orr said. "The effort we gave on the glass resulted in the second-chance points and a lot of the points in the paint, and it helped make up for our offensive shortcomings."

THREE-DOT DATA: The Stroh Center crowd of 4,421 is the first sellout in the 4,347-seat arena and the largest crowd for a BG home game since 4,708 were at Anderson Arena on Jan. 22, 2005, for the BG-UT battle. … UT's Brown tied his MAC season high with 17 points, reaching double figures for the fourth straight game. … BG's A'uston Calhoun finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds to record his second double-double this season.