# 2018–19 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represented the University of Toledo during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rockets were led by eighth-year head coach Tod Kowalczyk, and played their home games at Savage Arena, as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 25–8, 13–5 in MAC play to be champions of the West Division. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament to Northern Illinois. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Xavier.

## Previous season

The Rockets finished the 2017–18 season 23–11, 13–5 in MAC play to win the MAC West division championship. As the No. 2 seed in the MAC tournament, they defeated Miami and Eastern Michigan before losing to Buffalo in the tournament championship. Despite winning 23 games, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Dwayne Rose Jr. | 1 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Freshman | Crete, IL | Transferred to Southwestern Illinois College |
| Taylor Adway | 2 | F | 6'9" | 215 | Junior | Hazel Crest, IL | Graduate transferred to Ferris State |
| Tre'Shaun Fletcher | 4 | G/F | 6'7" | 205 | Senior | Wilmar, AR | Graduated |
| Justin Roberts | 5 | G | 5'10" | 170 | Sophomore | Lawrence, KS | Transferred to Niagara |
| Vicpatrick Harris | 10 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous college |
| Chris Darrington | 32 | G | 6'1" | 179 | Senior | Toledo, OH | Transferred from Tennessee. Will be eligible to play immediately since Darrington graduated from Tennessee. |

### Recruiting class of 2018

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Keshaun Saunders SG | Brampton, ON | Orangeville Prep | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Feb 13, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| T. J. Smith SG | Matteson, IL | Marian Catholic High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 22, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| A. J. Edu PF | England | South Gloucestershire and Stroud College | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | Apr 12, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2019

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Luke Maranka PF | Ada, MI | Grand Rapids Angels Homeschool | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Sep 19, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Donavan Moore SG | West Bloomfield, MI | West Bloomfield High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Jul 17, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Aaron Etherington SF | Fishers, IN | Hamilton Southeastern High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 2, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 3, 2018* 2:30 pm | | Hillsdale | W 72–63 | | Savage Arena Toledo, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Oakland | W 87–86 | 1–0 | Athletics Center O'rena (3,841) Rochester, MI |
| Nov 10, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wilberforce Gulf Coast Showcase campus site game | W 99–58 | 2–0 | Savage Arena (4,839) Toledo, OH |
| Nov 14, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Wright State | L 74–84 | 2–1 | Nutter Center (3,263) Fairborn, OH |
| Nov 19, 2018* 7:30 pm | | vs. Florida Gulf Coast Gulf Coast Showcase Quarterfinals | W 90–62 | 3–1 | Hertz Arena Estero, FL |
| Nov 20, 2018* 7:30 pm | | vs. Louisiana Gulf Coast Showcase Semifinals | W 77–64 | 4–1 | Hertz Arena (567) Estero, FL |
| Nov 21, 2018* 7:30 pm | | vs. UC Irvine Gulf Coast Showcase championship | W 67–60 | 5–1 | Hertz Arena (1,031) Estero, FL |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | North Alabama | W 80–59 | 6–1 | Savage Arena (3,714) Toledo, OH |
| Dec 1, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cleveland State | W 80–67 | 7–1 | Savage Arena (4,636) Toledo, OH |
| Dec 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Detroit Mercy | W 101–57 | 8–1 | Savage Arena (3,629) Toledo, OH |
| Dec 8, 2018* 2:30 pm | | at Marshall | W 75–74 $^{OT}$ | 9–1 | Cam Henderson Center (6,232) Huntington, WV |
| Dec 15, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Middle Tennessee | W 84–62 | 10–1 | Savage Arena (4,205) Toledo, OH |
| Dec 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cornell | W 86–70 | 11–1 | Savage Arena (3,748) Toledo, OH |
| Dec 29, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Penn | W 77–45 | 12–1 | Savage Arena (4,786) Toledo, OH |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Ball State | L 64–79 | 12–2 (0–1) | Savage Arena (5,023) Toledo, OH |
| Jan 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at No. 19 Buffalo | L 80–110 | 12–3 (0–2) | Alumni Arena (5,144) Amherst, NY |
| Jan 12, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Western Michigan | W 85–77 | 13–3 (1–2) | University Arena (5,421) Kalamazoo, MI |
| Jan 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Miami (OH) | W 71–59 | 14–3 (2–2) | Savage Arena (4,386) Toledo, OH |
| Jan 18, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Ohio | W 75–52 | 15–3 (3–2) | Savage Arena (5,037) Toledo, OH |
| Jan 22, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Kent State | L 85–87 $^{OT}$ | 15–4 (3–3) | MAC Center (2,205) Kent, OH |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Central Michigan | W 76–72 | 16–4 (4–3) | Savage Arena (5,211) Toledo, OH |
| Jan 29, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Miami (OH) | W 66–63 | 17–4 (5–3) | Millett Hall (1,677) Oxford, OH |
| Feb 2, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Illinois | W 69–55 | 18–4 (6–3) | Convocation Center (1,348) DeKalb, IL |
| Feb 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Akron | W 63–52 | 19–4 (7–3) | Savage Arena (3,895) Toledo, OH |
| Feb 9, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bowling Green | W 78–71 | 20–4 (8–3) | Stroh Center (5,000) Bowling Green, OH |
| Feb 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 25 Buffalo | L 82–88 | 20–5 (8–4) | Savage Arena (7,401) Toledo, OH |
| Feb 19, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Eastern Michigan | L 69–76 | 20–6 (8–5) | Convocation Center (1,849) Ypsilanti, MI |
| Feb 23, 2019 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | Northern Illinois | W 57–54 | 21–6 (9–5) | Savage Arena (5,534) Toledo, OH |
| Feb 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Ball State | W 80–72 | 22–6 (10–5) | Worthen Arena (4,691) Muncie, IN |
| Mar 2, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Central Michigan | W 80–68 | 23–6 (11–5) | McGuirk Arena (2,216) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Mar 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Michigan | W 76–57 | 24–6 (12–5) | Savage Arena (4,233) Toledo, OH |
| Mar 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Michigan | W 64–58 | 25–6 (13–5) | Savage Arena (6,061) Toledo, OH |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (7) Northern Illinois Quarterfinals | L 76–80 | 25–7 | Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | at (3) Xavier First round – Alabama bracket | L 64–78 | 25–8 | Cintas Center (5,769) Cincinnati, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
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