DEKALB, Ill. – Toledo shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field, including 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from three-point range, as the Rockets upended the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team, 75-61, on Tuesday night (Jan. 6) at the NIU Convocation Center. 

The Rockets forced 21 Huskie turnovers, which they converted into 26 points, while NIU's 13 forced turnovers resulted in just six Huskie points. 

"I thought their pressure really disrupted our point guards, who had eight turnovers by themselves," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "A lot of them weren't kicking the ball out of bounds, they were live ball turnovers and that was the game. I think we were tired after nine-straight days on the floor, we don't play again until next Tuesday, so we have to figure out what we have to do to secure the ball, because that was the difference (tonight)."

Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) led the Huskies with 17 points, Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./ Moravian Prep) had eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds. 

Tied at five in the early going, Toledo used an 11-0 run to go in front, 16-5, with 14:35 to play in the opening half, forcing a Huskie timeout. 

NIU (5-10, 1-3 MAC) responded with an 8-2 burst as Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) ended the run for the Huskies and Walters scored the next five for the hosts, who trimmed the Toledo advantage to 18-13 with 12:19 left in the first half. 

Toledo (9-6, 3-0 MAC) scored the next five to go back in front by 10 before Valentine connected on a trifecta to cut the Rockets lead to 23-16 just before the midway point of the opening stanza. 

Valentine finished with nine points in the contest. 

The visitors scored the next six as the lead ballooned back to 13, 29-16, with seven minutes to play before halftime. 

Toledo took a 37-25 lead into halftime. Sean Craig, Austin Parks and Kyler VanderJagt all had eight points for the Rockets, Valentine had six points to pace NIU. The Huskies had 12 first half turnovers compared to just four for the Rockets as Toledo held a 15-3 edge in points off turnovers at the half. 

The Toledo lead was 13 when the Rockets used a 7-0 burst to push their advantage to 57-37 with 11:44 remaining. 

A pair of triples from Ducommun ignited a 9-2 run for NIU as the Huskies closed the gap to 59-46 with just under nine minutes to play. 

The Huskies continued to chip away and pulled within 10 on a layup by Ducommun with 5:24 left, cutting the Toledo lead to 64-54, but that was as close as NIU would get as the Rockets responded with the next five as the advantage grew back to 15 for the visitors. 

VanderJagt finished with 18 points to lead Toledo, Sonny Wilson scored 17, Parks finished with 13 while Craig and Leroy Blyden Jr. each netted 10 points. 

NIU will return to action next Tuesday, Jan. 13, when the Huskies travel to Eastern Michigan. Tip-off against the Eagles is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT.