Toledo has also improved significantly on defense. Last year, they gave up 109.1 points per 100 possession (255th in the country). This year, they're giving up 100.0 points per 100 possessions (160th in the country). Not exactly lockdown D, but with their above average offense (55th in the country at 107.2 points per 100 possessions) they are formidable. They have had bad luck in close games or their record would be healthier than 9-6.

Close losses:

• Detroit 82-79
• Oakland 81-79
• CMU 65-62

What amazes me about this team is how bad they are defensively. On the post-game, Saul said they are little things away from being good. Perhaps, offensively. But on defense they have guards who aren't good at stopping penetration and I've yet to see Ndour battle for position. Which means guards have to sag back to help and that creates other problems. They are so bad defensively that their margin of error offensively is quite slim. After watching the last few games it struck me that it would be al most impossible for them to come back from a deficit because they can't string multiple stops together.

I took apart last night's boxscore to just show Toledo's offensive possessions (stops are in BOLD). Ohio did have a streak of 7 possessions (from the end of the first half through the beginning of the second half) where Toledo did not score. Unfortuately, Ohio did not capitalize. Other than that, Toledo never went more than 3 possessions without scoring. I don't know how you have a chance to win with D like that. Granted, Toledo is an above-average offensive team. But this has become a trend.