QUICK HITTERS
•  Toledo (1-0) plays its first road contest of the 2015-16 campaign with a visit to Youngstown State (0-1) on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The matchup against the Penguins can be viewed on ESPN3.com and will tip off at 7:05 p.m.
•  The Rockets opened their season on Saturday with a 96-65 home triumph over NAIA foe West Virginia Tech. YSU dropped a 79-70 decision at Kent State on Saturday.
•  Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk is in his sixth season at UT's helm and has orchestrated a dramatic turnaround since his arrival in 2010. He possesses an 86-78 record on the Rocket bench, including an 82-50 (.621) win-loss ledger over the last five years.
•  Kowalczyk has guided Toledo to a share of the 2013-14 Mid-American Conference regular season title in addition to a piece of the 2012-13 MAC West Division title during his tenure.
•  Freshman guard Jaelan Sanford opened his collegiate career with a bang, scoring a game-high 22 points vs. the Golden Bears on Saturday. He knocked down 8-of-10 shots and was an impressive 6-of-8 from three-point range.
•  Joining Sanford in double figures were sophomore guard Stuckey Mosley (career-high 17 pts.), senior center Nathan Boothe (15 pts.) and junior guard Jonathan Williams (15 pts.). Boothe and Mosley tied for team rebounding honors with eight boards apiece, while Boothe also tallied a game-high six assists.
•  Four of the Rockets' freshmen saw significant minutes in Saturday's season opener. In addition to Sanford, forward Nate Navigato (8 pts., 4 reb., 4 asst. in 22 min.), guard Nick Rogers (7 pts., 2 reb., 4 asst. in 17 min.) and forward Taylor Adway (2 pts.,2 reb., 1 asst. in 19 min.) each played more than 15 minutes.
•  Toledo has been tabbed to finish second in the MAC's West Division this year with 110 points, trailing Central Michigan's total of 138 points. Akron was picked as the East Division winner with 132 points, just ahead of Kent State's 116 points.
•  Senior center Bobby Hain led YSU with 20 points and seven rebounds against the Golden Flashes, while junior forward Matt Donlon scored 15 points in his YSU debut.
•  Penguins' Head Coach Jerry Slocum has 699 career wins and needs just one more to become the 37th coach in NCAA history to win 700 career games.
•  Toledo leads the all-time series vs. YSU by a 9-2 margin and has split its last two meetings with the Penguins. The Rockets posted an 86-77 win in Toledo in the last matchup in 2011, while YSU notched a 73-67 home victory over the Rockets in 2010.
 
ROCKET ROUNDUP FROM WEST VIRGINIA TECH
• The Rockets have won their last three season openers after losing their previous five season lidlifters. UT holds a 54-47 all-time record in season-opening contests.
• Toledo's 25 assists were its most in a game since tallying 26 helpers in a 79-65 home win over Youngstown State on Dec. 8, 2001. Former Rocket forward Ricardo Thomas paced the Rockets in that contest with nine assists.
• Freshman Jaelan Sanford's 22 points were the most points scored this season by a Mid-American Conference freshman in a season opener. He leads the MAC with 6.0 treys per game.
• Sophomore Stuckey Mosley registered career highs in points (17), rebounds (8) and minutes played (26) and tied his career best with four assists.
• Senior Nathan Boothe finished one shy of his career best with six assists and committed just one turnover.
• Junior Zach Garber matched his career best with six boards and also made a career-high eight trips to the free-throw line.
 
TOD THE BUILDER
        Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk is extremely proficient at turning around programs. When looking at his career record minus his first season at the helm of both Green Bay and Toledo, Kowalczyk's record is 208-142 (.594) overall and 111-75 (.597) in conference play. His record at the helm of the Rockets since the 2011-12 season is 82-50 (.621).
        Kowalczyk produced a seven-win improvement from Year 1 (10-20) to Year 2 (17-11) at Green Bay. He doubled that feat and more at Toledo in the 2011-12 campaign as UT registered 15 more wins (4-28 to 19-17) than his first season at the Rocket helm.
 
A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS
        Toledo returns five letterwinners in 2015-16, including two starters, from last year's 20-13 squad that gave the Rockets a school-record 47 victories over the last two seasons.
        UT finished 11-7 in conference play in 2014-15 and one game behind Central Michigan in the MAC's West Division.
        UT has been tabbed to finish second in the West this season, trailing only the Chippewas in the preseason prognostications.
 
WHAT'S RETURNING FOR THE ROCKETS
        Toledo welcomes back 39.8 percent of its scoring, 43.8 percent of its rebounding, 43.1 percent of its assists, 55.9 percent of its steals and 55.6 percent of its blocked shots in 2015-16.
 
TOLEDO TABBED TO FINISH SECOND IN MAC'S WEST DIVISION
        Toledo has been selected to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West Division as part of the 2015-16 MAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. The poll was determined by a 23-member MAC News Media Panel.
        Senior Nathan Boothe was named to the All-MAC West Division pre-season squad.