QUICK HITTERS
• Toledo (10-5, 1-1 MAC) opens the home portion of its Mid-American Conference schedule this week with matchups vs. the leaders of MAC's East and West Divisions.
• The Rockets begin the week vs. West frontrunner Northern Illinois (13-2, 2-0 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 12 in a game that can be seen on ESPN3. UT will then entertain perennial power Akron (13-2, 2-0 MAC) on Friday, Jan. 15 in a game televised nationally by the CBS Sports Network. Both contests will tip off at 7:00 p.m.
• Toledo split a pair of road games to open the MAC campaign last week, dropping an 87-69 decision to Ball State on Wednesday before bouncing back with an 84-76 victory over Miami on Saturday.
• The Huskies posted home wins over Ohio (80-69) and Eastern Michigan (80-63) last week to remain perfect in 11 games this season in the NIU Convocation Center
• 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 a 95-83 (.534) record on the Rocket bench, including a 91-55 (.623) 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.
• Senior Nathan Boothe tallied a game-high 25 points and 11 boards to lead UT to its win over the RedHawks. The Rockets led by as many as 28 points before Miami reduced its deficit to single digits with just over a minute remaining.
• Junior Jonathan Williams and Boothe are the MAC's top two leading scorers with 19.0 and 18.5 ppg, respectively. Boothe also is tied for thjrd in the MAC with 8.8 rpg, fourth with a 2.3 assist/turnover ratio, and sixth with 4.3 apg.
• Boothe was named the MAC's West Division Player of the Week a week ago, marking the fifth time this season a UT player has been honored. Williams was tabbed for the award on Dec. 28. Boothe also earned a spot on CollegeInsiders.com mid-season Mid-Major All-America squad last week.
• Toledo ranks eighth nationally with a MAC-best 1.72 assist/turnover ratio and 15th with 18.3 apg.
• UT tops the MAC in scoring (81.5 ppg) and FG% (47.2%) and will face a Northern Illinois squad that features the league's stingiest defense with the top totals in points allowed (62.4 ppg) and opponent shooting (37.4 FG%). The Huskies also lead the way with a +9.1 rebounding margin and are second with 7.6 steals per game.
•        Sophomore center Marin Maric paces a balanced NIU offense that has four players scoring in double digits with 13.7 ppg to go along with a team-best 8.8 rpg.