TOLEDO VS. CENTRAL MICHIGAN GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, January 26, 2019.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Streaming: ESPN3. Mason Lowry will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Jay Gast serving as analyst.
Radio: Rocket Radio Network. WSPD (1370 AM) in Toledo. Brent Balbinot will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Jay Lehman serving as analyst.
 
SERIES
Toledo leads 62-38. UT has won its last three meetings vs. CMU after dropping six in a row in the series.
 
SETTING THE SCENE
        Toledo (15-4, 3-3 MAC) will look to keep its nearly perfect home-court record intact when it hosts MAC West Division foe Central Michigan (14-5, 3-3 MAC) in Savage Arena.
        The Rockets and Chippewas are currently tied for second place in the MAC's West Division and trail first-place Northern Illinois (11-8, 4-2) by just one game. UT and CMU will meet for a second time this season in Mt. Pleasant on March 2.
        The Rockets saw their three-game winning snapped on Tuesday evening with an 87-85 (OT) heartbreaking setback at Kent State. UT led by as many as 17 points before the Golden Flashes rallied behind senior Jaylin Walker's 36 points. Twenty-seven of Walker's points came in the second half and overtime including the game-winner with 26 seconds left in the extra session.
        Junior Luke Knapke poured in a career-high 22 points to pace Toledo with senior Jaelan Sanford (17 pts.), senior Nate Navigato (16 pts.) and sophomore Marreon Jackson (14 pts.) each scoring in double digits.
        UT swept last year's season series vs. CMU with a 93-82 road win and an 89-76 home victory and has won its last three meetings vs. the Chippewas.
        Central Michigan is 4-2 on the road this season with a pair of MAC victories away from home over Miami (84-77) and Northern Illinois (78-69). The Chippewas are looking to bounce back from an 83-72 loss to Ball State and a 70-67 defeat at Akron.
 
POST TOUCHES
•   UT ranks fourth nationally (as of Jan. 23) with its 78.8 FT%. The Rockets also rank in the Top 25 nationally in assists per game (17.5/12th), assist/turnover ratio (1.47/13th), fewest personal fouls per game (15.1/14th), 3PTFGs per game (10.2/17th), defensive rebounds per game (29.1/20th) and three-point FG% (38.8/21st).
•   UT leads the MAC in FT% (78.8), three-point FGs per game (10.2), three-point FG% (38.8) and assists per game (17.5).
•   Toledo has six different players shooting 75.0 percent or better from the free-throw line. Nate Navigato leads the way with a 94.4 FT% (17-of-18).
•   Jaelan Sanford leads the MAC with an 87.8 FT% and is sixth with a team-high 16.7 ppg. The Evansville, Ind. native moved ahead of Rian Pearson (1,589 – 2011-14) on UT's all-time scoring list against Kent State and now has 1,593 career points.
•   Sanford ranks eighth in MAC play with a 45.8 three-point FG% and has hit 63.6 percent (7-of-11) of his shots behind the arc in his last three contests.
•   Nate Navigato ranks second nationally with a 49.1 three-point FG% and second in the MAC with 2.9 treys per game.  Navigato holds the UT record for career three-point FGs with 279 treys and has hit a season-high five three-pointers on five occasions. He scored a season-high 21 points and connected on 5-of-7 three-point field-goal attempts at Western Michigan (Jan. 12).
•   Willie Jackson ranks third in the MAC and 15th nationally with 10.2 rpg. He has seven double-doubles and has led or shared the team lead in rebounding on 15 occasions.
•   Five Rockets rank in the MAC's Top 15 in 3PTFG% — Nate Navigato (49.1/2nd), Luke Knapke (45.3/3rd), Chris Darrington (38.5/12th), Jaelan Sanford (38.2/13th) and Spencer Littleson (38.2/14th)— with two in the Top 3 in FT% - Jaelan Sanford (87.8/1st) and Chris Darrington (82.2/3rd).
•   Marreon Jackson is third in the MAC with 4.8 assists per game and seventh with a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio. He is the Rockets' second-leading scorer in league play with 13.7 ppg.
•   Luke Knapke is the only Rocket to score in double digits in every league contest and ranks third on the team with a 13.3 scoring mark. In his last two games, Knapke is averaging 19.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg with a 59.3 FG% (16-of-27).
•   Knapke scored a career-best 20 points at Wright State (Nov. 14) thanks to a 6-of-6 effort behind the three-point arc.
•   Chris Darrington comes off the bench and ranks fifth on the team with a 9.9 scoring mark. He leads UT in free throws made (60) and free throws attempted (73) and scored a career-high 21 points at Buffalo (Jan. 8)
•   AJ Edu leads the MAC with 1.9 blocks per game and is averaging a MAC-best 2.8 bpg in league play. He has registered a season-high five rejections vs. Cornell (Dec. 19), Ball State (Jan. 4) and Ohio (Jan. 18) as well as three at Buffalo (Jan. 8).
 
ON THE HORIZON
                UT will hit the road for a pair of games next week. The Rockets will travel to Oxford, Ohio to face Miami (10-9, 2-4 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 29 before battling MAC West Division leader Northern Illinois (11-8, 4-2 MAC) on Saturday, Feb. 2.