GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, February 15, 2019.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Televison: ESPNU. Robert Lee will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Julianne Viani 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.
 
MULTIMEDIA
   Live Stats: utrockets.com
   Audio: utrockets.com
 
SERIES
        Toledo leads 15-12. UT has split its last eight meetings vs. Buffalo but has lost three in a row to the Bulls since an 86-54 home win in 2017.

SETTING THE SCENE
        Toledo (20-4, 8-3 MAC) will host its first nationally ranked opponent in 20 years on Friday, Feb. 15 when it battles No. 24 Buffalo (21-3, 9-2 MAC) in Savage Arena. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. with the contest being nationally televised on ESPNU.
        The Rockets are coming off Saturday's thrilling 78-71 win at arch-rival Bowling Green (17-7, 9-2 MAC), a victory that dropped the Falcons into a first-place tie in the MAC's East Division with the Bulls. UT holds a two-and-a-half game lead over Central Michigan (16-8, 5-6 MAC) and Eastern Michigan (12-12, 5-6 MAC) in the West standings.
        Senior Chris Darrington scored a game-high 20 points in UT's win over Bowling Green to give the Rockets their fourth 20-win season in the last six years and as well as their fifth straight victory. Senior Jaelan Sanford also tallied his first double-double as a Rocket with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
        Toledo limited the Falcons to a 38.8 field-goal percentage, including a 5-of-27 effort (18.5 percent) from three-point range. Defense has played a key component in UT's current five-game win streak. The Rockets are allowing just 62.6 ppg during this stretch and holding their opponents to a 36.0 FG% and 26.8 three-point FG%.
        Friday's contest will be just the fifth time the Rockets have hosted a nationally ranked opponent in Savage Arena. The previous four contests were against No. 5 Indiana (59-57 win - 12/1/76), No. 2 Purdue (89-67 loss - 12/22/86), No. 14 Temple (75-68 loss - 12/30/86) and No. 25 Miami (Ohio) (66-63 win - 2/17/99)
        Toledo has dropped its last three decisions to Buffalo since posting an 86-54 home win over the Bulls on Jan. 3, 2017. Included in that stretch is the Bulls' 76-66 victory over the Rockets in the 2018 MAC Championship Game.
        Buffalo has won its last two contests since a 92-88 setback at BGSU on Feb. 1. The Bulls are 9-3 on the road with their two other losses coming at Marquette and NIU.
 
POST TOUCHES
•   Only nine schools in the nation have fewer than UT's four losses (as of Feb. 12).
•   UT is fourth nationally (as of Feb. 12) with its 78.4 FT%. The Rockets also rank in the Top 20 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (30.3/5th), rebounds per game (41.0/11th), winning percentage (83.3/13th), assist/turnover ratio (1.42/15th), assists per game (16.8/17th) and fewest personal fouls per game (15.1/20th).
•   UT leads the MAC in FT% (78.4), three-point FGs per game (9.8), assist/turnover ratio (1.42), three-point FG% (37.2), FG% defense (40.2) and def. rpg (30.1).
•   Jaelan Sanford leads the MAC with an 87.3 FT% and ranks 11th with a team-high 15.8 ppg. The Evansville, Ind. native ranks eighth on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,656 points and is 20 points behind Steve Mix (1966-69). Sanford is also fifth on UT's career three-point field-goal list with 223 and needs five more to tie Chad Kamstra (1996-2000) for fourth place. He also is second in career minutes played (4,053), trailing only Juice Brown (2011-15) with 4,327.
•   Nate Navigato ranks eighth nationally with a 46.4 three-point FG%. Navigato holds the UT record for career three-point FGs with 288 treys and has hit a season-high five three-pointers on five occasions. Navigato ranks 21st on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,312 points.
•   Willie Jackson ranks third in the MAC and 25th nationally with 9.8 rpg. He has eight double-doubles and has led or shared the team lead in rebounding on 17 occasions. Jackson dished out a career-high five assists to go along with nine points and 13 boards at Kent State (Jan. 22).
•   Two Rockets rank in the MAC's Top 5 in three different categories:
    Three-point FG% — Nate Navigato (46.4/2nd) and Luke Knapke (42.4/4th)
    Free-throw percentage — Jaelan Sanford (87.3/1st) and Chris Darrington (83.1/3rd) Blocked shots per game — AJ Edu (1.8/2nd) and Luke Knapke (1.3/4th)
•   Four Rockets rank in the MAC's Top 15 in 3PTFG% — Navigato, Knapke, Darrington (39.3/10th) and Spencer Littleson (38.2/14th). Six Rockets are also averaging at least one 3PTFG/game.
•   Marreon Jackson is tied for fourth in the MAC with 4.5 apg and fifth with a 1.9 assist/turnover ratio. He is averaging 12.6 ppg in MAC play and scored a season-high 20 points at Buffalo.
•   Luke Knapke is second on the team in MAC play with a 12.8 scoring mark and ranks sixth in MAC with a 56.5 FG%. Knapke is third on UT's all-time blocked shot list with 120 blocks, eight more than Casey Shaw (1994-98) and 18 behind J.C. Harris (1989-92).
•   Chris Darrington comes off the bench and ranks fifth on the team with a 9.8 scoring mark. He leads UT in free throws made (69) and free throws attempted (83) despite playing just 15.6 mpg. Darrington scored a career-high 21 points at Buffalo (Jan. 8) and in last Saturday's win at Bowling Green he tallied 20 points in 20 minutes off the bench.
•   AJ Edu ranks second in the MAC with 1.8 blocks per game and is averaging a MAC-best 2.0 bpg in league play. He registered a season-high five rejections vs. Cornell (Dec. 19), Ball State (Jan. 4) and Ohio (Jan. 18) and his 42 rejections are tied for most by a freshman in UT history.
•   Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk is in his ninth season at the Rockets' helm and has guided UT to four 20-win campaigns in the last six years, marking the first time for this accomplishment since Bob Nichols recorded five straight 20-win seasons from 1976-81.
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•   The Rockets have four 20-win seasons in the last six years and 22 in program history.
•   Thirteen of UT's 20  wins have been by 11 points or more.
•   Toledo's 20-4 win-loss mark is one game behind the pace set by Toledo's 2013-14 squad  that won a school-record 27 games. UT opened that season with a 21-3 record.
•   Toledo has six different players shooting 75.0 percent or better from the free-throw line. Nate Navigato leads the way with an 88.5 FT% (23-of-26).
•  UT has had at least four players score in double digits in 18 of 24 contests and has had five players score in double figures on six occasions, including Saturday at Bowling Green.
•   Toledo is 17-2 when outrebounding its opponent.
•  Toledo has held double-digit rebounding advantages against 11 opponents, including a plus-25 effort vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 5) and a plus-22 outing vs. Cornell (Dec. 19).
•   UT is 18-1 when leading at halftime as well as when leading or tied with five minutes to play.
•   Toledo is 17-0 when holding its opponent under 45 percent shooting from the field. UT is 14-2 when scoring 80 or more points and 19-1 when holding its opponent under 80 points.
•   Toledo is 11-3 in games decided by five points or less since the start of last season.

COMPARING THE ROCKETS AND BULLS
•  Toledo ranks second in the MAC in scoring defense (67.7) and the Bulls are the MAC's top scoring offense (84.7).
•  Toledo and Buffalo are the top two teams in several MAC statistical categories - scoring margin (UB +13.5/UT +11.0), assists per game (UB 16.9/UT 16.8), assist/turnover ratio (UT 1.42/UB 1.39) and three-point field goals per game (UT 9.8/UB 9.5).
•  Toledo leads the MAC with a 78.4 FT% with Buffalo in seventh place with a 69.5 mark.
 
SOME INFO ON THE ROCKETS' OPPONENT
        Buffalo has been ranked in the national polls for a MAC-record 14 straight weeks. The Bulls are looking to accomplish something this season that has never been done in MAC history - win four conference tournament titles in a five-year period. Buffalo became the first MAC school to win three in a four-year period since Kent State did it in 1999, 2001, 2002.
        Senior CJ Massinburg ranks third in the MAC with 18.5 ppg and a 42.9 three-point FG%. Senior Jeremy Harris, who scored a career-high 34 points vs. UT in January, ranks second in team scoring with 13.8 ppg. Senior Nick Perkins is averaging 13.4 ppg and a team-high 7.6 rpg.
 
DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
        Toledo leads the Mid-American Conference in field-goal percentage defense (40.2) and ranks second in scoring defense (67.7 ppg) and three-point FG% defense (30.7). The Rockets also rank No. 28 nationally with their 40.2 FG% defense.
        Last year, UT ranked seventh in scoring defense (74.5) and fifth in field-goal percentage defense (43.7) and three-point FG% defense (34.3). 

ON THE HORIZON
                The Rockets will visit Eastern Michigan (11-13, 5-6 MAC) on Tuesday, Feb. 19 in the first of two meetings against Eagles. Toledo will then host Northern Illinois (12-13, 5-7 MAC) on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 6:00 p.m. The contest vs. the Huskies will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.