GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2019.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Ypsilanti, Mich.
Arena: Convocation Center (8,754).
Streaming: ESPN+. Ryan Wooley will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Greg Steiner 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 55-50. UT and EMU have met in the MAC Tournament four times in the last five years with the Rockets winning three times.

SETTING THE SCENE
        Toledo (20-5, 8-4 MAC) looks to rebound from Friday's 88-82 home setback to No. 24 Buffalo (22-3, 10-2 MAC) when it travels to Ypsilanti, Mich. to face Eastern Michigan (11-14, 5-7 MAC) on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. in EMU's Convocation Center with the contest being streamed on ESPN-Plus.
        Tuesday's contest will be the first of two meetings between UT and EMU and will begin a season-ending stretch of six straight MAC West Division games for the Rockets. UT holds a two-game lead over Central Michigan (17-8, 6-6 MAC) in the West standings and is three games in front of the Eagles and Ball State (14-11, 5-7 MAC).
        Toledo's loss to the Bulls snapped its five-game winning streak and was just the Rockets' second home setback this season. The contest was played before a sold-out crowd of 7,401 fans, the largest in Savage Arena since it was renovated in 2008.
        Senior Jaelan Sanford topped Toledo with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Marreon Jackson tallied 20 points. Junior Luke Knapke also finished in double figures with 11 points.
        Both teams had comparable numbers in the shooting department but the Bulls converted 23-of-31 free throws compared to UT's 18-of-25 totals. The Rockets shot 44.6 percent from the field and 6-of-19 from three-point range, while Buffalo posted a 42.6 FG% and a 31.8 three-point FG% (7-of-22). UB also held a 47-38 advantage on the boards, marking just the sixth time UT has been outrebounded this season.
        Eastern Michigan was the preseason favorite to win the MAC's West Division and saw its two-game winning streak snapped with Saturday night's 71-58 loss at Kent State.
        The Rockets and Eagles have met in the MAC Tournament four times in the last five years. UT posted a 64-63 win in last year's conference semifinals after dropping a pair of close decisions, 85-79 in Ypsilanti and 71-69 in Savage Arena, during the regular season.
 
POST TOUCHES
•   Toledo has won 20 games for the fourth time in the last six years.
•   UT leads the MAC in FT% (78.0), three-point FGs per game (9.6), assist/turnover ratio (1.41) and def. rpg (30.2) and is tied for first in assists per game (16.6)
•   Jaelan Sanford leads the MAC with an 86.6 FT% and is tied for eighth in scoring with a team-high 16.2 ppg. The Evansville, Ind. native ranks seventh on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,680 points and is 21 points behind Greg Stempin (1997-2001). Sanford is also fifth on UT's career three-point field-goal list with 226 and needs two more to tie Chad Kamstra (1996-2000) for fourth place. He is second in career minutes played (4,091), trailing only Juice Brown (2011-15) with 4,327.
•   Nate Navigato ranks 11th nationally with a 45.4 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 20th on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,320 points.
•   Willie Jackson ranks third in the MAC with 9.6 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 (45.4/2nd) and Luke Knapke (43.3/3rd)
    Free-throw percentage — Jaelan Sanford (86.6/1st) and Chris Darrington (83.1/3rd) Blocked shots per game — AJ Edu (1.7/2nd) and Luke Knapke (1.4/4th)
•   Four Rockets rank in the MAC's Top 15 in 3PTFG% — Navigato, Knapke, Darrington (38.4/12th) and Spencer Littleson (37.7/14th). Six Rockets are also averaging at least one 3PTFG/game.
•   Marreon Jackson ranks fifth in the MAC with 4.4 apg and a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio. He ranks second on the team with 13.3 ppg in MAC play and scored a season-high 20 points in each of the Rockets' games vs. Buffalo.
•   Luke Knapke is third on the team in MAC play with a 12.7 scoring mark and ranks sixth in MAC with a 56.7 FG%. Knapke is third on UT's all-time blocked shot list with 122 blocks, 10 more than Casey Shaw (1994-98) and 12 behind J.C. Harris (1989-92).
•   Chris Darrington comes off the bench and ranks fifth on the team with a 9.6 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 he tallied 20 points in 20 minutes off the bench at Bowling Green.
•   AJ Edu ranks second in the MAC with 1.7 blocks per game and is averaging a MAC-best 1.9 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 43 rejections are the 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.
•   UT registered a 23-11 record with a 13-5 mark in league play last year and its 63 MAC victories over the last five-plus seasons rank second in the league.
•   The Rockets' 23 victories last year were tied for third most in school history. Toledo won a school-record 27 games under Coach Kowalczyk in the 2013-14 campaign.
 
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 20-5 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 21-4 record with its fourth loss coming at EMU on Feb. 15, 2014.
•   Toledo has six different players shooting 76.1 percent or better from the free-throw line. Nate Navigato leads the way with an 89.3 FT% (25-of-28).
•   UT has had at least four players score in double digits in 18 of 25 contests and has had five players score in double figures on six occasions.
•   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 18-2 when leading at halftime as well as when leading or tied with five minutes to play.
•   Toledo is 17-1 when holding its opponent under 45 percent shooting from the field. UT is 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 EAGLES
•   Toledo ranks second in the MAC in three-point FG% (37.0), and EMU is 11th with a 29.9 mark. UT is first in three-point FGs per game (9.6), while EMU is last with 6.1 treys per game.
•   EMU leads the MAC with 12.9 offensive rpg, while Toledo is tops with 30.2 defensive rpg.
•   The Eagles pace the MAC with 4.6 blocked shots per game with UT second with 4.4 bpg.
•   Toledo leads the MAC with a 78.0 FT% with Eastern Michigan in 11th place with a 63.7 mark.
 
SOME INFO ON THE ROCKETS' OPPONENT
        Eastern Michigan has lost at home three times in conference play to Buffalo (74-58), Bowling Green (80-67) and Miami (59-48). The Eagles' home MAC wins have come over Kent State (95-61) and Northern Illinois (57-49).
        Senior James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebounding leader with 1,363 boards. Thompson has averaged a double-double every season as an Eagle but is scoring at a career-low 10.5 ppg clip this season. Seniors Elijah Minnie and Paul Jackson lead the Eagles in scoring with 13.9 and 13.4 ppg, respectively.
 
DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
        Toledo ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in field-goal percentage defense (40.3), scoring defense (68.5 ppg) and three-point FG% defense (30.7).
        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 host Northern Illinois (12-14, 5-8 MAC) on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 6:00 p.m. The contest vs. the Huskies will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.