TOLEDO-AKRON GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2019.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Streaming: ESPN-Plus.Mason Lowry will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Jay Gast serving as analyst.
Radio: Rocket Radio Network. WCWA (1230 AM) in Toledo. Brent Balbinot will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Jay Lehman serving as analyst.

SERIES
Toledo leads 35-27. UT has won six of its last seven games vs. Akron, including a 67-65 home win and a 77-56 road victory last year.

SETTING THE SCENE
        Toledo (18-4, 6-3 MAC) returns home after posting a pair of road wins last week to host Mid-American Conference East Division foe Akron (13-8, 5-3 MAC) on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena with the contest being streamed on ESPN-Plus.
        The Rockets took over first place in the MAC's West Division on Saturday with a 69-55 road win over Northern Illinois. UT now holds a one-game lead over the Huskies and Central Michigan (16-6, 5-4 MAC) in the West standings. Toledo's 6-3 league record ranks third overall in the MAC behind Bowling Green (15-6, 7-1 MAC) and Buffalo (19-3, 7-2 MAC).
        The Rockets utilized a standout defensive performance in their wire-to-wire victory over NIU for their sixth win in last seven outings. Toledo held NIU to a 35.5 field-goal percentage, including a miniscule 24.1 mark in the first half to take a 29-17 advantage. The Huskies rallied to within 47-46 with 9:50 to play, but the Rockets responded with an 18-2 run over the next six-plus minutes to secure the victory.
        Sophomore Marreon Jackson paced Toledo offensively with 16 points thanks to a 4-of-7 effort from behind the three-point arc. Senior Nate Navigato contributed 14 points, while senior Chris Darrington tallied 11 points.
        Jackson is leading the Rocket offensively in league play with 14.2 ppg and has scored in double digits in a career-high seven straight games.
        Toledo has won six of its last seven meetings vs. Akron after losing its seven previous meetings vs. the Zips. The Rockets swept the season series last year with a 67-65 win in Savage Arena followed by a 77-56 victory in Rhodes Arena.
        Akron brings a three-game winning streak to Savage Arena after registering its first road victory on Saturday with a 65-53 triumph at Ohio. The Zips are 10-1 at home with MAC victories over Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
 
POST TOUCHES
•   UT is fourth nationally (as of Feb. 3) with its 78.3 FT%. The Rockets also rank in the Top 20 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.7/11th), assist/turnover ratio (1.47/11th), assists per game (17.3/12th), rebounds per game (40.7/15th), fewest personal fouls per game (15.0/16th) winning percentage (81.8/17th) and 3PTFGs per game (10.0/19th).
•   UT leads the MAC in FT% (78.3), three-point FGs per game (10.0), three-point FG% (37.8), assists per game (17.3), assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and blocked shots per game (4.4).
•   Jaelan Sanford leads the MAC with an 86.4 FT% and ranks ninth with a team-high 16.0 ppg. The Evansville, Ind. native ranks eighth place on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,627 points.
•   Nate Navigato ranks seventh nationally with a 47.3 three-point FG%. Navigato holds the UT record for career three-point FGs with 286 treys and has hit a season-high five three-pointers on five occasions.
•   Willie Jackson ranks third in the MAC and 18th nationally with 10.1 rpg. He has eight double-doubles and has led or shared the team lead in rebounding on 16 occasions. Jackson dished out a career-high 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 (47.3/2nd) and Luke Knapke (44.8/4th)
    Free-throw percentage — Jaelan Sanford (86.4/1st) and Chris Darrington (82.7/3rd)
    Blocked shots per game — AJ Edu (1.9/1st) and Luke Knapke (1.2/5th)
•   Marreon Jackson is third in the MAC with 4.7 assists per game and fifth with a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio. He is Toledo's leading scorer in league play with 14.2 ppg.
•   Luke Knapke ranks second on the team in MAC play with a 13.4 scoring mark. Knapke earned last week's MAC West Division Player of Week honors and is averaging 16.2 ppg and 8.4 rpg with a 65.4 FG% (34-of-52) in his last five games.
•   Knapke is in third place on UT's all-time blocked shot list with 115 blocks, three more than Casey Shaw (1994-98) and 23 behind J.C. Harris (1989-92).
•   Chris Darrington comes off the bench and ranks sixth on the team with a 9.5 scoring mark. He leads UT in free throws made (62) and free throws attempted (75) 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 2.4 bpg in league play. He 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).
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•   Twelve of UT's 18 wins have been by 12 points or more.
•   The Rockets' 10-1 mark in Savage Arena is their best start at home since winning all 15 home contests in their 2013-14 campaign.
•   Toledo has six different players shooting 76.3 percent or better from the free-throw line. Nate Navigato leads the way with an 87.0 FT% (20-of-23).
•   Toledo has had at least four players score in double digits in 17 of 22 contests and has had five players score in double figures on five occasions.
•   Toledo is 15-2 when outrebounding its opponent.
•   Toledo has held double-digit rebounding advantages against 10 opponents, including a plus-25 effort vs. Detroit Mercy (Dec. 5) and a plus-22 outing vs. Cornell (Dec. 19).
•   At least five different Rockets have made three-point field goals in 16 of 22 games.
•   Toledo is 11-3 in games decided by five points or less since the start of last season.
•   Toledo is 15-0 when holding its opponent under 45 percent shooting from the field. UT is 14-2 when scoring 80 or more points and 17-1 when holding its opponent under 80 points.
 
DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
        Toledo ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (68.3), third in field-goal percentage defense (40.8) and fourth in three-point FG% defense (32.0).
        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 arch-rival Bowling Green (15-6, 7-1 MAC) in the annual 'Battle of I-75' on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 6:00 p.m.