MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Toledo (22-6, 10-5 MAC) has a chance to clinch a share of the Mid-American Conference's West Division title on Saturday, March 2 when it travels to Central Michigan (20-8, 9-6 MAC). Tip-off time in McGuirk Arena is set for 4:30 p.m. with the contest being streamed on ESPN-Plus.

The Rockets enter tomorrow's contest with a one-game lead over the Chippewas and are looking to repeat as West Division champions. If the 2019 MAC Tournament started today, Toledo and CMU would be the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.
       
UT has won three outright MAC West Division titles (1998-99, 2006-07, 2017-18) and has won or shared West crowns on four more occasions (1999-2000, 2004-05, 2012-13, 2013-14) since the conference went to the division format in the 1997-98 campaign.

Toledo started strong and never trailed in Tuesday's 80-72 triumph at Ball State, a victory that gave Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk the 300th victory of his coaching career. The backcourt tandem of sophomore Marreon Jackson and senior Jaelan Sanford led UT's attack with 19 and 18 points, respectively. UT didn't have any other double-digit scorers, but all eight Rockets who played scored six or more points.

Toledo dominated the boards by a 34-23 margin and forced 21 turnovers. UT led by as many as 13 points in the first half before settling for a 41-36 halftime cushion. Ball State pulled to within a point on two occasions in the second half before UT pulled away.

The Rockets have won their last four meetings vs. the Chippewas, including a 93-82 victory in McGuirk Arena last year during which the Rockets buried 14 three-point field goals.

Central Michigan has won four straight games following road wins at Ball State (64-57) and Eastern Michigan (77-66). CMU is 12-2 at home this season with its losses coming on an 83-72 defeat to Ball State and a 97-87 overtime setback to Bowling Green.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, March 2, 2019.
Tip-Off: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
Arena: McGuirk Arena (5,300).
Streaming: ESPN+. Adam Jaksa will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Matt DeVries 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 63-38. UT has won its last four meetings vs. CMU after dropping six in a row in the series.

POST TOUCHES
•   Toledo has won 20 games for the fourth time in the last six years. UT's 22 victories are one win shy of last year's total and tied for third most in school history.
•   UT ranks eighth nationally (as of Feb. 27) with its 77.4 FT%. The Rockets also rank in the Top 25 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.6/8th), rebounds per game (40.2/14th), assists per game (16.7/16th) and assist/turnover ratio (1.36/24th).
•   UT leads the MAC in FT% (77.4), three-point FG% (37.2), three-point FGs per game (9.6) and defensive RPG (29.6) The Rockets are second in scoring defense (68.4 ppg), FG% defense (40.4), blocked shots per game (4.4), scoring margin (+9.4), rebounding margin (plus-5.0), assists per game (16.7) and A/TO ratio (1.4).
•   Jaelan Sanford leads the MAC with an 84.5 FT% and is 11th with a team-high 15.6 ppg. The Evansville, Ind. native ranks sixth on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,713 points and is 44 points behind Jonathan Williams (2013-17).
•   Sanford is also fourth on UT's career three-point field-goal list with 229 and needs one more to tie Chad Kamstra (1996-2000) for fourth place. He is second in career minutes played (4,198), trailing only Juice Brown (2011-15) with 4,327.
•   Sanford registered his two career double-doubles with 12 points and a career-high 11 boards at Bowling Green (Feb. 9) and 24 points and 10 rebounds vs. Buffalo (Feb. 15).
•   Senior Nate Navigato ranks ninth nationally with a 46.2 three-point FG%. Navigato holds the UT record for career three-point FGs and ranks second in MAC history with 297 treys. Navigato ranks 16th on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,362 points.
•   Junior Willie Jackson ranks third in the MAC with 9.3 rpg. He has eight double-doubles and has led or shared the team lead in rebounding on 19 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 (46.2/2nd) and junior Luke Knapke (40.8/5th)
    Free-throw percentage — Jaelan Sanford (84.5/1st) and senior Chris Darrington (83.7/2nd) Blocked shots per game — freshman AJ Edu (1.6/2nd) and Luke Knapke (1.4/4th)
•   Four Rockets rank in the MAC's Top 15 in 3PTFG% — Navigato, Knapke, sophomore Spencer Littleson (39.5/9th) and Darrington (37.9/T-13th). Six Rockets are also averaging at least one 3PTFG/game.
•   Marreon Jackson ranks fifth in the MAC with 4.3 apg and eighth with 1.4 spg. He ranks second on the team with 13.5 ppg in MAC play and scored a season-high 20 points in each of the Rockets' games vs. Buffalo.
•   Luke Knapke ranks fourth in MAC play with a 57.7 FG% and ranks second with 1.7 bpg. Knapke is third on UT's all-time blocked shot list with 127 blocks, 12 behind J.C. Harris (1989-92) and 38 behind Nathan Boothe (2012-16).
•   Chris Darrington comes off the bench and ranks fifth on the team with a 9.4 scoring mark. He leads UT in free throws made (77) and free throws attempted (92) despite playing just 15.4 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 (Feb. 9).
•   AJ Edu ranks second in the MAC with 1.6 blocks per game and is tied for third with 1.6 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 44 rejections are the most by a freshman in UT history.
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•   Thirteen of UT's 22 wins have been by 11 points or more.
•   Toledo is 5-1 this season in games decided by five points or less. The Rockets have won 12 of 15 games decided by five points or less since the start of last season.
•   Toledo has five players shooting 76.0 percent or better from the free-throw line.
•   UT has had at least four players score in double digits in 18 of 28 contests and has had five players score in double figures on six occasions.
•   Toledo is 18-3 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).
•   Toledo is 18-1 when holding its opponent under 45 percent shooting from the field. UT is 21-2 when holding its opponent under 80 points.
•   UT is 20-2 when leading or tied with five minutes to play.
•   The Rockets are 10-0 on games played on Saturday this season.

LEFTOVER NOTES FROM THE BALL STATE GAME
•   The Rockets improved their road record to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in MAC play.
•   Toledo snapped a five-game losing streak vs. Ball State and posted its first win in Muncie since 2015. UT is 5-4 in Worthen Arena under Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk.
•   Ball State's 21 turnovers were the most by a Rockets' Division I opponent since Chicago State committed 23 on Dec. 6, 2014.
•   Toledo is 4-0 this season when only two Rockets score in double figures.
•   The Rockets blocked four shots and now have a school-record 75 rejections in conference play. UT needs 11 blocks to equal last year's school record of 135 rejections.
 
SOME INFO ON THE ROCKETS' OPPONENT
Central Michigan leads the MAC in three-point FG% defense (29.5%) and steals per game (7.9) but ranks 11th in scoring defense (75.5 ppg) and field-goal percentage defense (44.8).
Senior guard Larry Austin Jr., a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt, leads the MAC with 5.8 apg and ranks second and fifth in the MAC with 2.1 spg and 16.8 ppg, respectively. Senior guard Shawn Roundtree Jr. also ranks eighth in the MAC with 16.0 ppg.
 
DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
Toledo ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (68.4 ppg) and field-goal percentage defense (40.7) and is fourth in three-point FG% defense (31.7). The Rockets also rank No. 38 nationally with their 40.7 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 close out their regular season with home games vs. Western Michigan (8-20, 2-13 MAC) on Tuesday, March 5 and Eastern Michigan (13-15, 7-8 MAC) on Friday, March 8.