TOLEDO, Ohio - Toledo (24-6, 12-5 MAC) will hold its annual Senior Night on Friday, March 8 when it hosts Eastern Michigan (15-15, 9-8 MAC). Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. with streaming available on ESPN-Plus. The ceremony honoring Chris Darrington, Nate Navigato and Jaelan Sanford will take place immediately following the game.

        The Rockets secured their second straight Mid-American Conference West Division title with Tuesday's 76-57 victory over Western Michigan. Toledo has already clinched a first-round bye in the 2019 MAC Tournament and are currently the No. 2 seed. Buffalo (27-3, 15-2 MAC) owns the No. 1 seed with Bowling Green (20-10, 12-5 MAC) having the No. 3 seed. UT will receive the No. 2 seed with a win or a Falcon loss at Buffalo on Friday.

        UT has won four outright MAC West Division titles (1998-99, 2006-07, 2017-18, 2018-19) and has 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 season.

        Navigato's 17 points paced a balanced Toledo offense that featured five players in double figures against Western Michigan. He was joined by Darrington (12 pts.), sophomore Spencer Littleson (11 pts.), junior Willie Jackson (10 pts.) and sophomore Marreon Jackson (10 pts.).

        Willie Jackson also grabbed a game-high 11 boards to register a double-double and help UT to a 35-28 rebound advantage. Freshman AJ Edu blocked a season-high six shots, the most by a Rocket since Allen Pinson notched seven at Duke on Dec. 12, 2004.

        Eastern Michigan was the preseason favorite to win the MAC's West Division and has won six of its last eight contests following Tuesday's 68-61 home win over Ball State.

        The Rockets and Eagles have met in the MAC Tournament four times in the last five years. UT dropped a 76-69 decision at EMU on Feb. 19 and letting a 12-point second-half lead slip away following a 22-0 Eagle run.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, March 8, 2019.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Streaming: ESPN+. 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 55-51. UT and EMU have met in MAC Tournament four times in last five years with Rockets winning three times.

POST TOUCHES
•   Toledo's 24 victories are one more than last year's win total and tied for second in school history. The UT record for wins in a season is 27 in the 2013-14 campaign.
•   Toledo ranks in the Top 25 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.4/8th), FT% (77.1/11th), assists per game (16.6/17th), rebounds per game (39.8/19th) and winning percentage (80.0/23rd).
•   UT leads the MAC in FT% (77.1), three-point FG% (37.5), blocked shots per game (4.7) and defensive RPG (29.5). The Rockets are second in scoring defense (68.0 ppg), FG% defense (40.6), scoring margin (+9.8), three-point FGs per game (9.6), rebounding margin (plus-4.9), assists per game (16.6) and A/TO ratio (1.3).
•   Jaelan Sanford ranks second in the MAC with an 84.5 FT% and is 12th with a team-high 15.4 ppg. The Evansville, Ind. native ranks sixth on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,739 points and is 18 points behind Jonathan Williams (2013-17).
•   Sanford is also fourth on UT's career three-point field-goal list with 232. He is second in career minutes played (4,262), trailing only Juice Brown (2011-15) with 4,327.
•   Sanford will tie Juice Brown's school record for most consecutive starts with 131.
•   Sanford registered his lone 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).
•   Nate Navigato ranks 11th nationally with a 45.6 three-point FG%. Navigato holds the UT record for career three-point FGs and ranks second in MAC history with 301 treys. Navigato ranks 15th on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,376 points.
•   Willie Jackson ranks fourth in the MAC with 9.3 rpg. He has nine double-doubles and has led or shared the team lead in rebounding on 21 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 two different categories:
    Free-throw percentage — Chris Darrington (83.7/1st) and Jaelan Sanford (82.9/2nd)
    Blocked shots per game — AJ Edu (1.8/2nd) and Luke Knapke (1.5/3rd)
•   Marreon Jackson ranks fifth in the MAC with 4.2 apg and ninth 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. Jackson earned MAC West Division Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 18.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.5 apg and 2.0 with a 59.1 FG% and 53.8 3PTFG% last week.
•   Luke Knapke is tied for second in the MAC in league play with 1.8 bpg and ranks fourth in MAC play with a 60.0 FG% Knapke is third on UT's all-time blocked shot list with 132 blocks, six behind J.C. Harris (1989-92) and 23 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 (82) and free throws attempted (98) despite playing just 15.5 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 1.8 blocks per game and leads the way with 2.0 bpg in league play. A MAC Freshman of the Year candidate, he registered a season-high six rejections vs. Western Michigan (March 5) and his 54 rejections rank third 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 66 MAC victories over the last five-plus seasons rank second in the league.
•   The Rockets have won a total of 47 games the last two years, a victory total that is tied for first in school history for most wins in back-to-back seasons.
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•   Fifteen of UT's 24 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 75.0 percent or better from the free-throw line.
•   Toledo is 20-3 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 20-1 when holding its opponent under 45 percent shooting from the field. UT is 23-2 when holding its opponent under 80 points.
•   UT is 22-2 when leading or tied with five minutes to play.
•   The Rockets are 11-0 on games played on Saturday this season.

ROCKETS RECEIVE FOURTH BYE IN LAST SIX YEARS
        Toledo has secured a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament for the fourth time in the last six years. Buffalo is the only MAC school with more automatic trips to Cleveland during that time frame. UT advanced to the MAC Championship Game after earning byes in 2014 and 2018 and reached the semifinals in 2015.
 
LEFTOVER NOTES FROM THE WESTERN MICHIGAN GAME
•  The Rockets are 7-2 vs. MAC West Division teams and 6-2 in MAC home games this season.
•  AJ Edu's six blocked shots are the most in the Mid-American Conference this season.
•  The Rockets are 49-of-98 (.500) from three-point range in their last four games vs. WMU.
•  Toledo has won four straight meetings vs. Western Michigan for the first time since winning six in a row from Feb. 19, 2000-Jan. 28, 2003.
•  Five Rockets scored in double digits for the seventh time this season.
•  Toledo shot 50.0 percent or better from the field for the second straight game.

SOME INFO ON THE ROCKETS' OPPONENT
        Eastern Michigan ranks last in the MAC with a 30.3 three-point FG% and 6.0 threes per game. The Eagles are also 11th in scoring offense (70.1) and free-throw percentage (62.9).
        Senior James Thompson IV is the NCAA's active career rebounding leader with 1,432 boards. Thompson has averaged a double-double every season as an Eagle. Seniors Paul Jackson and Elijah Minnie lead the Eagles in scoring with 14.3 and 13.5 ppg, respectively. 

DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
        Toledo ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense (68.0 ppg) and field-goal percentage defense (40.6) and is fourth in three-point FG% defense (31.3). The Rockets also rank No. 30 nationally with their 40.6 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 open the 2019 Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday, March 14 as the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. If Toledo earns the No. 2 seed, it will face the No. 7 seed at 6:30 p.m. If UT is the No. 3 seed, it will meet the No. 6 seed 30 minutes after the No. 2 vs. No. 7 contest.