TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (17-15, 8-10 MAC in 2019-20) opens its 106th season this week when it competes at the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Rockets will open play on Wednesday, Nov.  25 at 3:00 p.m. in the Cintas Center when it faces Bradley (23-11, 11-7 Missouri Valley).

Toledo will face Horizon League member Oakland (14-19, 8-10 Horizon) on Thursday, Nov. 26 at 3:00 p.m. and the host Musketeers (19-13, 8-10 Big East) on Friday, Nov. 27 at Noon. The Rockets met both the Braves and Golden Grizzlies last year. Toledo dropped a 78-66 decision at Bradley and pulled out a 65-63 home victory over Oakland. The Rockets' last meeting vs. Xavier resulted in a 78-64 setback in the first round of the 2019 NIT Tournament.

Toledo's first two games in the tournament can be seen on FloHoops, a subscription-based service that is available on streaming devices such as Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon FireTV. To order your subscription package go HERE. The Rockets' final contest of the tourney vs. Xavier will be televised nationally on FS1.

Senior guards Marreon Jackson and Spencer Littleson are expected to lead the Rockets in the 2020-21 campaign. Jackson earned second-team All-MAC honors last year after averaging 19.8 ppg and setting a school record with 99 three-point field goals. Littleson also averaged in double digits at 10.5 ppg and will be joined in the backcourt by 2019-20 All-MAC Freshman Team member Keshaun Saunders.

The Rockets will also return sophomores AJ Edu and Luke Maranka as well as redshirt freshman Mattia Acunzo. Toledo will also benefit this season from the addition of junior-college transfers Jonathan Komagum and Setric Millner Jr. as well as freshmen Jamere Hill and Ryan Rollins.

Bradley has captured back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference Championships for the first time in school history, while also qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1954 and 1955.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020.
Tip-Off: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio.
Arena: Cintas Center (10,250).
Television: FloHoops. Mike Schmaltz will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Paul Fritschner 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
Bradley leads 6-2. The Rockets won their first two meetings vs. the Braves in 1941 and 1946 but have lost the last six contests. Prior to last year's 78-66 loss at Bradley, the two team's last meeting was in 1985.

POST TOUCHES
•  Marreon Jackson ranked among the MAC leaders in several categories with 19.8 ppg (2nd), 5.4 apg (2nd) and 3.1 three-point FGs per game (1st).
•  Marreon Jackson ranked second in league play with 21.6 ppg and 3.5 treys/game. He was named MAC West Division Player of the Week three times last season.
•  Jackson buried seven treys in three games last year — at Akron, Kent State and Central Michigan. The seven treys are one shy of former Rocket Nate Navigato's school record for a conference game (eight vs. EMU on March 2, 2018).
•  Jackson set a school record last year with 99 three-point field goals, five more than Navigato's school record in the 2017-18 season. He also established a record for league games only with 63.
•  Jackson enters the season with a career-high 21-game streak of scoring in double figures. He tallied the top five scoring outings of his career all on the road last year - 37 at Central Michigan, 36 at Akron, 32 at Kent State, 31 at Bowling Green and 29 at Ohio.
•  Jackson's 635 points last season ranked third in school history, 24 behind Harvey Knuckles (659, '80-81). Craig Thames holds the school record with 699 points in the 1995-96 season. Jackson's 389 points in league play ranked second in school annals behind Thames' 395 in '95-96.
•  Spencer Littleson scored in double digits 15 times last year and was tied for seventh in the MAC with a 39.3 three-point FG%. He paced the Rockets with 1.7 spg, a total that ranked fifth in the MAC, and ranked fourth on the team with 10.5 ppg.
•  Littleson graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing last spring and is currently working toward his MBA.
•  Keshaun Saunders finished tied for ninth in league play with a 39.1 3FG% and started the Rockets' final 12 contests of the season. He averaged 7.7 ppg and 2.2 rpg to go along with a 36.2 3FG% en route to a spot on the MAC's All-Freshman Team.
•  Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk enters his 11th season at the Rockets' helm and has guided Toledo to four 20-win campaigns in the last seven years, marking the first time for this accomplishment since Bob Nichols recorded five straight 20-win seasons from 1976-81.
•  Kowalczyk ranks third on Toledo's all-time win list with 184 victories, 19 behind second-place Stan Joplin. Nichols ranks first with a MAC-best 376 wins.
•  The Rockets' 25 victories in the 2018-19 season ranked second in school history. Toledo won a school-record 27 games under Coach Kowalczyk in the 2013-14 campaign.
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•  Toledo has won five of its last seven season openers and has a 55-50 all-time record in season lid-lifters.
•  This year's season opener is the Rockets' latest start date since opening their 1996-97 campaign with a 65-57 setback at Old Dominion on Nov. 25, 1996.
•  Toledo has won 65 victories over the last three seasons, posting a 23-11 mark in 2017-18, a 25-8 ledger in  2018-19 and 17-15 last year. The Rockets registered 13-5 league marks in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and its 76 MAC victories over the last seven seasons are tied for second in the league.
•  The Rockets paced the MAC in league play last year with 13.7 apg and 1.17 assist/turnover ratio. Toledo was second with a 36.3 three-point FG%.

ON THE HORIZON
Toledo will open its home season on Tuesday, Dec. 1 when it hosts Cleveland State in a 7:00 p.m. tipoff. The Rockets have won their last six meetings vs. the Vikings following an 80-65 road victory last year.