TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (11-3, 6-0 MAC) will put its eight-game winning streak on the line when it travels to Akron on Saturday, Jan. 16 to battle the defending Mid-American Conference regular-season champion Zips (4-3, 2-2 MAC). The contest will tip off at 2:00 p.m. in Rhodes Arena and be streamed on ESPN+.
       
The Rockets currently sit at the top of the league standings with a 6-0 mark. Toledo's 6-0 start to MAC play is its best since going 7-0 in the 2006-07 campaign. The Rockets' 2006-07 and 1978-79 squads share the school record for best start to a league season.

Toledo tied a school record Tuesday with 17 three-point field goals in its 96-63 home win over Eastern Michigan. Sophomore Keshaun Saunders paced a balanced attack with a career-high 20 points. He knocked down 5-of-6 three-point shots, grabbed five boards and dished out four assists.

Senior Marreon Jackson leads the Rockets offensively with 16.2 ppg, 5.0 apg, 1.9 spg and a 95.8 FT% (No. 4 nationally). Freshman Ryan Rollins ranks second in team scoring with 14.4 ppg, while junior Setric Millner Jr. is third with 13.4 ppg and a team-best 7.2 rpg. Senior Spencer Littleson is also averaging in double digits with 13.1 ppg and a team-best 47.1 three-point FG%.

Akron will be looking to bounce back from road defeats to EMU (71-59) and NIU (67-65). The Zips are 4-0 at home this year and have won 21 of their last 23 home games. Senior Loren Cristian Jackson leads Akron with 21.0 ppg and 7.0 apg.

Toledo has won eight of its last nine meetings vs. Akron, including a 99-89 road win last season with Marreon Jackson erupting for 36 points.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021.
Tip-Off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Akron, Ohio.
Arena: Rhodes Arena (5,500).
Television: ESPN+. Michael Reghi will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Jacki Windon 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 37-27. Toledo has won eight of its last nine games vs. Akron after losing seven in a row to the Zips. Ten of the last 13 meetings between Akron and Toledo have been decided by double digits.

POST TOUCHES
•  Toledo is the only school in the MAC to have four players ranked among the Top 20 scoring leaders. Marreon Jackson ranks eighth at 16.2 ppg and is followed by Ryan Rollins (14.4/13th), Setric Millner Jr. (13.4/16th) and Spencer Littleson (13.1/18th).
•  Littleson leads the Rockets in league scoring with 17.0 ppg followed by Jackson (16.3), Rollins (15.3), Millner (11.0) and junior JT Shumate (9.6 ppg).
•  Marreon Jackson has scored in double figures in a career-high 35 straight games.
•  Jackson is now in 12th place on Toledo's all-time scoring list with 1,501 career points. He also ranks third with 264 career three-point field goals and fifth with 464 career assists.
•  Spencer Littleson's eight treys at Kent State (Jan. 5) and vs. Oakland (Nov. 26) were one shy of the school record held by Kent Murphree on Nov. 24, 1991. Littleson's eight triples at Kent State tied Nate Navigato (2018) for most three-point field goals ever by a Rocket in a Mid-American Conference game.
•  Setric Millner Jr. has registered two double-doubles this season, tallying 17 points and 15 rebounds at Xavier as well as 17 points and 10 boards vs. Kansas City.
•  Millner scored in double digits in his first nine games and has scored a season-high 17 points on five occasions.
•  Ryan Rollins has scored in double digits in 13 of 14 contests and ranks second on the team with 14.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg and third with 25 three-point field goals.
•  Rollins leads Toledo with 5.1 defensive rpg and has two double-doubles with 16 points and 13 rebounds at Marshall as well as 16 points and 11 boards vs. Northern Illinois.
•  JT Shumate tallied a season-high 16 points and nine rebounds at WMU (Jan. 2) in his first start as a Rocket and is averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.6 rpg in 25.0 mpg. Shumate, whose sister Katie is a sophomore guard at Kent State, transferred to Toledo from Division II Walsh University and received immediate eligibility in mid-December.
•  Mattia Acunzo scored a season-high 15 points and tied his season best with six rebounds vs. NIU (Dec. 22). In his last seven contests, he is averaging 7.9 ppg and 4.3 rpg with a 60.5 FG% (23-of-38) and a 54.5 three-point FG% (6-of-11).
•  Acunzo leads the Rockets with a 55.9 FG% and is 9-of-17 (.529) from three-point range.
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•  Toledo is off to a 6-0 start in MAC play for the first time since it posted a 7-0 start in the 2006-07 campaign and finished with a 14-2 ledger to capture the league's regular-season title.
•  The last time Toledo won eight consecutive games was a 10-game streak from Nov. 19-Dec. 29, 2018. The last time the Rockets won six MAC games in a row was a seven-game streak from Jan. 5-27, 2018.
•  The Rockets have won five of their six MAC games by double digits and lead the league with a plus-17.2 scoring margin.
•  Toledo leads the MAC in league in five categories — 49.9 FG%, 40.8 3PTFG%, 12.2 3PTFG/game, 18.8 apg and a plus-17.2 scoring margin 
•  Toledo has scored 90 points or more in back-to-back games for the first time since road wins over CMU (93-82/Jan. 13) and Ohio (91-57/Jan. 16) in the 2017-18 season.
•  Toledo's strong start to the season has elevated it to a No. 11 ranking in the CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll (Jan. 11). The Rockets are also the MAC's top ranked team in the NET (No. 56) and KenPom (No. 67) rankings.
•  Toledo is leading the MAC with a 39.7 3PTFG% and 11.0 3PTFGs per game. Toledo has limited its opponents to a 28.8 three-point mark (3rd in MAC) and 6.7 triples per game.
•  The Rockets tied their school record for three-pointers in a game with 17 triples vs. Eastern Michigan, matching the previous mark vs. Wright State on Dec. 22, 2003.
•  Toledo has registered 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 second in the league.

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT TOLEDO VS. AKRON
•  Senior Spencer Littleson is averaging 11.0 ppg with a 54.5 3PTFG% (6-of-11) vs. Akron.
•  Senior Marreon Jackson is averaging 10.8 ppg with a 47.1 3PTFG% (8-of-17) vs. Akron. Jackson erupted for 36 points and seven treys vs. the Zips last year.
•  Sophomore Keshaun Saunders scored eight points in his only game vs. Akron.
 
BALANCING ACT
     Toledo has featured balanced scoring over the last two seasons and that is continuing in 2020-21. Five different Rockets — Marreon Jackson, Spencer Littleson, Setric Millner Jr., Ryan Rollins and Keshaun Saunders — have led the team in scoring this season. Jackson, Littleson and Millner have led the way in four contests, followed by Rollins twice and Saunders once.
     In the 2018-19 season, seven different Rockets led or tied for the team lead in scoring. Jaelan Sanford led the way 16 times followed by Nate Navigato (6), Marreon Jackson (5), Luke Knapke (5), Chris Darrington (3), Willie Jackson (1) and Spencer Littleson (1).
     The 2019-20 season was no different. Six different Rockets led the team in scoring. Marreon Jackson led or tied for Toledo scoring lead 17 times, while Luke Knapke led or tied for Toledo's scoring lead seven times. Willie Jackson led the team in scoring five times, Spencer Littleson was the Rockets' scoring leader four times and Dylan Alderson and Keshaun Saunders were the team scoring leader twice.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
     The Rockets have posted a 28-22 (.560) win-loss mark in road games over the last three-plus seasons and are 28-19 (.596) in their last 47 road tilts. Over the last seven-plus years, Toledo possesses a 56-53 (.514) win-loss mark on enemy courts.

ON THE HORIZON
       Toledo will host a pair of games next week vs. Central Michigan (5-7, 1-4 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 19 and Kent State (5-3, 2-2 MAC) on Saturday, Jan. 23. The Rockets will then begin a stretch of playing four of their next five games on the road at Miami (4-4, 1-2 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 26.