TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (8-3, 3-0 MAC) puts its unbeaten Mid-American Conference record and season-high five-game winning streak on the line when it visits Kent State (3-2, 0-1 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The Rockets and Golden Flashes will meet at 2:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center with the contest being streamed on ESPN3.

Toledo is currently tied at the top of the league standings with Bowling Green with a 3-0 mark. Akron is a half-game behind with a 2-0 ledger. The Rockets' 3-0 start to the MAC season is their best since going 7-0 in the 2006-07 campaign.

Toledo continued its strong defensive play with Saturday's 70-59 win at Western Michigan, marking the fourth time in last five outings the Rockets have held their opponent under 60 points. Freshman Ryan Rollins paced Toledo's attack with a season-tying best 20 points. Junior JT Shumate nearly registered a double-double with 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Senior Marreon Jackson leads the Rockets offensively with 15.5 ppg, 4.9 apg and 1.6 spg. He saw his streak of a school-record 41 consecutive free throws end Saturday at WMU. Rollins ranks second in team scoring with 14.4 ppg, while junior Setric Millner Jr. is third with 14.1 ppg and a team-best 7.6 rpg.

Kent State dropped a 66-62 decision at Akron on New Year's Day in its first game since Dec. 13. Seniors Michael Nuga and Danny Pippen lead the Golden Flashes with 18.0 and 16.8 ppg, respectively.

The matchup between the Rockets and Golden Flashes pits the MAC's top two defensive squads against each other. Kent State ranks first in scoring defense at 63.4 ppg, while Toledo is second at 66.5 ppg.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021.
Tip-Off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Kent, Ohio.
Arena: M.A.C. Center (5,421).
Television: ESPN3. Dave Wilson will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Ben Pagani 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 83-51. Toledo is 5-6 in its last 11 meetings vs. Kent State but was swept by the Golden Flashes last season. The Rockets dropped an 84-77 decision at Kent and suffered an 83-70 setback at home.

POST TOUCHES
•  Toledo joins Buffalo as the only teams in the MAC to have three players ranked among the Top 20 scoring leaders. Marreon Jackson ranks 12th at 15.5 ppg and is followed by Ryan Rollins (14.4 ppg/16th) and Setric Millner Jr. (14.1 ppg/17th).
•  Rollins leads the Rockets in league scoring with 16.3 ppg followed by senior Spencer Littleson at 14.3 ppg and Jackson at 13.7 ppg.
•  Marreon Jackson has scored in double figures in a career-high 32 straight games. 
•  Spencer Littleson's eight treys vs. Oakland (Nov. 26) were one shy of the school record held by Kent Murphree on Nov. 24, 1991. Littleson tied Marreon Jackson (2018), Nate Navigato (2018) and Mark German (1986) for the second-most three-point field goals ever by a Rocket in a 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 before scoring nine points vs. NIU and seven at WMU. He has scored a season-high 17 points on five occasions.
•  Ryan Rollins has scored in double digits in 10 of 11 contests and ranks second on the team with 14.4 ppg and second with 5.8 rpg and an 81.8 FT%.
•  Rollins 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 8.8 ppg and 6.3 rpg in 23.1 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 four contests, he is averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.0 rpg with a 75.0 FG% (15-of-20) and an 80.0 three-point FG% (4-of-5).
•  Acunzo leads the Rockets with a 61.0 FG% and is 7-of-11 from three-point range.
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•  Toledo is off to a 3-0 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 Rockets have won each of their MAC games by double digits and lead the league with a plus-17.0 scoring margin in conference contests. The Rockets are rank first in scoring defense (62.7 ppg) and three-point FG% defense (20.5) in league play.
•  Toledo's strong start to the season has elevated it to a No. 17 ranking in the CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll (Dec. 28). This week's poll will be released later this evening.
•  The Rockets are leading the MAC with a 37.2 three-point FG% and rank second with 10.2 three-point FGs per game. Toledo has limited its opponents to a 26.1 three-point mark (3rd in MAC) and 5.9 triples per contest.
•  The Rockets nearly tied their school record for three-pointers in a game with 16 triples vs. Oakland, one away from the record 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. KENT STATE
• Marreon Jackson is averaging 20.8 ppg, 5.3 apg and 3.0 rpg with a 44.1 3PTFG% (15-of-34) in four career games vs. the Golden Flashes.
• Keshaun Saunders is averaging 5.5 ppg with a 30.0 3PTFG% (3-of-10) in two games vs. Kent State.
• Spencer Littleson is averaging 4.5 ppg with a 33.3 3PTFG% (3-of-9) in two games vs. Kent State.
 
BALANCING ACT
     Toledo has featured balanced scoring over the last two seasons and that is continuing in 2020-21. Four different Rockets — Marreon Jackson, Spencer Littleson, Setric Millner Jr. and Ryan Rollins — have led the team in scoring this season. Millner has led the way in four contests, followed by Jackson and Littleson three times and Rollins twice.
     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 27-22 (.551) win-loss mark in road games over the last two-plus seasons and are 27-19 (.587) in their last 46 road tilts. Over the last seven-plus years, Toledo possesses a 55-53 (.509) win-loss mark on enemy courts.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Toledo will return home to host Ohio (5-4, 1-2 MAC) on Friday, Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in a nationally televised game on the CBS Sports Network.  The Rockets will remain home to host Eastern Michigan (2-3, 0-2 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 12 before visiting Akron (4-1, 2-0 MAC) on Saturday, Jan. 16.