TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (17-6, 12-3 MAC) looks to maintain its hold on first place in the Mid-American Conference when it visits Buffalo (9-6, 7-4 MAC) on Friday, Feb. 19. The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and will tip off in Alumni Arena at 9:00 p.m.
       
The Rockets currently lead second-place Akron (13-4, 11-3 MAC) by a half-game in the Mid-American Conference standings. The Zips are scheduled to play at Ball State on Friday evening.

Toledo posted an 87-75 home win over Miami on Tuesday night to lock up a berth in the 2021 MAC Tournament in Cleveland on March 11-13. Senior Marreon Jackson tallied 18 points, a career-high 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the fourth triple-double in program history.  Senior Spencer Littleson poured in a game-high 25 points on 7-of-14 three-point shooting and helped limit Dae Dae Grant, the MAC's leader in 3PTFG% (53.6%) in league play entering the contest, to a 3-of-13 outing from three-point range.

Jackson tops the Rockets with 17.2 ppg, 5.6 apg, 1.8 spg and a 92.8 FT% (No. 6 nationally). Littleson ranks second in scoring at 13.6 ppg with Ryan Rollins (13.3 ppg), JT Shumate (12.5 ppg) and Setric Millner Jr. (12.3 ppg) also scoring over 12.0 ppg. Littleson is tied for fifth nationally with a 47.9 three-point FG% and fifth with 3.52 treys per game, while Millner is grabbing a team-high 6.4 rpg.

Buffalo brings a three-game winning streak into Friday's game and is 5-2 at home this season. The Bulls lead the nation with 43.0 rpg and rank sixth with their 27.2 three-point FG% defense. Junior Jeenathan Williams is leading Buffalo with 17.9 ppg, while junior Josh Mballa is averaging 15.0 ppg and a team-high 9.8 rpg.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Feb. 19, 2021.
Tip-Off: 9:00 p.m.
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Arena: Alumni Arena (6,783).
Television: ESPN2. Jason Benetti will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Dan Dakich 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 15-14. Buffalo has won the last five matchups in the series after the Rockets had won four of the previous five meetings. Toledo's last win over the Bulls was an 86-54 home win in 2017.

POST TOUCHES
•  Marreon Jackson is averaging 10.8 rpg and has four double-doubles (including a triple-double) in his last five games. In league play, he has grabbed a team-high 6.3 rpg and ranks fifth in the MAC with 5.7 defensive rpg.
•  Jackson is in ninth place on Toledo's all-time scoring list with 1,670 career points, six points behind No. 8 Steve Mix (1966-69).  Jackson also is in second place with 284 three-point FGs and fourth with 532 assists in Rocket history.
•  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 triples ever by a Rocket in a MAC game.
•  Littleson has hit four or more triples in 12 games, including nine times in MAC play.
•  Ryan Rollins leads MAC freshmen with 13.3 ppg. He also is tied for second on the team with 5.6 rpg and third with 32 3PTFGs.
•  Rollins scored a season-high 25 points vs. CMU (Jan. 19) and has two double-doubles with 16 points and 13 rebounds at Marshall (Dec. 16) as well as 16 points and 11 boards vs. Northern Illinois (Dec. 22).
•  Jackson and Rollins are ranked fifth and 11th in MAC league games only with 5.7 and 4.4 defensive rpg, respectively.
•  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.
•  JT Shumate tallied a career-high 33 points and set a school record by making 11-of-11 shots (5-of-5 3PTFG) at Miami (Jan. 26). Shumate, whose sister Katie is a sophomore guard at Kent State, transferred to Toledo from NCAA Division II Walsh University last spring and received immediate eligibility in mid-December.
•  Shumate ranks among the MAC leaders in three categories in league play. He leads the MAC with a 51.7 three-point FG% and second with a 63.6 FG% and 1.5 bpg. He blocked four shots against Ohio (Jan. 8) and CMU (Jan. 19).
•  Mattia Acunzo has scored in double digits three times, including 13 points and five rebounds in the Rockets' first meeting vs. Miami. Acunzo, who tallied a season-high 15 points vs. NIU (Dec. 22), ranks second on the team with a 53.0 FG% and is 14-of-32 (.438) from three-point range.
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•  Toledo ranks ninth in the CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll (Feb. 15). Toledo is also the MAC's top ranked team in the KenPom (No. 65) and NET (No. 71) rankings.
•  Toledo ranks No. 17 in kenpom.com's Offensive Efficiency ranking.
•  Toledo tied its school record held by the 1966-67 and 1979-80 squads with its 11-1 start to the Mid-American Conference season.
•  Toledo ranks in the Top 20 nationally in four categories (through games of Feb. 16) - 1st in 3PTFGs made (250), 5th with 10.9 3PTFGs/game, 15th with a 1.44 A/TO ratio and 16th with a 78.2 FT%.
•  Toledo and Buffalo are the MAC's top two scoring teams in overall and league play.
•  Five or more Rockets have scored in double digits on eight occasions with six doing so vs. Ohio (Jan. 8) and Bowling Green (Jan. 30)
•  Toledo has connected for 10 or more treys in a game in 16 of 23 contests.
•  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.
•  The Rockets have won 10 of their 12 MAC games by nine points or more and rank second in the league with a plus-10.3 scoring margin in conference games.
 
TRIPLE-DOUBLE HISTORY UNDER COACH KOWALCZYK
Toledo's program went 100 years without having a triple-double and now has four in the last six seasons under Coach Kowalczyk. Marreon Jackson's historic performance that included 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds vs. Miami was the first by a Rocket to occur in Savage Arena.

Nathan Boothe registered the first triple-double with 12 pts., 13 reb. and 10 asst. vs. San Jose State at the Great Alaska Shooout in 2015. He was followed by 2018 MAC Player of the Year Tre'Shaun Fletcher with 20 pts., 11 reb., and 11 asst. at NIU in 2018 and Luke Knapke with 12 pts, 12 reb. and a school-record 10 blocks at Cleveland State.
 
A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS
     Toledo returns two starters among its five letterwinners in 2020-21. The Rockets posted a 17-15 record last year and have an 83-40 (.675) win-loss mark over the last three-plus seasons. Toledo won a school-record 27 games under Coach Kowalczyk in the 2013-14 campaign. The Rockets' 25 victories in 2018-19 ranked second in program history.
     The Rockets were picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference according to voting from the league's 12 head coaches. This season will mark the first time since the 1996-97 campaign that the MAC will not have divisional play for basketball.
 
KNOCKING THEM DOWN
     Toledo ranks second in the MAC and 16th nationally with a 78.2 FT%, marking its highest conversion rate at the line in Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk's tenure. The previous best is 77.2 in the 2018-19 season.

ON THE HORIZON
        Toledo will be off next week until hosting Western Michigan (4-13, 3-9 MAC) on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 5:00 p.m. The Rockets will close out their regular season on the road at Central Michigan (6-12, 2-9 MAC) on Tuesday, March 2 and a home game vs. Ball State (7-10, 5-7 MAC).