TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (18-6, 13-3 MAC) looks to maintain its hold on first place in the Mid-American Conference when it hosts Western Michigan (4-14, 3-10 MAC) on Saturday. The contest will be streamed on ESPN3 and will tip off in Savage Arena at 5:00 p.m.

        The Rockets currently lead second-place Akron (14-5, 12-4 MAC) by a game in the MAC standings with three league contests remaining. The Zips are scheduled to host Bowling Green on Friday.

        Toledo has been idle since registering an 80-70 win at Buffalo on national television last Friday. Marreon Jackson put together another strong all-around performance, finishing with a team-high 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals in 35 minutes. Also scoring in double digits were Ryan Rollins (18 pts.), Setric Millner Jr. (17 pts., team-high seven reb.) and Spencer Littleson (13 pts.).

        Jackson tops the Rockets with 17.3 ppg, 6.0 apg, 1.9 spg and a 91.8 FT% (No. 6 nationally). Littleson ranks second in scoring at 13.6 ppg with Rollins (13.5 ppg), Millner Jr. (12.5 ppg) and JT Shumate (11.9 ppg) also scoring in double digits. Littleson is second nationally with a 47.7 three-point FG% and fifth with 3.50 treys per game,  while Millner is grabbing a team-high 6.5 rpg.

        Western Michigan dropped a third-straight decision with Thursday's 74-66 setback to Miami. Sophomore B Artis White leads the Broncos with 14.8 ppg and a 43.0 3PTFG% with senior Greg Lee averaging 13.0 ppg and a team-best 7.2 rpg.

        Toledo has won its last eight meetings vs. WMU and is looking to sweep its season series against the Broncos for a fourth-consecutive season.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021.
Tip-Off: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Television: ESPN3. Mason Lowry will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Rhett Boyd 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 89-63. Toledo has swept the season series vs. the Broncos each of the last three years. The Rockets also posted a 76-73 win over WMU in the first round of last year's MAC Tournament.

POST TOUCHES
•  Marreon Jackson ranks second on the team with 5.6 rpg and is averaging 10.0 rpg with four double-doubles (including a triple-double) in his last six 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 eighth place on Toledo's all-time scoring list with 1,690 career points, 15 points behind No. 7 Greg Stempin (1997-2001).  Jackson also is in second place with 287 three-point FGs and fourth with 538 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 13.5 ppg. He also is third on the team with 5.5 rpg and 34 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 10th 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.
•  Millner has scored a season-high 17 points on six occasions this season.
•  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 50.0 three-point FG% and is second with a 62.7 FG% and 1.5 bpg. He blocked four shots against Ohio (Jan. 8) and CMU (Jan. 19).
•  Shumate and Littleson are the MAC's top two three-point shooters in league play with 50.0 and 49.2 three-point shooting marks, respectively.
•  Mattia Acunzo ranks second on the team with a 52.0 FG% and has a 42.4 3FG% (14-of-33).
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•  Toledo ranks eighth in the CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll (Feb. 22). Toledo is also the MAC's top ranked team in the KenPom (No. 59) and NET (No. 66) rankings.
•  Toledo ranks No. 15 in kenpom.com's Offensive Efficiency ranking.
•  Toledo ranks in the Top 30 nationally in eight categories (through games of Feb. 24) - 1st in 3PTFGs made (260), 4th with 10.8 3PTFGs/game, 15th with a 1.45 A/TO ratio, 15th with a 78.0 FT%, T-22nd with a 38.2 3PTFG%, T-23rd with a 29.8 three-point FG% defense, 24th with 80.7 ppg and 29th with 16.5 apg.
•  Toledo is the only MAC school to win 13 or more league games in three of last four years.
•  The Rockets have won 11 of their 13 MAC games by nine points or more and rank second in the league with a plus-10.3 scoring margin in conference games.
•  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 17 of 24 contests.

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.
 
KNOCKING THEM DOWN
     Toledo leads the MAC and ranks 15th nationally with a 78.0 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.
 
A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS' NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
     Toledo's non-conference opponents have combined to post a 97-75 (.564) overall record and a 66-50 (.564) conference mark.
     Highlighting the Rockets' non-conference slate were Michigan (16-1, 11-1 Big Ten), Horizon League co-champion Cleveland State (16-7, 16-4), Xavier (12-5, 5-5 Big East) and Marshall (12-5, 6-4 Conf. USA).
     Toledo posted a 5-3 mark in non-conference action with wins over Cleveland State, Kansas City, Marshall, Oakland and Valparaiso. The defeats came at the hands of No. 3 Michigan, Xavier and Bradley.
 
ON THE HORIZON
        The Rockets will close out their regular season on the road at Central Michigan (6-14, 2-11 MAC) on Tuesday, March 2 and at home vs. Ball State (8-11, 6-8 MAC).