TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (19-7, 14-4 MAC) will look to cap off its regular season with a Senior Night victory on national television when it hosts Ball State (10-11, 8-8 MAC) on Friday, March 5. The contest will be televised on the CBS Sports Network and tip off in Savage Arena at 7:00 p.m.

        The Rockets have already secured their first regular-season Mid-American Conference championship since 2013-14 and ninth in program history. Toledo also will be the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament for the first time since its 2006-07 campaign.

        Ball State handed Toledo one of its four league defeats with an 81-67 win in Muncie on Feb. 6. The Rockets jumped out to a 19-3 lead in the contest and led 56-55 with 7:11 remaining when the Cardinals pulled away thanks to a 16-1 run. JT Shumate led Toledo with 13 points in the contest.

        In addition to gaining revenge vs. Ball State, the Rockets will also hope to bounce back from Tuesday's 81-79 defeat at Central Michigan. Toledo led by as many as 17 points in the second half before the Chippewas rallied. Ryan Rollins led the Rockets in the defeat with 17 points.

        Marreon Jackson leads Toledo with 17.4 ppg, 6.0 apg (No. 14 nationally), 2.0 spg (No. 3 in MAC) and a 92.1 FT% (No. 5 nationally). Spencer Littleson and Rollins are tied for second in team scoring at 13.8 ppg with Setric Millner Jr. (12.2 ppg) and JT Shumate (12.0 ppg) also scoring in double digits. Littleson leads the nation with a 48.7 3PTFG% and 93 three-point FGs,  while Millner is grabbing a team-high 6.5 rpg.

        Ball State is playing its first road game since Jan. 30. The Cardinals have averaged 95.7 ppg during its last three games vs. Kent State, CMU and EMU. Senior K.J. Walton and Ishmael El-Amin lead the team with 16.2 and 16.0 ppg, respectively.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, March 5, 2021.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Television: CBS Sports Network. Chick Hernandez will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Julianne Viani 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 50-48. Toledo posted a 69-63 home win last year vs. Ball State but has dropped seven of its last nine decisions vs. the Cardinals. Prior to this stretch, the Rockets had won five of six vs. BSU.

POST TOUCHES
•  Marreon Jackson ranks second on the team with 6.0 rpg and is averaging 20.4 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 7.8 apg and 2.6 spg in his last five games. In league play, he has grabbed a team-high 6.8 rpg and ranks third in the MAC with 6.1 defensive rpg.
•  Jackson ranks seventh on Toledo's all-time scoring list with 1,727 career points, 30 points behind Jonathan Williams (2013-17).  Jackson also is in second place with 294 three-point FGs and fourth place with 552 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 14 games, including 11 times in MAC play.
•  Ryan Rollins leads MAC freshmen with 13.8 ppg. He also is second on the team with  2.7 apg, third with 5.5 rpg and ranks fifth all-time for points (358) by a Rocket freshman. He trails Julius Brown (427, 2011-12), Ken Epperson (420, 1981-82), Jake Barnett (414, 2009-10) and Terry Reynolds (390, 2000-01).
•  Jackson and Rollins are ranked third and 10th in MAC league games only with 6.1 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 ranks second with a 48.5 three-point FG% and is third with a 62.8 FG% and 1.4 bpg.
•  Littleson and Shumate are the MAC's top two three-point shooters in league play with 50.4 and 48.5 three-point shooting marks, respectively.
•  Mattia Acunzo ranks second on the team with a 52.7 FG% and has a 40.0 3FG% (14-of-35).
 
SOME TEAM STATISTICAL TIDBITS
•  Toledo ranks eighth in the CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll (March 1). Toledo is also the MAC's top ranked team in the KenPom (No. 58) and NET (No. 63) rankings.
•  Toledo ranks No. 13 in kenpom.com's Offensive Efficiency ranking.
•  UT won MAC regular-season titles in 1953-54 (10-1), 1966-67 (11-1), 1971-72 (7-3), 1978-79 (13-3), 1979-80 (14-2), 1980-81 (10-6), 2006-07 (14-2) and 2013-14 (14-4).
•  Toledo ranks in the Top 20 nationally in seven categories (through games of March 3) - 1st in 3PTFGs made (283), 3rd with 10.8 3PTFGs/game, 8th with a 78.8 FT%, 12th with a 1.49 A/TO ratio, 17th with a 38.4 3PTFG%, 18th with 81.1 ppg and 19th with a 29.3 three-point FG% defense.
•  Toledo is the only MAC school to win 13 or more league games in three of last four years.
•  The Rockets have won 12 of their 14 MAC games by nine points or more and lead the league with a plus-11.6 scoring margin in conference games.
•  Five or more Rockets have scored in double digits on nine 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 18 of 26 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.

A WIN OVER BALL STATE WOULD ...
•  Give the Rockets a school-record 15 Mid-American Conference victories.
•  Give Toledo a split of its season series vs. Ball State for a second-straight year.
•  Give Toledo its fifth 20-win season under Coach Kowalczyk.
 
KNOCKING THEM DOWN
     Toledo leads the MAC and ranks eighth nationally with a 78.8 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. Colorado ranks first with an 83.1 FT%.
 
MARREON MAKING MARK
        Senior guard Marreon Jackson earned a spot on the All-MAC Freshman Team, progressed to Honorable-Mention All-MAC honors as a sophomore and was a Second-Team All-MAC selection last season. This year, he was voted to a spot on the pre-season First-Team All-MAC squad.
        Prior to registering a triple-double vs. Miami on Feb. 16, Jackson had nearly registered a triple-double on four occasions this season. He tallied 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds at Akron before notching 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists vs. the Zips in Savage Arena. He also tallied 15 points, 12 boards and seven assists at Bowling Green before posting 27 points, a career-best 14 boards and eight assists vs. the Falcons at home. He also tallied 15 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and six assists at Central Michigan (March 2).
        Jackson currently ranks seventh in school history with 1,727 points. He also is second with 294 career three-point field goals and fourth with 552 career assists.
 
LITTLESON LAUNCHING AS ONE OF NATION'S BEST SHOOTERS
     Senior guard Spencer Littleson leads the nation with a 48.7 3PTFG% and total 3PTFGs (93) and ranks fifth in 3PTFG/game (3.56/5th). He has shot even better in league play, ranking first with 50.4 3PTFG% and 3.94 3PTFG/game. In addition, he currently holds the school record for career three-point FG% (.438), just ahead of Nick Moore's .435 mark from 1999-2003.
     Littleson ranks second in team scoring and ninth in conference action with 15.4 ppg. He has set a school record for most treys by a Rocket (71) in a conference season. Marreon Jackson set that record last year with 63 triples. Littleson ranks third for 3PTFGs overall with 93. He is tied with Nick Moore (2002-03) and trails only Jackson (99 in 2019-20) and Nate Navigato (94 in 2017-18).
     Littleson exploded for a season-high 26 points at Kent State (Jan. 5)  by knocking down eight three-point field goals, one shy of the school record. It was the second time this season Littleson buried eight treys with the previous occurrence coming in a 24-point outing vs. Oakland (Nov. 26).