TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (3-0) is heading to southwest Florida this week to compete in the Gulf Coast Showcase on Monday-Wednesday, Nov. 21-23 in Estero, Fla. The tournament will be streamed on FloHoops TV. Fans can also listen to an audio broadcast on UTRockets.com or the Rocket Radio Network.

The Rockets, who won the GCS title in its previous appearance in 2018, open the tournament in Hertz Arena on Monday at 11:00 a.m. vs. Kansas City (1-4). UT will face either East Carolina (3-0) or Indiana St. (3-0) on Tuesday. The other side of the bracket includes Drexel (2-1), FGCU (2-2), Northern Kentucky (2-1) and UT Arlington (2-1).

Toledo was ranked No. 5 in last Monday's CollegeInsiders.com Mid-Major Poll and received votes in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 (10 pts.) and Associated Press (8 pts.) polls. Through games played on Saturday, Nov. 19, the Rockets are ranked fifth nationally with 96.7 ppg, seventh with a 53.6 FG% eighth with a 45.0 three-point FG%, and 15th with 19.7 apg.

Toledo won its third-straight game to open the season last Wednesday thanks to an offensive explosion in a 112-90 win over Oakland. UT registered a 61.6  FG% as well as a 53.8 3PTFG%, and its point total matched the most ever during Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk's tenure. Senior JT Shumate tied his career high with 33 points, junior RayJ Dennis tallied 17 points and career-high 12 assists. Also reaching the 20-point plateau were senior Setric Millner Jr. (21 pts.) and Dante Maddox Jr. (20 pts.).

Dennis is leading Toledo with 21.0 ppg and ranks seventh nationally with 8.0 apg. He is joined in double digits by Shumate (20.0 ppg), Millner (19.0 ppg), Maddox (12.0 ppg) and junior Tyler Cochran (10.0). Millner leads the Rockets with 8.0 rpg, while Cochran has a team-best 2.7 spg.

Kansas City's lone win was a 113-54 victory over Calvary Bible with three of its losses coming to LSU (74-63), Illinois (86-48) and Kansas State (69-53) under first-year head coach Marvin Menzies.  Senior Shemarri Allen leads the Roos with 16.4 ppg and 3.2 spg.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Monday, Nov. 21, 2022.
Tip-Off: 11:00 a.m.
Location: Estero, Fla.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Television: FloHoops. John Vittas will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Andrew McDevitt 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
Series tied 1-1. Both teams have posted wins on their home floor. The Roos notched a 72-57 win in 2019, and the Rockets responded with a 64-57 victory in 2020.

A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS
     Toledo captured its 10th Mid-American Conference title in program history last season and has registered four 20-win seasons in the last five years as well as six 20-win campaigns in the last nine seasons. The Rockets broke their school record last year with 17 MAC victories and their 26 overall wins were second in school history, one behind the 2013-14's squad.
     Toledo won 15 of its 17 league games last season by eight points or more. In the 2020-21 season, 13 of Toledo's 15 MAC victories were by nine points or more.
     Toledo returned four starters from last year's squad which repeated as outright Mid-American Conference champions. The lone departure was sophomore guard Ryan Rollins who was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the NBA draft after leading the Rockets with 18.9 ppg.
 
ROCKETS PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN MAC
     Toledo is picked to finish second in the 2022-23 season,according to voting from the league's 12 head coaches. In addition, JT Shumate was named to the Preseason All-MAC First Team squad with Setric Millner Jr. being named to the Second Team.
     The top three teams in the poll were separated by just eight points in the voting. The Rockets received 131 points, four points behind Kent State and four ahead of defending MAC Tournament champion Akron. Toledo and the Golden Flashes each received a league-best four votes to capture the MAC Tournament title at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on March 9-11.
  
TEAM TIDBITS
•  Toledo is looking to open its season with four straight wins for the first time since winning 12 games to open its 2013-14 season for the second-best start in school history.
•  Toledo is the only MAC school to win 13 or more league games four of last five years.
•  Toledo scored 82 or more points in 15 of 20 MAC games last year.
•  Toledo was 8-2 in conference road games last season after posting a 6-3 mark in league contests away from home in the 2020-21 campaign.
•  Toledo committed the fewest turnovers (9.65/game) and posted a MAC-best 1.69 A/TO ratio in league play last year.
•  The Rockets were 22-1 last season when scoring 70 or more points and 14-1 when allowing less than 70 points.
•  Toledo's 47 victories over the last two seasons entering this year was tied for 18th in the nation and was one win away from matching the most wins in back-to-back seasons by a Rocket squad - 23-11 in 2017-18 and 25-8 in 2018-19.
 
REGULAR-SEASON TOURNAMENT TIME UNDER COACH KOWALCZYK
•  Toledo has won FOUR of eight three-day regular-season tournaments it has participated in since Coach Kowalczyk took over UT's program in 2010.
•  Toledo won the Baha Mar Nassau Championship last year by defeating Charlotte, Tulane and Coastal Carolina.
•  The Rockets won the Gulfcoast Showcase in Estero, Fla. in 2018 with victories over FGCU, Louisiana and UC-Irvine.
•  UT won the 2K Sports Classic Sub-Regional in 2013 hosted by Detroit Mercy by posting wins over Stony Brook, Florida Atlantic and the host Titans. The Rockets hosted a 2K Sports Classic Sub-Regional in 2011 and lost to UIC, Rhode Island and the College of Charleston.
•  Toledo also won the Texas-Pan American Tournament in 2012 with victories over Texas State, USC-Upstate and UTPA.
•  The Rockets finished second at the Great Alaska Shootout in 2015 by defeating San Jose State and Loyola Chicago before falling to Middle Tennessee in the championship game.
•  Toledo won one game at the 2020 Xavier Invitational with an 80-53 win over Oakland and pair of close losses to Bradley (61-59) and the host Musketeers (76-73).
 
ON THE HORIZON
     The Rockets will return home to host 2022 NCAA Tournament team Richmond on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Toledo dropped a 72-69 decision to the Spiders on the road last year.