TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team (5-2) will face its second Atlantic 10 opponent this week when it travels to Fairfax, Va. on Saturday, Dec. 3 to take on George Mason (4-4). Tip-off time is set for 2:00 p.m. in EagleBank Arena with streaming on ESPN+. The radio broadcast can be heard locally on WCWA Radio (1230 AM) as well as utrockets.com

UT will look to carry over the momentum from Wednesday's 90-67 home win over Richmond into its first true road game of the season vs. the Patriots. Toledo will be on the road for three of its next four contests, with trips to Northern Iowa (Dec. 6), Marshall (Dec. 17) and Vermont (Dec. 20) to follow Saturday's game at GMU.

JT Shumate's 20 points led five Rockets in double figures in UT's win over the Spiders. UT took the lead for good with a 6-0 spurt with 3:26 left in the first half and held a 40-33 lead at the half. Toledo then limited the Spiders to a 33.3 FG% in the final 20 minutes while converting 58.3 percent of its shots en route to a 23-point victory.

Toledo is ranked 11th nationally with a MAC-best 86.9 ppg and also leads the MAC with a 49.1 FG%, a 38.5 3PTFG%, 15.9 apg and a 1.44 assist/turnover ratio.

Individually, RayJ Dennis ranks 13th in the nation with a MAC-high 6.1 apg. Dennis and Shumate are tied for third in the MAC in scoring with 18.7 ppg. Setric Millner Jr ranks 10th in the conference with 15.7 ppg. He is also third with a team-high 8.1 rpg, with Shumate ranking second with 1.7 bpg.

George Mason is 4-0 at home this season following Wednesday's 81-77 overtime win over Hofstra. The Patriots have lost at No. 15 Auburn (70-52) and all three of the games to Boston College, Belmont and Buffalo at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.

Senior forward Josh Oduro leads GMU with 13.5 ppg and 6.6 rpg. He is joined in double digits by graduate transfers DeVon Cooper (11.6 ppg) and Victor Bailey Jr. (11.1 ppg).
 
TOLEDO VS. GEORGE MASON
Date: Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022.
Tip-Off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Fairfax, Va.
Arena: EagleBank Arena (7,860).
Television/Streaming: ESPN+.
Radio: Rocket Radio Network WCWA (1230 AM) in Toledo. Mark Beier will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Jay Lehman serving as analyst.
 
SERIES
Toledo leads 3-1. The Rockets and Patriots met four straight years from 1998-2001. UT won the first meeting on the road 60-59 before posting 82-74 and 84-75 wins at home. GMU won the last matchup by a 67-64 margin.
 
ROCKETS IN THE MAC RANKINGS
•  Toledo leads the MAC with 86.9 ppg, nearly 10 points better than Ball State (77.4).
•  The Rockets are also first with a 49.1 FG%, a 38.5 3PTFG%, 15.9 apg, a 1.44 assist/turnover ratio, and fewest turnovers per game (11.0).
•  UT ranks second with a a 77.2 free-throw percentage and third with a plus-2.9 turnover margin.
•  Toledo is the only school to have three representatives among the MAC's Top 15 scoring leaders — RayJ Dennis (18.7/T-3rd), JT Shumate (18.7/T-3rd) and Setric Millner Jr. (15.7 ppg/10th).
•  Dennis leads the MAC with 6.1 apg and a 3.3 assist/turnover ratio.
•  Shumate is tied for first in the MAC with a 93.8 FT%, second with 1.7 bpg and fifth with a 59.1 FG%.
•  Millner Jr. is third with 8.1 rpg and eighth with an 87.0 FT%.
•  Tyler Cochran ranks fourth in the MAC with 2.2 spg.
•  Dante Maddox Jr. is tied for fourth in the MAC with a team-best 50.0 three-point FG%.
 
TEAM TIDBITS
•  Toledo is the only MAC school to win 13 or more league games four of last five years.
•  The Rockets have scored 90 or more points on three occasions, including 112 points vs. Oakland to match their most points ever scored under Coach Kowalczyk.
•  Toledo has shot over 80 percent from the free-throw line in five of seven games.
•  The Rockets have committed nine or fewer turnovers in five of seven contests.
•  Toledo scored 82 or more points in 15 of 20 MAC games last year.
•  UT was out-rebounded by 12 and nine rebounds, respectively in its two defeats.
•  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.
 
ON THE HORIZON
     Toledo will play its second Missouri Valley Conference foe this season when it travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa to face Northern Iowa (2-4, 0-1 MVC) on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Tip-off time is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.