TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (20-6, 12-3 MAC) looks to keep pace in the Mid-American Conference when it hosts Central Michigan (6-17, 5-7 MAC) on Saturday, Feb. 19 in Savage Arena. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. with streaming for the contest available on ESPN3. The Rockets are in second place in the MAC, one game behind Ohio (22-4, 13-2) and a game ahead of the third-place Golden Flashes (16-9, 11-4 MAC).

        Kent State handed the Rockets their first home setback of the season by a 72-59 margin on Tuesday night. Toledo shot just 35.5 percent from the field, marking just the second time in MAC play it has shot under 43 percent. Junior RayJ Dennis paced Toledo offensively with 21 points. Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss (11 pts.) and sophomore Ryan Rollins (10 pts.) also scored in double digits.

        Rollins ranks third in the MAC with a team-high 19.5 ppg and also paces the Rockets with 6.2 rpg and 1.8 spg. JT Shumate is second on the team with 15.2 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Setric Millner Jr. (14.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and junior RayJ Dennis (12.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.0 apg) are also scoring in double digits.

        Rollins scored 21 points in Toledo's first meeting vs. CMU this season, an 82-54 win in Mt. Pleasant. Toledo controlled the boards by registering a 44-34 advantage on the glass and limited the Chippewas to a 33.3 field-goal percentage

        Central Michigan has dropped four of its last five decisions since registering a season-high three-game winning streak. CMU ranks third in the MAC with a 35.4 three-point FG% but is last in the MAC in FG% (40.9), FG% defense (46.9) and rebounding margin (minus-6.4).

        Freshman Kevin Miller leads the Chippewas with 13.0 ppg and is the top scoring freshman in league play with 16.0 ppg. Graduate transfer Cameron Healy is averaging 11.0 ppg and is one of the MAC's top three-point shooters with a 40.8 three-point FG%.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022.
Tip-Off: 7:00 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 66-40. Toledo has won eight of its last 10 games vs. CMU after posting an 82-54 win in McGuirk Arena in January. The Rockets have posted double-digit victories in seven of their eight wins during this stretch.

A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS
     Toledo has registered four 20-win seasons in the last five years as well as six 20-win campaigns in the last nine seasons.
     Toledo is ranked No. 4 in the latest CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll (Feb. 14). UT is also the MAC's top-ranked team in the NCAA's NET rankings (No. 81) and KenPom rankings (No. 82).

ROCKETS IN NCAA RANKINGS
•  Toledo ranks third nationally with 29.8 def. rpg, 15th with 80.5 ppg and 40.3 rpg, 19th with a 77.3 FT%, and 25th in FG% (47.8) and a plus-12.3 scoring margin.
•  JT Shumate is 30th with a 55.9 FG%, and Ryan Rollins ranks 32nd with 19.5 ppg.
 
ROCKETS IN MAC RANKINGS
•  Toledo leads the MAC in FG% (47.8), FG% defense (40.3), scoring margin (+11.3), def. rebounds/game (29.8) and A/TO ratio (1.39).
•  Toledo ranks second in the league with a 77.3 FT%, 35.6 3PTFG%, 30.2 3PTFG% defense, 15.1 apg, and a plus-5.3 rebounding margin.
•  Toledo leads the MAC in league play in SEVEN categories: 82.2 ppg, 49.0 FG%, 40.0 FG% defense, 36.2 3PTFG%, plus-12..6 scoring margin, 1.52 A/TO ratio and 29.5 def. rpg.
•  Four Rockets rank among the MAC leaders in FG%. JT Shumate is 3rd (55.9), RayJ Dennis is 7th (50.8), Ra'Heim Moss is 8th (50.0) and Ryan Rollins is 12th (48.1).
•  JT Shumate (83.8), Setric Millner Jr. (81.5) and Ryan Rollins (80.6) are in Top 10 in FT%.
 
POST TOUCHES
•  Toledo has scored 82 or more points in 11 of 15 MAC games.
•  Toledo is 6-2 in conference road games this season after posting a 6-3 mark in league contests away from home last year.
•  The Rockets are 17-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points and 11-1 when allowing less than 70 points.
•  Ryan Rollins leads the MAC with 15 20-point outings and has scored in double digits in 50 of 56 career games.
•  Rollins tallied 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and eight assists vs. Ohio (Feb. 8), the third time this season he has nearly registered a triple-double.
•  JT Shumate ranks in the MAC's Top 15 in seven categories.  He is first with a 49.1 three-point FG%, second with 1.4 bpg, third with a 55.9 FG%, fourth with an 83.8 FT%, eighth with 2.2 offensive rpg, 10th with 15.2 ppg, and 12th with 6.1 rpg.
•  Shumate blocked a career-high seven shots vs. Ohio (Feb. 8) for the second most by a Rocket in a MAC game ever. He leads the MAC in league play with 1.8 bpg.
•  Setric Millner Jr. scored a career-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting vs. Charlotte (Nov. 22) and 25 points with four three-pointers at Richmond (Dec. 11).
•  Millner buried a career-high five three-pointers at Ball State (Feb. 4) and has improved his three-point and free-throw shooting from last season. He has a 35.1 3FG% (33/94) and an 81.5 FT% (66/81) compared to 27.3 (21/77) and 66.7 (70/105) marks last year.
•  RayJ Dennis tallied career-high 22 points as well as eight boards and eight assists at NIU (Feb. 12) and followed that up with a 21-point outing vs. Kent State. He is averaging 15.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 4.5 apg with a 55.7 FG% in his last six games.
•  RayJ Dennis, Ra'Heim Moss and Ryan Rollins lead all MAC guards and rank seventh, eighth and 12th in the MAC with 50.8, 50.0 and 48.1 FG%'s, respectively.
•  Moss scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed seven boards vs. Akron (Jan. 28). He also registered his first double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds at EMU (Feb. 1).

ON THE HORIZON
     Toledo will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. to face Western Michigan (6-20, 2-13 MAC) on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7:00 p.m. The Rockets will return to Savage Arena on Saturday, Feb. 26 to host Miami (11-14, 5-9 MAC).