TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (23-6, 15-3 MAC) will look to maintain its grasp on the top spot in the Mid-American Conference when it travels to Buffalo, N.Y. to battle the red-hot Bulls (19-8, 13-4 MAC) on Tuesday, March 1. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN+.

The Rockets hold a one-game lead over Ohio (23-6, 14-4) and Kent State (19-9, 14-4 MAC) and are one-and-a-half games in front of Buffalo. A victory on Tuesday night would give UT at least a share of the league title.

Toledo posted an 86-75 home win over the Bulls on Jan. 25. Sophomore Ryan Rollins led the way with 25 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals. The game was tied 41-41 at the half, but the Rockets took control with a 17-3 run to give them a 74-62 lead with six minutes to play. Juniors Setric Millner Jr. and JT Shumate each scored 13 points for Toledo.

Rollins ranks fourth in the MAC with a team-high 19.2 ppg and ranks second on the team with 6.1 rpg. Shumate is second with 15.5 ppg and grabbing a team-high 6.2 rpg. Millner Jr. (14.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and RayJ Dennis (12.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.0 apg) are also scoring in double digits.

Rollins tallied 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in Saturday's 86-75 win over Miami. Millner Jr. and Shumate each scored 18 points apiece, while redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss notched his second double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

Buffalo brings a nine-game winning streak into Tuesday's game. Senior Jeenathan Williams ranks third in the MAC with 19.3 ppg and second with a 45.4 three-point FG%. Junior Josh Mballa (13.7 ppg) ranks third in the MAC with 8.7 rpg, while senior Ronaldo Segu (15.1 ppg) sits atop the conference with 5.3 rpg.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Arena: Alumni Arena (6,783).
Television: ESPN+. Paul Peck will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Matt Mattia 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 17-14. The Rockets have won two straight in the series following Buffalo's five-game win streak from 2018-20. Toledo posted an 80-70 road win last year and an 86-75 victory in Savage Arena on Jan. 25

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. The Rockets have tied their school record with 15 MAC victories and have won 13 of their 15 league games by eight points or more. Last year, 13 of Toledo's 15 MAC victories were by nine points or more.
     Toledo is ranked No. 7 in the latest CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll (Feb. 21). UT is also the MAC's top-ranked team in the NCAA's NET rankings (No. 78) and KenPom rankings (No. 85).

ROCKETS IN NCAA RANKINGS
•  Toledo ranks in the Top 25 nationally in EIGHT categories: 30.0 def. rpg (3rd), 80.7 ppg (ninth), 40.6 rpg (10th), plus-12.2 scoring margin (16th), 77.0 FT% (20th), 1.44 A/TO ratio (20th), 48.0 FG% (21st) and 39.7 opponent FG% (23rd).
•  JT Shumate is 25th with a 56.4 FG%.
 
ROCKETS IN MAC RANKINGS
•  Toledo leads the MAC in SEVEN categories: FG% (48.0), FG% defense (39.7), scoring margin (+12.2), def. rebounds/game (30.0), assists per game (15.4) and A/TO ratio (1.44).
•  Toledo is second with a 77.0 FT%, 30.6 3PTFG% defense, and a plus-5.6 reboundmargin.
•  Toledo leads the MAC in league play in SEVEN categories: 82.3 ppg, 49.2 FG%, 35.9 3PTFG%, 39.1 FG% defense, plus-13.8 scoring margin, 1.60 A/TO ratio and 29.9 def. rpg.
•  All five Rocket starters rank among the MAC leaders in FG%. JT Shumate (56.4/4th), RayJ Dennis (50.2/9th), Ra'Heim Moss (49.7/11th), Ryan Rollins (48.3/13th) & Setric Millner Jr. (47.4/14th).

REBOUNDING BY COMMITTEE
•  Toledo is the only school in the nation with five players averaging 5.0 rpg or more.
•  The Rockets rank third nationally with 30.0 defensive rpg and 10th with 40.6 rpg.
•  JT Shumate (6.2), Ryan Rollins (6.1), RayJ Dennis (6.0)  and Setric Millner Jr. (5.9) and are each ranked in the Top 16 in MAC rebounding. Ra'Heim Moss is at 5.5 rpg.
  
POST TOUCHES
•  Toledo is the only MAC school to win 13 or more league games four of last five years.
•  Toledo has scored 82 or more points in 13 of 18 MAC games.
•  Toledo is 7-2 in conference road games this season after posting a 6-3 mark in league contests away from home last year.
•  Toledo has committed the fewest turnovers (9.89/game) in league play and has a MAC-best 1.60 A/TO ratio.
•  The Rockets are 19-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points and 13-1 when allowing less than 70 points.
•  Ryan Rollins leads the MAC with 17 20-point games, two more than Ohio's Mark Sears.
•  Rollins is 33 points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark for his career. He would be the fourth Rocket to reach that mark in their first two seasons with the program, joining Tom Kozelko (1970-72), Steve Mix (1966-68) and Rian Pearson (2011-13).
•  Rollins is one of two players in the nation averaging at least 19.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.5 apg and 1.5 spg. He 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 50.0 three-point FG% and 1.4 bpg, fourth with a 56.4 FG% and an 82.9 FT%, eighth with 2.1 offensive rpg, 10th with 15.5 ppg, and 13th with 6.2 rpg.
•  Shumate blocked a career-high seven shots vs. Ohio (Feb. 8) for the second most ever by a Rocket in a MAC game. He leads the MAC in blocks in overall (1.4) and league (1.7) play.
•  Setric Millner Jr. scored a career-high 28 points (11-of-14 FG, 5-of-6 3FG) at WMU (Feb. 22) and tied his career high with five triples. Millner also has two more outings with 25 or more points: 27 points vs. Charlotte (Nov. 22) and 25 at Richmond (Dec. 11).
•  Millner also 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 37.8 3FG% (42/111) and a 79.8 FT% (67/84) 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 by a 21-point outing vs. Kent State (Feb. 15. He has scored in double digits in nine straight games during which he has a 52.5 FG% and scoring 14.1 ppg.
•  RayJ Dennis, Ra'Heim Moss and Ryan Rollins lead all MAC guards and rank ninth, 11th and 13th in the MAC with 50.2, 49.7 and 48.3 FG%'s, respectively. The trio also leads the Rockets in rebounding in MAC play with Rollins at 6.9 rpg, Dennis at 6.0 and Moss at 5.9.
 • Moss leads the MAC in league play with a 2.50 assist/turnover ratio and scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed seven boards vs. Akron (Jan. 28). He also has two double-doubles - 15 pts. and 10 reb. at EMU (Feb. 1) & 10 pts. and career-high 13 reb. vs. Miami (Feb. 26).
  
ROAD WARRIORS
     The Rockets have posted a 39-30 (.565) win-loss mark in road games over the last three-plus seasons. Over the last seven-plus years, Toledo possesses a 67-61 (.523) win-
loss mark on enemy courts.
 
HIGH-SCORING TRIOS
    Toledo's Ryan Rollins, JT Shumate and Setric Millner Jr. make up the top scoring trio in the MAC with 49.4 ppg. Buffalo's trio of Jeenathan Williams, Ronaldo Segu and Josh Mballa ranks second at 48.1 ppg.
 
ON THE HORIZON
     Toledo will close out its regular season with a home game vs. arch-rival Bowling Green (12-17, 5-13 MAC) on Friday, March 4. The Rockets' game vs. the Falcons in Savage Arena will tip off at 6:30 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.