TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (24-6, 15-2 MAC) has a chance to make history on Friday, March 3 when closes out its regular season in Muncie, Ind. at Ball State (20-10, 11-6 MAC). A win over the Cardinals would give the Rockets their third straight outright Mid-American Conference championship, making UT the first of any current MAC school to win three straight outright league titles. Toledo will tip off against BSU at 6:00 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.

The Rockets lead second-place Kent State (24-6, 14-3) by a game in the MAC standings and will be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in next week's MAC Tournament in Cleveland. UT tied its school record on Tuesday with its 14th-straight victory in a 99-65 win at Central Michigan. Toledo's 14-game winning streak is tied for first in the nation with Oral Roberts.

Setric Millner Jr, paced Toledo in its win over Chippewas with a career-high 32 points, knocking down 11-of-15 shots from the field and a career-best 6-of-7 from three-point range. RayJ Dennis produced a milestone of his own by becoming the fifth Rocket ever to score 1,000 points in his first two seasons. He scored 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting and dished out a game-high six assists in 29 minutes. Toledo shot 58.5% from the field, 56.3% (9-of-16) from three-point range and a school-record 28-of-28 at the free-throw line. That total shattered the school record for free throws without a miss by eight and was just six shy of the NCAA record of 34.

Toledo ranks second nationally with 85.7 ppg, trailing only Gonzaga (87.4). UT also ranks in the nation's Top 10 in five more categories, including fourth with a 39.9 three-point FG%. Individually, Dennis ranks eighth with a 3.09 A/TO ratio and 14th with 5.9 apg.

Dennis ranks third in the MAC with a team-high 19.0 ppg, while JT Shumate ranks eighth with 16.7 ppg and Millner Jr. in 11th place at 16.0 ppg.

Ball State will be the No. 4 seed in the MAC Tournament after dropping an 88-83 decision at Akron on Tuesday. The Cardinals are 12-1 at home this season with their only setback a 91-65 defeat to Buffalo on Jan. 24. Junior Jarron Coleman leads BSU with 14.5 ppg, while sophomore Jaylin Sellers is averaging 13.7 ppg.
 
TOLEDO VS. BALL STATE
Date: Friday, March 3, 2023.
Tip-Off: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Muncie, Ind.
Arena: Worthen Arena (11,500).
Television: CBS Sports Network. Chick Hernandez will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Steve Wolf serving as analyst.
Radio: Rocket Radio Network. WSPD (1370 AM) in Toledo. Mark Beier will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Jay Lehman serving as analyst.
 
SERIES
Toledo leads 53-50. Toledo has has lost its last three games played in Muncie. Ball State won for the first time in four years in Savage Arena with a 90-83 win on Jan. 3.
 
14-GAME WINNING STREAK DATA
•  Toledo has a PLUS-15.2 scoring margin during its current 14-GAME win streak.
•  The Rockets are averaging 87.0 ppg with a 50.4 FG%, 42.2 3PTFG% and 79.5 FT%.
•  Toledo also has a plus-4.2 turnover margin and is averaging 8.8 turnovers per game.
•  RayJ Dennis leads UT with 20.0 ppg and is followed by Setric Millner Jr. (17.4 ppg), JT Shumate (14.6 ppg), and Dante Maddox Jr. (13.1 ppg).
• Four Rockets - Dennis (53.9%), Millner Jr. (54.7%), Maddox Jr. (52.5%) and Shumate (50.0%) - are shooting over 50% from the field during this stretch.
•  Millner Jr. has a team-best 50.9 3PTFG% (27-of-53) with Maddox Jr. at 47.6% (30-of-63), Dennis at 41.2% (21-of-51) and Andre Lorentsson at 40.7% (11-of-27).
 
TEAM TIDBITS
•  Toledo is looking to become the first current MAC member to win three straight outright league titles. Cincinnati won four in a row from the 1947-48 through 1950-51 seasons.
•  The Rockets are the fourth program ever to capture at least a share of three straight MAC titles, matching Cincinnati (1947-51), the 1979-81 Toledo squads and Kent State (2002-04).
•  UT's 14-game MAC win streak is its LONGEST in a single season and matches the overall school MAC record set from Jan. 26, 2000-Jan. 13, 2001 and Feb. 4, 2006-Jan. 27, 2007.
•  Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Toledo is 47-9 (.839) in league play. The Rockets are 26-3 (.897) in MAC home games and 21-6 (.778) in MAC road games.
•  Toledo is the only MAC school to win 13 or more league games five of the last six years.
•  Toledo moved up five spots to No. 5 in this week's CollegeInsiders.com poll (Feb. 27).
•  UT has a 50.0 FG% or better in five straight games, posting a 54.4 mark in this stretch.
•  Toledo has an 84.6 FT% in its last EIGHT games and a 53.8 3PFG% (43-of-80) in last FOUR contests.

ROCKETS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
•  The Rockets' 14-game winning streak is tied for FIRST in the nation, trailing only Oral Roberts (14). The Golden Eagles (27-4) will open Summit League tournament play on Saturday.
•  UT's SEVEN-game road winning streak is tied for THIRD-longest nationally with Oral Roberts. Houston is first with a 10-game road streak followed by Merrimack at eight.
•  UT ranks SECOND in the nation with 85.7 ppg, trailing only Gonzaga (87.4). ORU is third at 84.1.
•  Toledo is also in the Top 10 in FIVE more categories: 3PTFG% (4th/39.9), FG% (7th/49.4), A/TO ratio (8th/1.56), Effective FG% (9th/56.5), Fewest TO's/game (10th/9.8). UT also ranks in the Top 20 in Winning % (13th/80.0), FT% (17th/77.3) and FTs made per game (18th/16.6).
•  RayJ Dennis ranks eighth with a 3.09 A/TO ratio and 14th with a career-high 5.9 apg.
•  JT Shumate ranks 26th with an 88.1 FT%.
   
POST TOUCHES
•  RayJ Dennis has scored in double digits in every game this season (15 or more in 26 games) after ending the 2021-22 season by scoring in double digits in a career-high 14 straight games.
•  Shumate ranks first in program history with a 44.0 three-point FG% and an 84.6 FT%. He is also fourth with a 55.6 FG% and fifth with 111 blocked shots.
•  Setric Millner Jr. has scored in double digits in 12 straight games and is averaging 18.4 ppg with a 55.2 FG% and 52.1 3PTFG% during this stretch. He ranks SECOND in the MAC in league play with a 50.7 3PTFG% (34-of-67).
•  Dante Maddox Jr. ranks fourth third in the MAC with a 45.0 3PTFG% and is averaging 12.5 ppg with a 62.5 FG% (15-of-24) & 56.3 3PTFG% (9-of-16) in his last four games.
•  Ra'Heim Moss is averaging 11.2 ppg with a 57.1 FG% (16-of-28) and 46.2 3PTFG% (6-of-13) in his last five games.
•  EJ Farmer has made 23 of his last 28 FTs (82.1%) to raise his season FT% from 48.0% to 66.0%.
•  AJ Edu has blocked eight shots in his last five games, including three each vs. Miami and Akron.
 
A LOOK AT THE ROCKETS
Toledo has captured its 11th Mid-American Conference title in program history this season as well as becoming the fourth program ever to capture at least a share of three league titles. The Rockets have has registered five 20-win seasons in the last six years as well as seven 20-win campaigns in the last 10 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.

Twelve of Toledo's 15 MAC victories this season are by seven points or more. Last year, UT won 15 of its 17 league triumphs 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.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
     The Rockets have posted a 25-13 (.658) win-loss mark in road games since the start of the 2020-21 season. Toledo possesses a 49-33 (.598) win-loss mark on enemy courts since the start of the 2017-18 season.

TOLEDO'S TERRIFIC TRIO
     Seniors Setric Millner Jr. and JT Shumate along with junior RayJ Dennis have each scored 1,000 points in a Rocket uniform, marking just the second time in program history Toledo has put three 1,000-point scorers on the floor at the same time. The previous season was the 2006-07 campaign with Justin Ingram (1,494 pts.), Florentino Valencia (1,277 pts.) and Keonta Howell (1,144 pts.).

• Shumate scored the 2,000th point of his collegiate career at Marshall on Dec. 17 and his 1,000th point as a Rocket at Vermont on Dec. 20. He has 2,299 collegiate points and 1,271 points at Toledo.

• Dennis now has 1,373 points in his career and 1,001 points as a Rocket after going over the 1,000-point mark at Central Michigan (Feb. 28)

• Millner, Jr. scored his 1,000th point as a Rocket vs. Richmond (Nov. 30) and now has 1,377 points at Toledo as well as 1,597 points as a collegian.
 
ON THE HORIZON
     Toledo will begin play in the 2023 MAC Tournament as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed on Thursday, March 9 in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The tournament's semifinals are at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 10 with the championship game on Saturday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m.