TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team (13-7, 7-1 MAC) moved into a first-place tie in the Mid-American Conference on Saturday and will look to maintain that standing on Tuesday, Jan. 30 when it hosts Western Michigan (8-12, 5-3 MAC). Tip-off time vs. the Broncos is set for 7:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN+.

The Rockets are tied for the top spot with Akron (15-5, 7-1 MAC) and will visit the Zips on Friday in a nationally-televised contest on ESPN2 at 9:00 p.m. WMU is tied for fourth place in the MAC with Bowling Green.

UT posted its fifth-straight win over the Falcons on Saturday, an 88-72 triumph before a near-record crowd of 7,318 fans. Dante Maddox Jr. led the Rockets with a career-high 26 points, and Tyler Cochran (17 pts., 10 reb., 5 stls.) and Ra'Heim Moss (14 pts., career-high 10 asst.) each registered double-doubles.

Toledo shot 55.9% from the field and 42.3% from three-point range. UT was on fire in the second half, hitting 9-of-14 three-point shots and 69.0% of its overall attempts. The Rockets out-rebounded the Falcons by a 36-26 margin, the largest advantage UT has owned on the boards this season.

Western Michigan has lost three of its last four games after opening league play with four straight victories. The Broncos lead the MAC with 12.65 offensive rpg but are last with a 61.0 free-throw percentage.

Sophomore Seth Hubbard leads WMU and ranks ninth in the MAC with 15.7 ppg. He also ranks second in the league with 2.55 treys per game. Toledo has won its last 12 meetings vs. WMU and is facing the Broncos just once this season for a second-straight year. UT's last loss to WMU was a 61-56 (OT) decision on Feb. 21, 2017.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Streaming: ESPN+. Mason Lowry will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Rhett Boyd 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 93-63. UT has won 12 straight games vs. WMU by an average margin of 19.1 ppg.

POST TOUCHES
•  Junior Ra'Heim Moss has scored in double digits in 19 of 20 games this season after scoring in double digits on 13 occasions last year.  He has now scored in double digits 46 times in his Rocket career and is seventh in the MAC with 16.5 ppg.
•  Moss dished out a career-high 10 assists with just one turnover vs. Bowling Green. He leads the Rockets with a career-best 3.1 apg.
•  Junior Dante Maddox Jr. ranks second in team scoring with a career-high 15.9 ppg. Maddox scored a career-high 26 pts. vs. BG, one more than he had vs. GMU (Dec. 2).
•  Maddox is fourth in MAC games only with a 52.4 3FG% and second with 2.75 3FG/game.
•  Junior Tyler Cochran leads the MAC with a team-high 2.2 spg. He also leads the team with 6.7 rpg and has grabbed 7.5 rpg in league play.
•  Cochran has ten career double-doubles after registering double-doubles in three of his last four games. He has four double-doubles at UT & NIU and two at Ball State
•  Cochran (6th/7.1 rpg), Maddox (T-14th/5.4 rpg) and Moss (19th/5.3 rpg) each rank among the MAC's Top 20 rebounders in league play.
•  Redshirt freshman Javan Simmons is fourth on the team with 12.3 ppg. He has scored in double digits in 16 games and has a team-high 57.6 FG% that is 3RD in the MAC.
•  Freshman Sonny Wilson registered his sixth double-digit outing with 15 points at Northern Illinois (Jan. 23). He also scored 13 points in games at Ohio and Kent State and leads the Rockets with a 2.1 A/TO ratio.
 
TEAM TIDBITS
•  Toledo has a 7-1 record in MAC play for the third time in the last four seasons. The Rockets started 11-1 in the 2020-21 campaign and was 10-1 in 2021-22. UT lost two of its first three MAC games last year before winning its final 15 league contests.
•  UT is 55-10 (.846) in league play since the start of the 2020-21 season. The Rockets are 30-3 (.909) in MAC home games and 25-7 (.781) in MAC road games.
•   UT registered a season-high 20 assists in its win over Bowling Green.
•  Toledo leads the MAC with 79.2 ppg, a 47.3 FG% and 7.4 spg and ranks second with a 75.7 FT% and a plus-2.35 turnover margin.
•  UT has made 32 more FTs (324) than their opponents have attempted (288).
•  The Rockets are 9-1 when leading or tied at halftime.
•  Toledo is 4-6 when trailing after 20 minutes. The Rockets trailed Louisiana by as many as 16 points, Miami by as many as 14 points and Oakland and Northern Iowa by eight points before rallying to win.
 
ON THE HORIZON
     Toledo will be on the road for its next three games. The Rockets will visit Akron (Feb. 2), Eastern Michigan (Feb. 6) and App State (Feb. 10) before returning home to host Ohio (Feb. 17).