TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo men's basketball team (15-9, 9-2 MAC) returns to Mid-American Conference play when it hosts Ohio (13-11, 7-4 MAC) on national TV on Friday, Feb. 16. Tipoff for the contest on ESPNU is set for 9:00 p.m. in Savage Arena.

The three-time defending MAC champion Rockets enter their contest vs. the Bobcats one game behind Akron (18-6, 10-1) in the league standings. Ohio is tied for fourth place in the MAC with Bowling Green (16-8, 7-4) and is one game behind Central Michigan (14-10, 8-3).

UT opened its MAC season with an 86-77 win at Ohio on Jan. 2, its 10th victory in last 11 meetings vs. the Bobcats. Toledo jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the game and led for the entire second half. Dante Maddox Jr. and Ra'Heim Moss each scored a team-high 18 points to lead five Rockets in double figures.

Toledo has had a few days to regroup from Saturday's wild 109-104 (2OT) loss at Sun Belt Conference co-leader App State. The Rockets held a 90-81 lead with 2:19 left in regulation before the Mountaineers rallied. Maddox topped the Rockets with 25 points, while Tyler Cochran and Sonny Wilson each tallied 17 points. Javan Simmons also notched his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Moss is leading the Rockets offensively with a career-high 16.5 ppg. He is followed by Maddox (15.7), Cochran (13.5) and Simmons (13.0).

Ohio has won four straight league games since a 67-58 loss at Akron on Jan. 23. Jaylin Hunter leads a balanced Bobcat attack with 14.8 ppg and was named MAC Co-Player of the Week on Monday. He is joined in double digits by Shereef Mitchell (13.3 ppg) and AJ Clayton (11.8 ppg).
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Feb. 16, 2024.
Tip-Off: 9:00 p.m.
Location: Toledo, Ohio.
Arena: Savage Arena (7,014).
Streaming: ESPNU. Noah Reed will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Tim McCormick 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
Ohio leads 72-67. Toledo has won five in a row as well as 10 of its 11 meetings vs. Ohio. The Rockets also have won five straight home games vs. the Bobcats with an average margin of victory of 15.6 ppg.
 
POST TOUCHES
•  Junior Ra'Heim Moss has scored in double digits in 23 of 24 games this season after scoring in double digits on 13 occasions last year.  He has now scored in double digits 50 times in his Rocket career and is seventh in the MAC with 16.5 ppg.
•  Moss grabbed a career-high six steals at App State, the most by a Rocket since Rian Pearson collected seven steals on Jan. 10, 2012.
•  Junior Dante Maddox Jr. ranks second in team scoring with a career-high 15.7 ppg. Maddox scored a career-high 26 pts. vs. BG (Jan. 27) and leads UT with eight 20-point outings.
•  Maddox is third in MAC games only with a 49.0 3FG% and T-4th with 2.30 3FG/game.
•  Junior Tyler Cochran leads the MAC with a team-high 2.0 spg. He also leads the team with 6.7 rpg and has grabbed 7.4 rpg in league play.
•  Cochran has TEN career double-doubles and is averaging 14.1 ppg and 8.3 rpg in his last seven games. He has four double-doubles at UT & NIU and two at Ball State.
•  Simmons is averaging 13.0 ppg this season with a team-best 58.4 FG% (3rd in MAC). He is the only freshman in the MAC averaging more than 9.0 ppg.
•  Freshman Sonny Wilson tallied a season-high 17 points and seven rebounds at App State (Feb. 10). He is averaging 10.0 ppg with a 65.8 FG% (25-of-38) in his last six games.
 
TEAM TIDBITS
•  Toledo has a 9-2 record in MAC play for the second straight season. UT lost two of its first three MAC games last year before winning its final 15 league contests.
•  The Rockets have won 24 of their last 26 MAC games with their only losses a three-point setback at Central Michigan (Jan. 19) and a seven-point defeat at Akron (Feb. 2).
•  UT is 57-11 (.838) in league play since the start of the 2020-21 season. The Rockets are 31-3 (.912) in MAC home games and 26-8 (.765) in MAC road games.
•  Eight of UT's nine losses have come vs. teams with a winning record - Indiana St. (22-4), New Mexico (20-5), Akron (18-6), Vermont (19-6), UC Irvine (18-7), George Mason (17-8), and CMU (14-10). WVU (8-16) is the only team that UT has lost to with a losing record.
•  Toledo leads the MAC with 80.7 ppg, a 48.1 FG% and 7.5 spg and ranks second with a 37.2 3PTFG%, a 76.0 FT% and a plus-2.58 turnover margin.
•  In league play, the Rockets are first with a 49.6 FG% and +3.0 turnover margin, and second with 80.5 ppg, 75.5 FT%, a +8.6 scoring margin, and 6.5 spg.
•  UT has made 29 more FTs (393) than their opponents have attempted (364).
•  The Rockets are 7-3 in games decided by five points or less.

ON THE HORIZON
Toledo will host first-place Akron on Tuesday, Feb. 20 before visiting Bowling Green on Friday, Feb. 23. The contest against the Falcons will tip off on ESPNU at 7:00 p.m.