Men's preview: Western Michigan at Toledo

2/23/2002

Time: 7 tonight

Radio: 1370 AM.

Records: UT is 11-13, 8-7 MAC West; Western Michigan is 15-11, 8-7.

Series: UT leads 68-42.

Last game: UT beat Buffalo 54-42 on Wednesday; Western Michigan beat Ball State 80-65.

Outlook: Toledo has won six straight MAC home games and is 8-2 overall in Savage Hall. The Rockets own a 62-18 home mark under coach Stan Joplin. ... If the Rockets beat Western Michigan, they would clinch a first-round game in next month's MAC Tournament. They currently are tied for fifth place in the overall conference standings. ... UT forward Milo Kirsh, who has played no more than 15 minutes in the last four games, has scored in double figures all three times in his career against Western Michigan. He tallied 21 points and eight rebounds in UT's 73-64 win over the Broncos in Kalamazoo in early January. ... Toledo has beaten Western Michigan four straight times. ... The Broncos have won five straight games for the first time since the 1997-98 season. ... WMU's Ben Reed, the leading candidate for MAC freshman of the year honors, suffered a season-ending ACL injury less than three minutes into the win over Ball State.