Today's local college basketball games

12/28/2002

Time: Noon.

Radio: 1370 AM.

Records: Toledo is 6-3, St. Bonaventure 4-5.

Last game: Toledo d. Arkansas State 90-73 on Saturday; St. Bonaventure d. Kent State 93-80 on Saturday.

Outlook: The Rockets travel to Olean, N.Y., where it may take another blizzard to cool them off. Toledo has won five consecutive games and is averaging 81 points in that run. To put a finer point on it, in the last three games Toledo is averaging 89 ppg and shooting a scorching 66.2 percent from the field, an off-the-charts figure for primarily a jump-shooting team. UT is led in scoring by its three starting guards, Nick Moore (15.8 ppg), Keith Triplett (15.6) and Sammy Villegas (11.2). The Bonnies also play a three-guard lineup and are led by 5-7 Marques Green, averaging 20.8 ppg. The Rockets have lost two in a row to the Bonnies, including last season in Savage Hall, and St. Bonaventure is the only team UT coach Stan Joplin has not defeated among teams he has faced more than once.

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Where: Gund Arena

TV: Fox Sports Ohio.

Radio: 96.7, 88.1 FM.

Records: BG is 4-4, Cleveland State is 5-6.

Last game: Bowling Green d. Urbana 76-48 on Saturday; Cleveland State d. Boston University 70-56 on Saturday.

Outlook: The Falcons make their second appearance in four years at the Rock and Roll Shootout, which is played at Gund Arena. BG enters the game with the ranks still thin due to injuries and attrition. F Germain Fitch was lost for the season with a knee injury, and F Josh Almanson has been out with a stress fracture in his ankle and is not expected to play. G Erik Crawford and G Kris Wilson left the team before the season began, and BG has played its last five games with just seven scholarship players. Cole Magner and Keon Newson have come over from the Falcon football team and provide some emergency help in the backcourt, where walk-on Patrick Phillips also fills in. BG has been led by C Kevin Netter, and will need a solid effort from him against the Vikings, who will have an advantage in size and depth in the contest. Kent State will host Boston College in the second game of the doubleheader, at 8 p.m.

Time: 10 p.m.

Where: Pepperdine Holiday Classic, Malibu, Calif.

Radio: WXUT, 88.3.

Records: Toledo is 6-2, Tennessee Tech is 3-4.

Last game: Toledo d. Hampton 82-55 on Saturday; Tennessee Tech lost to Evansville 61-52 on Saturday.

Outlook: The Rockets and Golden Eaglettes face off in the first round of the Pepperdine Holiday Classic. The other teams are Quinnipiac and Pepperdine. Today's two winners and two losers will face each other tomorrow. Toledo has won two in a row and four of its last five, and its 6-2 start is its best in five seasons. F Tia Davis leads the Rockets in scoring at 17.9 ppg, but G Kelly Walker might draw the most defensive attention tonight. She is coming off a career-high 36-point game in which she made eight 3-point shots, which tied a school, single-game record.