Men's basketball preview: Toledo at Akron

2/5/2003

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Radio: 1370 AM.

Records: UT is 9-9, 3-5 MAC; Akron is 9-9, 4-5.

Last game: UT beat Western Michigan 75-62 last Tuesday; Akron beat Eastern Michigan 96-80 on Saturday.

Outlook: Toledo, which has been idle for eight days, has lost three straight road games and is 2-5 away from home. The Rockets have posted an 11-14 record in January the last three seasons, including 2-6 last month, but they are 20-5 during February since the 1999-2000 season. “I hope we can experience that kind of [February] success again,” coach Stan Joplin said. “Our teams in the past have always gotten better and hopefully this team will do that. It would be good for this team to find an identity.” Toledo is shooting 51.2 percent in its nine wins and 38.7 percent in its nine losses. Nick Moore leads the Rockets in scoring (16.8), followed by Keith Triplett (14.3). Moore is averaging 21.3 points in UT's last four games. Triplett also leads the team in rebounding (6.1). Akron, which leads the all-time series 25-16 and is the highest-scoring team in the MAC (81.1), has won two in a row and is 7-2 at home. Derrick Tarver leads the Zips in scoring (19.8), followed by Johnny Hollingsworth (19.4).