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Buffalo Bulls Men's Basketball Preview: Toledo Rockets

UB Athletics

The three game home stand continues as the men's basketball team looks to improve their conference record. We're matching up against Toledo again so here's a quick rundown on the rockets:

Quick Facts

Opponent: Toledo

Head Coach: Tod Kowalczyk (235-199, 3rd year with Ball State)

Date/Time: 2/9/16, 7:00 PM

Home/Away: Home

Opponent's Mascot: A Rocket

Current Record: 14-9 (5-5 MAC)

2014-15 Season Record: 20-13 (11-7 MAC)

Postseason: Did not receive/accept postseason bid

All-Time Series: Toledo leads 13-8

Wait...We've Already Played Them

Last time we faced Toledo, we hit the ground running. On January 30th, UB opened up a nice ten point lead late in the first half. The second half became a foul happy ordeal and allowed Toledo to climb back into it. Nathan Boothe still had a great double-double effort despite the five point loss to us. A major key in this win was that two of Toledo's starters (Zach Garber and Jordan Lauf) were practically shut down from being able to shoot the ball. Impact player and former Buffalo recruit Nate Navigato also had a tough time, shooting only 1-6.

What Has Happened Since

Since our triumphant road win over Toledo, they have had a good two games:

  • Won against WMU 89-62
  • Won against Kent State on the road 82-67
In their last game, Toledo absolutely manhandled Kent State. Boothe had his fifth straight double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Jonathan Williams exposed the Kent defense with 7-8 shooting. He finished the night with 17. Kent is an injury prone team and has lost the last 3 so there isn't a ton to takeaway from here. Either way, it's going to be a tough game if Boothe is scoring well above 20.

Can We Win?

Now that EMU is out of the way, I definitely see a strong possibility of us being able to win the rest of our games at home. If we do all the same things we did on the road last time, Toledo shouldn't be an exception.