The Bowling Green mens basketball team will travel to Toledo on Tuesday for the Battle of I-75 rivalry game following a double digit loss to Northern Illinois. This meeting will mark the 168th time these two teams have faced each other.
“Next up for us is a big rivalry game against Toledo,” Head Coach Michael Huger said. “Toledo is playing extremely well this year, and they have a lot of guys who can score the basketball.”
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The Rockets will come into this game with a 9-8 overall record and 2-2 in the Mid-American Conference. Bowling Green will go in with a 7-10 overall record and 6-4 in the MAC.
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Toledo has played extremely well at home this season, winning seven out of their eight home games so far. This is a note of concern for the Falcons, who have not had much success on the road this year.Bowling Green is 1-6 on the road, but the team lost five of those six games all by single digits – a blowout loss occurred to nationally ranked Cincinnati in one game. Each loss also came against winning opponents. Oakland, South Dakota, Cincinnati, Evansville, San Jose State, Akron and Ball State all already have 10 wins on the season and have a combined record of 86-39.
With Toledo coming after two straight losses at home, Huger is looking to get his team back to a level of consistency.
“I’m expecting our guys to come out with a high level of defensive intensity. The past two games we have lacked the necessary energy to compete in the MAC. We need to get back to playing hard and allowing our defense to lead to our offense,” Huger said.
The Falcons will need to start that defensive effort against Rocket senior guard Jonathan Williams. Williams has been on an offensive tear in the last 10 of Toledo’s contests, scoring over 20 points in nine of those games. He is averaging 25 points against MAC opponents and a team high of 21.1 points this season.
That offense from Williams has helped Toledo average 79 points a game. The Rockets have also broken 80 points eight times this season.
If the Falcons want to stay in this game, they will need to prevent the Rockets from breaching the 80-point mark. Bowling Green has not been able to win a game so far this season when the opponent scores over 80.
Sophomore forward Demajeo Wiggins will also need to get his offense going early. Wiggins is averaging 13.5 against conference opponents, the most on the team. He is also averaging 6.5 boards against the MAC. With a season-high 21-point game under his belt already this season, Wiggins has shown he is more than capable of leading his team offensively.
Bowling Green will tip off at Toledo at 7 p.m. in Savage Arena.
