Toledo meets N. Illinois in MAC quarters
No. 7 seed Northern Illinois (16-16, 9-10) vs. No. 2 seed Toledo (25-6, 13-5)
Mid-American Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland; Thursday, 5:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the MAC semifinals is on the line as Northern Illinois and Toledo prepare to meet. Toledo swept the two-game regular season series. The teams last played each other on Feb. 23, when the Rockets shot 38 percent from the field en route to a 57-54 victory.
SAVVY SENIORS: Northern Illinois' Levi Bradley, Dante Thorpe and Lacey James have combined to score 49 percent of the team's points this season and have accounted for 58 percent of all Huskies scoring over the last five games.
EFFECTIVE EUGENE: Eugene German has connected on 41 percent of the 195 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 14 of 35 over the last five games. He's also converted 68.6 percent of his free throws this season.
WINLESS WHEN: Northern Illinois is 0-5 when scoring fewer than 62 points and 16-11 when scoring at least 62.
UNDEFEATED WHEN: The Rockets are 19-0 when holding opponents to 42.6 percent or worse from the field, and 6-6 when opponents shoot better than that. The Huskies are 8-0 when they make nine or more 3-pointers and 8-16 when the team hits fewer than nine from long range.
DID YOU KNOW: Toledo has made 9.7 3-pointers per game this season, which is tops among MAC teams. The Rockets have averaged 11 3-pointers per game over their last three games.
