Toledo Rockets vs Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball preview: A Tuesday night matchup of MAC contenters thus far.

Toledo is coming off it's biggest win of the year defeating Akron at home on Saturday. They're an interesting case as they sit right in the middle of the West division standings at 2-2 through the first four games. After getting blown out in their opening game against Ball State they responded with an 8-point win over winless Miami. Last week they lost to NIU after leading most of the second half but rebounded to take down a strong Akron team by double digits. This is a big week for Toledo as they have two tough road games including this match-up and a Friday night rematch with Northern.

The Rockets rely heavily on Nathan Boothe and Jonathan Williams as they contribute half the total scoring each game. The Rockets mainly rotate six players for the majority of the minutes as Boothe and Williams play about 75 percent each game. Boothe, the senior center, has had a breakout season averaging almost a double-double per game. He's played extremely well in MAC play through four games putting up 96 points. He's shooting 54 percent from the field, 41 percent from three and 78 percent from the line; which is very uncommon for a big man. In comparison to last year his rebounding total is already at 150 for the season when last season he only had 188 rebounds for the year.

The Falcons on the other hand have been a big surprise in the MAC at 3-1 in the East. At 12-5 overall I didn't know what to think of the Falcons before MAC play but they have a great chance to showcase themselves against a good Toledo team. Last week they won twice on the road, which is hard in any conference you play in; especially beating a very motivated team in Eastern Michigan.

The spotlight is on senior Spencer Parker who has rebounded after a tough junior season. This year he's contributed 14 points per game to go along with six rebounds while shooting 49 percent from the field. In comparison to Boothe, it seems that Bowling Green goes as Parker goes. He's had 66 points and 22 rebounds in MAC play while shooting 50 percent which is in line to what he's averaged for the season. My prediction is a close hard fought game with Toledo building off a big win against Akron, defeating the Falcons 75-70.

The game will be on ESPN 3 at 7:00 pm Eastern.