GAME NOTES: Having lost five of the team's last six games, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will look to turn things around as they host the Toledo Rockets in a non-conference clash at the Athletics Center O'rena Saturday.

Toledo just finished competing in the Progressive Legends Classic Sub- Regional, where the Rockets took down Bucknell, 92-65, and then lost in a heartbreaker to Detroit, 82-79. Having lost three of their last four games, the Rockets will try and turn things around against the struggling Grizzlies.

In the CBE Hall of Fame Classic, Oakland lost to Western Carolina in a tight overtime contest, then rebounded the next day to defeat Chicago State, 70-57, for the team's first win of the season. But the Grizzlies fell back into the losing column with an 83-78 defeat at the hands of Georgia State the following day.

Toledo leads the brief all-time series with Oakland, 7-4. But the Rockets are 1-3 all-time at Athletics Center O'rena, and these two programs haven't met since 2008.

Toledo shot 56.3 percent from the floor against Detroit in the team's last outing, but the Rockets' defense wasn't all that strong as they surrendered 82 points and 52.6 percent shooting to the Titans, who came away with the close victory. J.D. Weatherspoon scored a team-high 20 points in the loss, while Jonathan Williams chipped in with 17 points and Justin Drummond netted 15. Julius Brown had 11 points with seven assists, and Nathan Boothe contributed 11 points of his own with four rebounds, which matched a team high.

The Rockets enter this tilt with Oakland averaging an impressive 77.6 ppg through five games played, but also are giving up 74.0 ppg to opponents. Five players average a scoring total in double figures for the team, led by Brown's 15.5 ppg mark, as the point guard also chips in 25 assists on the season. Boothe is second at 13.0 ppg, and Weatherspoon contributes 12.8 ppg with a team-high 6.8 rpg. Drummond comes in next with a 12.2 ppg mark, and Williams rounds out the group with a 10.4 ppg average.

Oakland didn't perform poorly offensively against Georgia State, as the Grizzlies netted 44.3 percent of their field goal tries from the floor. But the team's defense was basically non-existent, allowing the Panthers to net 63 percent of their tries from the field, including an eye-popping 11-of-17 from 3-point distance. Max Hooper scored a team-best 21 points, and Kahlil Felder netted 18 with five assists and six rebounds, though he also turned the ball over six times in the loss. Corey Petros tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Dante Williams also added 14 points to the mix.

Offense hasn't been much of an issue for the Golden Grizzlies this season, who net 76.2 ppg on 44.9 percent shooting from the floor. This is all without last year's leading scorer and 3-point specialist, Travis Bader. But the team's defense, which allows 82.0 ppg to opponents, is dreadful. Felder's 17.7 ppg average and 45 total assists are both team highs, while Petros notches 15.0 ppg and a team-high 8.2 rpg. Tommie McCune's 14.8 ppg mark is the third and final in double figures for the Grizzlies.

Oakland may be relatively strong at home (70-17 over its last 87 games at the O'rena), but going against a deadly offensive team like Toledo while the Grizzlies are allowing 82.0 points per outing doesn't bode well for the home squad in this case.