GAME NOTES: The Toledo Rockets begin their quest for a Mid-American Conference championship and a postseason berth when they host the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Sunday in non-conference action at Savage Arena.

Northern Arizona, of the Big Sky Conference, began its season Friday night with a loss to Xavier. The Lumberjacks couldn't find much of a rhythm as they trailed the Musketeers, 48-22, at halftime and ended up way behind at the final buzzer, 93-60.

Toledo finished the 2013-14 campaign with an impressive 27-7 record, including a 14-4 conference mark. The Rockets went a perfect 15-0 at home last season, so they'll look for their 16th consecutive victory at Savage Arena against the Lumberjacks.

This contest represents the first time Northern Arizona and Toledo will meet on the basketball floor.

Northern Arizona was dismantled in the team's season opener on the road Friday night, as the Lumberjacks proved to be no match for Xavier, which shot 66.7 percent from the floor in the contest. NAU suffered through an extremely tough non-conference schedule last season, and the Lumberjacks opened their 2014-15 slate with another very tough opponent. Now the team must travel to face the preseason favorites from the Mid-American Conference.

Only two players recorded scoring totals in the double digits Friday night for the Lumberjacks. Quinton Upshur, who was the go-to player for the team a season ago, netted a team-best 20 points and connected on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Ako Kaluna was the other double-digit scorer for NAU, registering 10 points and two rebounds off the bench. Northern Arizona shot just 38.1 percent from the floor in the loss, and will need that total to improve against a very strong Toledo offense.

Toledo (27-7, 14-4 MAC) hasn't made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 35 seasons, but this sure looks like it could be the year. The Rockets have a strong mix of seniors and veteran talent along with young up-and-comers in coach Tod Kowalczyk's system. Toledo returns all-conference point guard Julius Brown to the lineup one year after he led the team in scoring (14.9 ppg), and brings back talented guard/forward combo player Justin Drummond (14.2 ppg). The biggest loss the Rockets suffered in the offseason was shooter Rian Pearson, but with such a strong contingent of playmakers, Toledo might not even need him.

Throw in forward J.D. Weatherspoon (10.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and center Nathan Boothe (9.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 38 blocked shots) and the starting lineup from last year's successful regular season starts to come together once again. Although Pearson is gone, the Rockets will get Mississippi State sophomore transfer Dre Applewhite about midway through the season when he is determined eligible, not quite in time for the start of conference play. There's plenty of offense to go around here, especially considering the team averaged an eye-popping 79.2 ppg last season.

This stretch of tough games for the Lumberjacks continues into December, but in the next few weeks the team must face Toledo, Fresno State, Mississippi and a host of others. Upshur needs help offensively, and going against a very deep and talented Toledo squad, NAU may fall behind early once again.