Complete post-season media guide (.pdf)
SECOND ROUND NCAA TOURNAMENT
#15-seed DETROIT (22-13) vs. #2-seed Kansas (27-6)
Date: Fri., Mar. 16, 2012
Tip Time: 9:57 p.m. ET
Location: Omaha, Neb.
Arena: Century Link Center
TV: truTV (Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Craig Sager)
Radio: Westwood One (Kevin Kugler and Tom Brennan)
Video Stream: http://www.ncaa.com/mml/player/console.html
Live Stats: Gametracker
THIRD ROUND
vs. #7 Saint Mary's/#10 Purdue
Date: Sun, Mar. 18, 2012
Tip Time/TV: TBA
ON TAP
Detroit makes its sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 1999 in the Second Round Friday against No. 2-seeded Kansas. The Titans have won 10 of their last 11 games, including a four-game run in the Horizon League Championships that ended with Detroit's third League postseason title.
SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS
The Jayhawks are making their 23rd-straight trip to the Big Dance and their 41st trek to the NCAA Tournament all-time. Since the seeding began in 1979, KU has been the two seed on five different occasions. Ranked sixth in the national polls, KU (27-6) has a pair of All-Big 12 selections, including conference Player of the Year junior Thomas Robinson. The big man averages 17.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds. Fellow All-Big 12 First Teamer senior guard Tyshawn Taylor adds 17.3 ppg and leads KU with 4.8 assists per contest.
SERIES HISTORY WITH KU
Kansas has won all three previous meetings between the schools. The last match-up was Dec. 26, 2006-- a 63-43 Jayhawk win in Lawrence, Kan.
LAST TIME OUT
An inspired second half propelled the Detroit Titans past host Valparaiso for a 70-50 victory in the Horizon League Championship game Mar. 6 at the Athletics-Recreation Center. It was truly a tale of two halves and the second stanza was one that will live in Titan lore. After getting out-hustled (23-13 rebounding margin in favor of Valpo) and shooting just 29 percent in the first 20 minutes, Detroit emerged from the locker room with the ferocity of a caged bull. Detroit, behind sophomore Ray McCallum's 21 points, outscored the Crusaders 46-23 in the second half and ended the game on a 12-0 run. Senior LaMarcus Lowe added a double-double with a career-high-tying 14 points and 10 rebounds.
15-SEED HISTORY IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
Since the tournament format expanded to 64 teams in 1985, #15 seeds have won just four times with the last coming in 2001. It's been 11 years since a No. 15 won (Hampton over Iowa State) and in 18 of the previous 27 years of the 64/65/68-team field, at least one No. 2 seed has been played to within single digits or lost.
The 15-seed winners
2001 Hampton def. Iowa State, 58-57
1997 Coppin State def. South Carolina, 78-65
1993 Santa Clara def. Arizona, 64-61
1991 Richmond def. Syracuse, 73-69
HORIZON LEAGUE SUCCESS IN NCAAs
A Horizon League team has won a game in each of the past seven NCAA Tournaments, the longest current stretch by a non-Power 6 conference. Butler's back-to-back runs to the national title game in the past two seasons have put the exclamation mark on the achievement. The wins have come from Milwaukee (2005, 2006), Cleveland State (2009) and Butler (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011).
LAST WIN OVER RANKED TEAM
Detroit's last win over a ranked team came against No. 23 Butler, a 63-54 win at Calihan Hall on Jan. 10, 2002. The Titans' last win over a ranked squad on a neutral court is also its last NCAA Tournament win-- 56-53 over #15 UCLA.
HORIZON HONORS
Sophomore Ray McCallum was named to the All-Horizon League First Team and senior Eli Holman was named the Sixth Man of the Year when the league announced its postseason awards following the regular season. The sophomore leads the team in points, assists and steals for the second straight season. McCallum becomes the 16th Detroit first team honoree and first since current NBA'er Willie Green was the Player of the Year in 2002-03. Holman has played in 25 games, 23 off-the-bench as Detroit's key bench member. He is averaging 10.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and has four double-doubles to give him 28 for his career. Holman became the first Titan to win the top reserve, an honor that has been awarded since the 2007-08 season.
DETROIT IN THE HL TOURNAMENT
The Titans are now 33-29 all-time in the Horizon League (formerly MCC) tournament. Detroit won the 1994, 1999 and 2012 postseason titles.
A "TON" OF POINTS
Senior Eli Holman became the second Titan this season to reach the 1,000-point plateau, eclipsing the mark in Friday's win. He joins fellow senior Chase Simon, who turned the trick back on Nov. 23. The duo are the 35th and 36th Detroit players to achieve the four-digit mark at the school. Ray McCallum is also closing in on the mark, needing just 7 points to get there.
NINETY POINTS... GOOD SIGN
Detroit has won its last 46 games when it scores 90 points in a game after last Friday's Horizon League quarterfinals 93-76 victory. UDM's last loss with 90+ points was a 96-91 loss to Michigan State way back in the 1988 season.
A DOZEN 20s
The Titans recorded win No. 20 on the season in the HL quarterfinals, marking the 12th time in the school's history to achieve that mark. Detroit's 22 wins this season ranks tied for sixth all-time for most wins in one campaign. It is the fourth 20-win slate in head coach Ray McCallum's career (2 Ball State, 2 Detroit).
Detroit 20-win seasons (12)
2012- 22-13 (NCAA)
2010- 20-14
2001- 25-12 (NIT)
2000- 20-12 (NIT)
1999- 25-6 (NCAA)
1998- 25-6 (NCAA)
1979- 22-6 (NCAA)
1978- 25-4 (NIT)
1977- 25-4 (NCAA)
1965- 20-8 (NIT)
1960- 20-7 (NIT)
1950- 20-6
REJECTION ROW
A pair of current Titans are in the top three all-time in career blocked shots: Eli Holman sits second with 163 swats and LaMarcus Lowe moved into a tie for third with 154 career blocks. The career leader is Terry Tyler, who threw aside a whopping 359 shots in his career from 1976-78.
Career Block Leaders at Detroit
1. Terry Tyler, 1976-78 359
2. Eli Holman, '09-pres. 163
3. LaMarcus Lowe, '10-pres. 154
PUT THE DAWGS OUT
Detroit swept the season series with the Butler Bulldogs for the first time since the 1997-98 season with its Feb. 4 win at Hinkle. It also marked the first victory in Butler's home gym for Detroit since the 1998-99 season, snapping a 12-game slide.
SHOTS FROM THE HEART-- FINAL FOUR!
Head Coach Ray McCallum is perfect through four rounds of the CollegeInsider.com “Shots from the Heart” head coach's bracket to benefit the Skip Prosser Foundation. Coach made all 25 shots in each of the first four rounds and has advanced all the way to the “Final Four”, where he will match-up against Buzz Peterson of UNC-Wilmington. He ousted defending champion, Fred Hoiberg of Iowa State, who was 23-25 in their matchup. The tournament concludes in the coming weeks. The Free Throw Champions of both the head and assistant coach's brackets will be recognized as part of the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet in New Orleans, site of the 2012 Men's NCAA Basketball Championship. Follow detroittitans.com for updates on Coach Ray's progress in the tourney. For more on the “Shots from the Heart”, got to http://collegeinsider.com/shots
DETROIT TITAN COURT REPORT ON FSD
The newest edition of the “Detroit Titan Court Report” is out and you can catch it during a number of different re-airs on FOX Sports Detroit. The fourth installment of the 30-minute show gives fans an inside look to the Detroit Titans men's basketball team, including interviews with players and coaches, highlights, features and behind-the-scenes access like no other show can provide. The show, in its second season on FSD, was nominated for a Michigan Emmy in its first season and has been met with rave reviews in season two. Check detroittitans.com for a full schedule of re-airs.
