DETROIT (12/13/2017) -- The date has been circled ever since the game was announced back in April and now it is finally here as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team faces Michigan downtown in the brand new Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, Dec. 16.

The two teams will be the first college basketball game at Little Caesars Arena, revisiting the history of 1979 when the programs played in the first-ever event at historic Joe Louis Arena. 

The game is also part of the Hitachi College Basketball Showcase that starts at Noon with the Titans and Wolverines and concludes at 2:30 when Oakland takes on Michigan State. 

Both games will be on ESPNU as Clay Matvick and Brooke Weisbrod will have the call. Titan fans can also listen on 910 AM Superstation with the Voice of the Titans Cliff Russell providing the play by play. 

Detroit Mercy and Michigan first met in 1919, but the Wolverines have won 14 in a row and lead the overall series, 24-4. The last Titan win came in 1981.

Limited tickets are still available by calling Ticketmaster or the LCA box office at 313-471-7000 or purchasing online by clicking here.  

ALL-TIME MATCH-UP

• The Titans are 4-24 all-time against the Wolverines and have dropped 14-straight to their in-state rivals. 
• This will be the third meeting in a neutral location as Michigan won a NCAA Tournament game at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, 86-81, in 1977 against a Titan team that was coached by Dick Vitale. 
• In 1979, the teams opened up Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit in an 85-68 setback. 

LAST WIN OVER MICHIGAN

• The last Titan win in the series was on Dec. 19, 1981, in Ann Arbor.
• The Titans were led by Joe Kopicki's 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists as the red, white and blue, under Don Sicko, earned a 55-51 triumph.

OPENING UP LCA

• Detroit Mercy opened up Joe Louis Arena with a game against Michigan in 1979 and will now play in the first college basketball game at Little Caesars Arena 
• The Titans and Wolverines opened Joe Louis Arena with the first-ever event for the facility on Dec. 12, 1979, in front of over 12,000 fans.
• Detroit Mercy Detroit was led by Jerry Davis, who scored 22 points. Wilbert McCormack added 16 for the Titans and sophomore Joe Kopicki chipped in 15, including the first-ever basket in the arena. 

CALIHAN HALL TURNS 65

• The 2017-18 season marks the 65th anniversary of historic Calihan Hall, the home of the men's and women's basketball teams.
• The dedication of the University's Memorial Building, as it was known back then, took place May 25, 1952.
• The first basketball game was played Dec. 2 of that year when the U-D men beat Kalamazoo, 75-61. 
• In 1977, the name was changed to Calihan Hall in honor of the Titans' first basketball All-American, the late Bob Calihan.
• On Dec. 5, 2011, the floor of Calihan Hall was dedicated to former coach Dick Vitale. 

TEACHER VS. STUDENT

• Titan head coach Bacari Alexander '99 will play a second-straight game against a coach he was an assistant for. Last week, it was Steve Hawkins at Western Michigan and now its John Beilein at Michigan.
• He spent six seasons at Michigan (2010-16) helping the Wolverines to five NCAA Tournament bids (2011, '12, '13, '14 & '16), with a trip to the 2013 national title game -- the first for the program in 20 years - followed by a return trip to the Elite Eight in 2014.

REMEMBER ME

• Redshirt junior Kameron Chatman started his collegiate career at Michigan playing two seasons for the Wolverines (2014-16), both of which came when Bacari Alexander was an assistant there.
• Chatman saw action in 60 games – starting 17 – helping the squad post 39 wins and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16
• The NCAA Tournament appearance came on the heels of his game-winning 3-pointer in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals as Michigan knocked off top-seeded and 10th-ranked Indiana, 72-69
• In Ann Arbor, he averaged 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game along with tallying 19 steals and 10 blocks in limited time on the court.

GERMAN PALS

• Detroit Mercy and Michigan also feature a match-up of German born players in Titan sophomore Malik Eichler and U-M junior Moritz Wagner as both players hail from Berlin. 

ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE A JUDGE IN YOUR CORNER

• Walk-on redshirt freshman Jacob Joubert is the son of former Michigan standout Antoine "The Judge" Joubert, who helped U-M to an NIT championship and a pair of Big Ten titles before playing in the NBA with the Pistons.

TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

• The 13 opponents on the Titan non-conference schedule combined to go 257-205 (55.6%) last season, and the 11 DI foes are 66-40 (62.2%) already on the year. 
• Four of the non-conference opponents earned bids to the NCAA Tournament (East Tennessee State, Michigan, UCLA, Virginia Tech), one to the CBI (Toledo) and two to the CIT (Fort Wayne, Houston Baptist).

REACHING 100

• The Titans reached the 100-point mark for the third time this season with a 131-69 victory over Siena Heights on Nov. 25. 
• The Titans also reached 100 in a 116-109 victory over Houston Baptist in overtime and a 105-82 win over UM-Dearborn. 
• The 131 points are the fourth most in school history and the most since tallying a school record 135 against CCNY in 1979. 
• The 116 points against HBU at the 2K Sports Classic Belmont Subregional broke Belmont's Curb Event Center record for most points.
• Detroit Mercy has now reached 100 points 94 times in its history and the three times in a season is the most since hitting 100 on three occasions during the 1979-80 campaign.  

HIGH POWERED OFFENSE

• The Titans currently rank first in the Horizon League and 13th in the nation in scoring offense at 89.4 points per game. 
• Detroit Mercy has scored at least 71 points in all 10 games, including three 100+point efforts. 
• Last season, the Titans hit 80 points 12 times and 90 on five occasions, tying for third in the HL in offense at 77.0 ppg., - 85th in the nation. 

TAKING ADVANTAGE

• Detroit Mercy has done a great job at the free throw line this season connecting on 157-of-202 for 77.7 percent, second in the HL and 21st in the country.
• The Titans started the year 18-of-22 at Virginia Tech and were 20-of-23 versus Seattle, 24-of-30 against Houston Baptist, 13-of-15 in the road win at Saint Louis, 20-of-25 at Fort Wayne, 12-of-14 against Toledo and 17-of-20 their last time out against Western Michigan.
• Some of the top free throw shooters include Jermaine Jackson Jr. (96.0%, 24-of-25), Josh McFolley (86.7%, 26-of-30), Kameron Chatman (83.3%, 25-of-30), Corey Allen (80.0%, 28-of-35) and Roschon Price (78.9%, 15-of-19). 
• In fact, Jackson Jr. leads the HL, and is sixth in the nation, in free throw shooting, while McFolley, Chatman and Allen are in the top 10 in the Horizon League. 

LET IT FLY

• Detroit Mercy set a school record hoisting up 43 three-point attempts against Houston Baptist on Nov. 19, nailing 12 of them.
• The previous record was 36 against Dayton in 1991. 
• Against Siena Heights, Detroit Mercy was 17-of-28 from behind the arc, just one triple shy of tying the school record of 18 against Milwaukee on Feb. 26, 2000. 
• Detroit Mercy leads the Horizon League and is 47th in the country with 9.7 triples per game. 
• Last year, the Titans were second in the HL in three-point field goal percentage at 37.2 percent as well as third in the conference with 8.1 treys per game. 

ANOTHER 30?

• Sophomore Corey Allen is coming off his second 30-point game of the season as he tallied 32 against Western Michigan last week.
• He was 12-of-21 overall with five 3-pointers and scored 19 points in the second half. 
• Earlier this season against Houston Baptist, he hit his first three triples and ended the game with a career-high and Belmont Curb Event Center record 39 points, surpassing the 33 he had at home against Fort Wayne last season.
• In that game, he was a career-best 12-of-20 from the field and 7-of-13 from long range to go with five rebounds and career-tying five assists. 
• The 39 points were the most by a Titan since teammate Jaleel Hogan had 39 in a road win at Oakland last year.
• His two 30-point games are the most since Juwan Howard Jr., had a pair in the 2013-14 season, while the last Titan to have three 30-point contests in a season was Willie Green, who had five during the 2002-03 campaign. 

I SEE YOU CA

• Sophomore Corey Allen has been in double figures in scoring in all 10 games this year, with three 20+ contests and a pair of 30+ games. 
• He has also set a career high in rebounds with six against UM-Dearborn and tied his career best with five assists in a game. 
• On the season, he leads the team in scoring at 18.7 points per game - third in the HL - and ranks second on the team and third in the league in shooting at 51.1 percent. 

JALEEL REACHES 1,000

• With his second basket of the game at Fort Wayne on Nov. 28, senior Jaleel Hogan became the 41st Titan in school history to post 1,000 points.
• Hogan enters today's game with 1,038 career points, which ranks 37th in school history just 21 behind Larry Salci '68 for 36th. 
• He is coming off his first double-double of the season with a season-best 16 points and 10 rebounds against Western Michigan.
• Hogan is currently fifth on the team with 9.3 points per game, shooting 61.7 percent from the field.

KAM'S THE MAN

• The Titans needed everyone's help to get the overtime victory over Houston Baptist on Nov. 19 and redshirt junior Kameron Chatman did his part posting his first career double-double with 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
• His previous high in rebounds was nine as a freshman at Michigan against Syracuse, while it was the most boards by a Titan since Chris Jenkins had 16 against Fort Wayne last year.
• At Saint Louis on Nov. 22, he posted 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, but his biggest play was the game-winning shot with just one second left on the clock. 

CHATMAN ON FIRE

• Redshirt junior Kameron Chatman continued his strong start to the season tallying a career-high 31 points and collecting 10 rebounds with three steals at Fort Wayne and led the team with 18 points and seven boards at UCLA. 
• The game at Fort Wayne marked his fourth 20+-point game of the season as he was a career-best 11-of-15 from the field and 5-of-6 from behind the arc. It was also his second career double-double. 
• Chatman is second on the team and fourth in the HL in scoring at 17.9 points and leads the conference in rebounding at 8.1 per night. 

JJJ FILLING UP THE STAT SHEET

• Rookie Jermaine Jackson Jr., posted stats all around as a true freshman on the road at Virginia Tech tallying 16 points with seven rebounds and three assists.
• The seven rebounds tied for the team lead, while his six defensive rebounds topped the team. 
• He has now scored in double digits in eight of the 10 games on the season and is third on the team averaging 11.9 points to go with a team-best 4.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. 
• He also has 42 assists and just 21 turnovers for a 2.0 ratio, fourth in the HL. 
• Jackson Jr., leads all league rookies in scoring, assists and steals. 

UNSTOPPABLE

• Senior Jaleel Hogan led the Horizon League and was 23rd in the country in field-goal percentage at 59.1 percent - fourth in school history - last season.
• He entered his senior campaign second in school history in career field goal percentage at 58.9 percent, trailing only Eli Holman's 60.9 percent - but he is 37-of-60 (61.7%) on the season to raise his career mark to 59.2 percent. 
• As a sophomore, he led the team and was second in the HL in field goal percentage at 57.4 percent - good for ninth in school history. He also shot 62.0 percent (62-of-100) as a freshman, but did not qualify for any records due not enough field goals attempted. 

PICKING YOUR POCKET

• Junior Josh McFolley is tied for second in the Horizon League and is 89th in the nation with 1.90 steals per game. 
• He has three games on the year with at least three steals, including tying his career high with five against Siena Heights. 
• In his career, he has recorded a steal in 56 of his 71 career games, including 23 multi-steal contests and 13 with at least three takeaways.
• McFolley led the conference in steals per game (2.00) and total steals (62), ranking 26th and 35th in the NCAA, respectively, last season.
• His 116 career steals has him approaching top 10 status in school history.

THE PRINCE OF DETROIT MERCY

• Graduate senior Roschon Prince has had a nice start to his Titan career scoring in double figures twice with 11 points against UM-Dearborn and Houston Baptist.
• He has grabbed at least five boards in three of the eight games with a season-high six against Seattle and is 15-of-28 from the field (53.6%) and 15-of-19 (78.9%) at the line.