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University of Detroit Mercy Athletics

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Men's Basketball

Titans Open Up Conference Play In Milwaukee

Horizon League Network

Gametracker

After holding off Saint Louis 62-57 on Saturday, the UDM men's basketball team (2-3) will now open up conference play as the Titans hit the road for match-up with the Milwaukee Panthers on Thursday, Dec. 4. Tips-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.  (EST) at U.S. Cellular Arena. 

Matt Dery will have the call live on WDTW-AM 1310. The Horizon League Network will webcast the game live, while fans can also view a live stats feed through CSTV's gametracker. 

Milwaukee comes into the game at 3-4, with three of its losses coming on the road at Iowa State (79-61), Marquette (100-80) and #25 Wisconsin (67-46). 

The Panthers have three players in double figure scoring on the year, but might be without the services of one of them in Ricky Franklin. The senior guard is averaging 11.3 ppg., 4.5 rpg., and 3.3 apg., but was suspended last game following an off the court incident. It is unclear if he will play on Thursday. 

Junior college transfer Tony Boyle leads the team in scoring at 13.9 a night, fourth in the conference, to go with 3.7 rebounds. Senior guard Avery Smith, a 2007-08 pre-season All-Horizon League selection who was dismissed from the team at the start of last season, is second on the squad with 13.2 points and third in rebounding with four caroms per contest. 

The Titans are led by junior Xavier Keeling who tops the team with 12.8 points per game, including dropping a game and career-high 21 points against Saint Louis. 

Detroit will look to end a pair of streaks as the Titans have dropped 15 in a row away from the Motor City as well as 14-straight conference road games.  The last time UDM won a Horizon League road contest was on Jan. 20, 2007, when Detroit downed UIC, 66-54, in Chicago.

TITANS VS. PANTHERS

This will be the 31st meeting between the two schools with each program coming away with 15 victories apiece. Milwaukee, though, has won 11 of the last 14 games in the series, which dates back to the 1994-95 season. 

Both teams took care of business on their home court last year as Detroit downed Milwaukee, 72-61, in their last meeting at Calihan Hall. The Panthers took the contest in Milwaukee a year ago, 55-53, ending the game on a 21-5 run in the last 6:38 after the Titans took a 48-34 lead.
The Titans are 5-10 all-time on the road against Milwaukee.

DETROIT AND THE HORIZON LEAGUE
The Horizon League celebrates its 30th season this year, with the Titans a member for 29 of those campaigns. Detroit is 182-198 all-time in league play and 10-18 in conference road openers.
Since the first year of the Horizon League during the 1979-80 season, known as the Midwestern City Conference (1979-85) and the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1985-2001), Detroit's 182 conference victories are second only to Butler's 231. 

Also, UDM's 396 overall wins are behind only the Bulldogs' 495. The Titans do own the most wins in conference tournament action with 26 victories, one more then Butler's and Loyola's 25. 

MCCALLUM AGAINST THE CONFERENCE
Titan head coach Ray McCallum is 1-0 all-time against Milwaukee and 8-2 in his career against current members of the Horizon League.

KEELING TOPS 20

Junior Xavier Keeling poured in a career-high 21 points against Saint Louis on Nov. 29. The 6-7 forward was 6-of-9 from the field, 2-of-3 from three and 7-of-8 from the line, including hitting two free throws with under five seconds left to seal the win. He also grabbed nine boards. 

The performance marked the fourth-straight game Keeling hit on a career mark. He started the streak with 12 points in back-to-back games at Western and against Eastern Michigan. He then went for 15 points at DePaul. 

GETTING TO THE FREE THROW LINE

The Titans are averaging 18.6 free throws per game this season, up from 13.2 a contest last year. Detroit already has three games on the year where it has gone to the line 19 or more times, once again, an improvement over last year, which saw UDM go to the charity stripe 19+ times on just six occasions. 

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