Game Notes vs. Cleveland State

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Horizon League Network

Looking to go 2-0 in league play and 6-2 overall, the Detroit Titans men's basketball team will welcome Cleveland State into Calihan Hall for a 1:05 p.m. showdown on Saturday. 

The contest will be televised live by FOX Sports Detroit with Dan Dickerson doing the play-by-play and former Titan standout Earl Cureton handling the color. The game is the first of four to be aired on FS Detroit on the year, and is the second in a total of nine Titan games on television this season. 

The game can also be seen on the Horizon League Network and viewed with live stats through CSTV's gametracker. Both links are on the top of the page. 

The conference affair is part of Thursday's “Victory Night” over Youngstown State, which allowed all fans who attended the game to redeem one free ticket To the UDM-CSU match-up by visiting the Titan ticket office on Friday or Saturday and turning in the ticket stub. 

Detroit shot 67 percent against Youngstown State on Friday, with four Titans in double figures. Senior Thomas Kennedy was once again the high man with a game-high 19 points. The team got an emotional lift from senior Eugene Blue, who started for an injured Eli Holman, and netted a career-high 15 points in just 16 minutes of work. 

Cleveland State, the defending Horizon League champions, is off to a 3-5 start and has dropped four in a row, including its HL opener to Wright State, 73-64, on Thursday. Junior Norris Cole, who poured in 38 points against Florida A&M earlier in the year, is the Vikings' leading scorer at 16.1 ppg.

DETROIT OFF TO A FAST START
Detroit is off to a 5-2 start after defeating Youngstown State, matching its best seven-game start since the 2002-03 season. 

If the Titans are able to sweep the first weekend of conference play with a triumph over Cleveland State, the 6-2 record would be UDM's best start since going 7-2 to open the 1998-99 campaign, a season that saw Detroit go 25-6 overall, winning the conference tournament and earning a shocking 56-53 victory over UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

DETROIT VS. CLEVELAND STATE
The Titans lead the series with a 32-14 mark, but Cleveland State has caught up in recent years winning five in a row and six of the last seven meetings. UDM also has a distinct advantage at home against the Vikings, 20-2, but CSU has won the last two in the Motor City. 

Last season, Detroit dropped all three matches to Cleveland State, including the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament.

TITANS NET 80 AGAIN
Detroit scored 82 points in Thursday's win over Youngstown State marking the second time this season that UDM crossed the 80+ plateau after notching a season-high 86 against Western Michigan in the home opener. 

The 86 points scored by UDM against WMU in its home opener was the highest scoring game since netting 92 at Buffalo in 2007, and the most points scored at home since tallying 91 against Milwaukee in the same season. 

Last year, the UDM season-high in points was 78 against Youngstown State. 

If the Titans can climb to 80 or more points against Cleveland State, it would mark the first time in six seasons (2002-03) that Detroit would hit back-to-back 80+ point performances.

ON FIRE
Detroit was on fire from the field in Thursday's 82-71 win over Youngstown State shooting 67 percent in the game (29-of-43). 

The last time UDM eclipsed 60 percent from the field was on Nov. 18, 2006, when the Titans were 30-of-50 in an 80-61 rout over Rochester College.

HOME COOKING
UDM is averaging 84.0 points in its two home contests, both wins, while shooting 58 percent (55-of-94) from the field and 48 percent from behind the arc (14-of-29). 

In the other five games, which have produced three Titan victories, Detroit is posting 68.6 ppg., shooting just 24 percent from three and 41 percent overall.

BLUE TO THE RESCUE
Senior Eugene Blue filled in admirably for an injured Eli Holman against Youngstown State as the center scored a career-high 15 points, on 6-of-7 shooting, in just 16 minutes of action. He eventually fouled out with under five minutes left in the game prompting a huge standing ovation from the hometown fans. 

On the season, Blue is tallying 5.0 ppg, and has connected on 12 of his 17 field goals (70%).

DOUBLE-DIGIT VICTORIES
Four of the Titans five wins on the season have been by double digits. Detroit downed Robert Morris by 12 (71-59), Albany by 12 (66-54), Alcorn State by 20 (79-59), and Youngstown State by 11 (82-71).