Complete game notes (.pdf)

GAME 18
Butler (9-7, 3-1 HL) at Detroit (7-10, 1-4 HL)
Date:  Sun., Jan. 8, 2012
Tip Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
Location: Detroit, Mich.
Arena: Calihan Hall (8,295)
Live Stats: detroittitans.com
Live Video: ESPN3.com (Will Haskett, Bob Lovell)
All-time Series:  BU leads 43-27
Last Season:
Jan. 14- Butler 87, @Detroit 64
Feb. 12- @Butler 66, Detroit 51

ON TAP
The Titans look to shrug off a tough Friday defeat when they host back-to-back national finalist Butler at Calihan Hall Sunday.  The Bulldogs were on the other end of a last-second game Friday, ousting Wright State 63-62 in Dayton, Ohio.  

RED OUT
Fans attending the Butler game Sunday are encouraged to wear red in support of a complete "Red Out" of Calihan Hall.  The first 1,000 fans with lower bowl tickets will receive a free t-shirt while the Titan Gift Shop will be open and will slash red Titan apparel 20% off on Sunday.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Butler comes into Sunday's matchup with a 9-7 overall record, but 3-1 in Horizon League play, one of five conference schools with just one loss.  The Dawgs return several key pieces from its Final Four run of a season ago, including Friday's hero Andrew Smith-- who knocked down a pair of late threes to help beat the Raiders-- and Ronald Nored, the defensive stalwart who returns for his senior campaign.  Smith's 10.4 points per game leads the squad while freshman Roosevelt Jones tops the team with 5.9 rebounds per contest.

THE SERIES WITH BUTLER
Butler owns a 43-27 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in each of the last 10 meetings.  The last Titan win in the series came Feb. 25, 2006 when Jon Goode's bucket in the closing seconds sealed a 73-71 victory for Detroit.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Following Sunday's home game, the Titans embark on a Wisconsin road swing with Green Bay on Jan. 12 and Milwaukee on Jan. 14.  Detroit then has three straight at home with Wright State (Jan. 21), Loyola (Jan. 25) and UIC (Jan. 27) on the docket.

LAST TIME OUT
A layup by Erik Buggs as the buzzer sounded gave visiting Valparaiso a 73-71 win over Detroit Friday night at Calihan Hall.  After senior Eli Holman gave the Titans a 71-69 lead with under a minute to play, Jay Harris hit a jumper with 26 seconds left to tie it and Buggs' coast-to-coast lay-in gave the Crusaders the win.  Ray McCallum had 15 first-half points en route to a team-high 22.  Holman finished 8 of 12 from the floor for 17 while Jason Calliste added 14 for the Titans.

RIGHT TO THE POINT
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. announced Wednesday the 20 finalists for the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, including Detroit sophomore Ray McCallum. The annual honor, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guards in college basketball. An original list of 60-plus candidates was trimmed by a Hall of Fame appointed, nationally-based committee to the below list of 20 student-athletes.  The current listing of 20 finalists for the 2012 Bob Cousy Award will be narrowed down to 10 players in early February and then down to five players by early March. The final five players in contention for the award will be presented to Mr. Cousy and the Hall of Fame's selection committee.

REJECTION ROW
A pair of current Titans are in the top five all-time in career blocked shots: with Eli Holman sitting third and LaMarcus Lowe swatting 143 career shots.  Holman needs a dozen to pass Brian Humes for second-most all-time while Lowe is tied with Ryvon Covile for fifth place.  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. Brian Humes, 1984-87          154
  3. Eli Holman, '09-pre                 143
  4. Greg Grant, 1990-94             131
  5. Ryvon Covile, 2003-06          123
  5. LaMarcus Lowe, '10-pres.    123

700 CLUB
With his 22-point effort Friday, sophomore Ray McCallum etched his 700th career point.  Through 50 collegiate contests, all starts, McCallum has 701 points for a 14.0 average.  After a 13.5 ppg clip last season, the coach's son has bumped his average to 15.0 ppg this year.

SHOTS FROM THE HEART
Head Coach Ray McCallum is perfect through two 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 two rounds and has advanced to the "Sweet 16", where he will match-up against Mark Gottfried of North Carolina State.  Future potential opponents include last season's champion Fred Hoiberg of Iowa State in the Elite Eight and Valparaiso Head Coach Bryce Drew is still alive and looms as a possible Final Four foe.  The tournament will be pared down to eight by month's end with the semis and finals in February.  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.