GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (12/12/12) –The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will conclude its four-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 15 when the Titans host Akron at Calihan Hall. The game is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. and will be televised live on FOX Sports Detroit. Dan Dickerson and Titan legend Earl Cureton will call the game for FSD. The game will also be streamed live online through the Horizon League Network.

YOUTH BASKETBALL CLINIC
FOX Sports Detroit and the Detroit Titans will team up to host a Youth Clinic on Saturday, December 15. Kids get instruction from former and current Titans prior to the game vs. Akron on Saturday that will be televised on FSD. The Clinic begins at 9:00 a.m. with registration at 8:30 a.m. Kids between the ages of 7-12 are eligible to participate in the FREE event but spots are limited. Participants will receive gifts from the FSD, Detroit Titan Athletics, Tim Hortons, and the Detroit Pistons. Call Titan Athletics at 313.993.1700 to sign up for the FREE event.

FAITH DAY
Fans get the chance to enjoy Titan Basketball with all different churches and faiths in the metro Detroit area on Saturday. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a Faith Day t-shirt. So fans are encouraged to come early, grab a hot dog and take in great college basketball and walk away with a great t-shirt to remember the day.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through men's basketball GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets. The Game Day Central page also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior Nick Minnerath matched a season-high with 22 points as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team extended its home winning streak to 13-straight games with an 81-68 victory over Alabama State on Monday at Calihan Hall.

Minnerath led Detroit with 22 points hitting 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-5 from the beyond the arc, while Juwan Howard, Jr. matched his season-high with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 4-of-5 from downtown. Ray McCallum recorded 15 points and eight assists, while Jason Calliste finished with 11 points and five assists. Doug Anderson pitched in with eight points and six rebounds while Minnerath grabbed a team-high eight boards.

Alabama State (0-7) won the battle on the boards, 42-35, but the Titans forced 20 Hornets turnovers, which resulted in 22 points. Detroit also made 19-of-24 free throw attempts, including 12-of-13 in the first half, while ASU only made 6-of-15 from the charity stripe. The Hornets did shoot 49.1 percent from the floor, while Detroit shot 40 percent overall, 57.7 percent in the second half.

SERIES WITH AKRON
This will be the eighth meeting between Detroit and Akron, with the Zips owning a slight 4-3 lead.  Akron has won the last two meetings including a 81-63 victory last season. Detroit's last win over the Zips came during the 1991-92 season when the Titans won, 55-54, at the Hawaii Pre-Holiday Tournament. Detroit and Akron met for the first time during the 1935-36 season where the Titans won, 44-43, in Ohio.

ABOUT THE ZIPS
Akron (4-3) dropped a 77-61 decision to No. 16/13 Creighton on Sunday afternoon at the CenturyLink Center Omaha. Nick Harney led the Zips with 14 points, five boards, one assist and one blocked shot. Zeke Marshall finished with 12 points, two rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Zips shot 42.1 percent from the floor (24-of-57) and 23.5 percent from long range (4-of-17) while the Bluejays connected on 48.4 percent (30-of-62) and 45.5 percent (10-of-22) respectively.

Akron finished 22-12 last season and is the only team in the Mid-American Conference to have won 20-plus games in each of the last seven seasons. In fact, only 17 teams (Akron, Butler, BYU, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Marquette, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Syracuse, Texas, Utah State and Xavier) have won 20-plus games in the last seven seasons.

TITANS LOVE CALIHAN
Detroit is 5-0 this year at home and has won 13-straight games at Calihan Hall dating back to last season. The 13 game home winning streak is tied for the 10th longest in the nation. The Titans have averaged 77.8 points per game over that stretch, while only allowing opponents to score 65.2 points on Dick Vitale Court. Detroit's last loss at home came on Jan. 6, 2012 against Valparaiso, 73-71.

HOWARD HL NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Detroit sophomore forward Juwan Howard, Jr. was named the Horizon League Newcomer of the Week after averaging 13.5 points per game over the Titans two wins.

Howard carried Detroit through the early stages of the team's win over visiting Toledo, scoring the first 11 points of the game for the Titans. He finished the game 4-of-8 from three-point range, en route to recording a season-high 16 points against the Rockets.

On Saturday, Howard was one of five Titans in double figures, scoring 11 points. The sophomore finished the week 7-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc. Howard's 41.9 percent three-point percentage currently ranks eighth in the Horizon League.

DETROIT LOVES THE 80's
This season the Titans are a perfect 4-0 when scoring 80 or more points and have extended their winning streak to 18 games when doing so. Last year Detroit finished undefeated (9-0) when reaching the 80-point mark. The Last time the Titans lost a game when scoring 80 points or more came at Milwaukee during the 2010-11 season, when the Panthers won in overtime 84-81.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Detroit junior Ray McCallum currently leads the Titans in three categories this season scoring (19.2 ppg), assists (4.8 apg) and steals (1.7 spg) and is also climbing up the career record board in all three. McCallum has 1,174 points (25th), 347 assist (9th) and 126 steals (15th) in his career. The last Titan to rank among the top-10 in all three of those categories was Rashad Phillips '01. Phillips finished his spectacular career with 2,319 points (1st), 548 assists (4th) and 190 steals (2nd). McCallum needs 428 points and 14 steals to reach that plateau.

TITANS ON REGIONAL/NATIONAL TELEVISION
The Titans 2012-13 men's basketball television schedule recently grew with the addition of three FOX Sports Detroit broadcasts. FSD, the same station that carries the “Detroit Titan Court Report” along with Detroit Pistons, Tigers and Red Wings games, will once again partner with the Titans to strengthen one of the more impressive television packages in the Horizon League.

Those games bring the total number of regional and national televised appearances to 14, including a minimum of 10 on the ESPN family of networks and one Horizon League "Game of the Week". The three-game slate on FSD begins Dec. 15 when the Akron Zips visit Calihan Hall for a noon tip.  More than a month later, the Titans face conference rival UIC with a 6:30 p.m. match-up on Jan. 19, before hosting Loyola at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26.

McCALLUM NAMED TO THE WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 50
Detroit junior guard Ray McCallum was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, according to a release. The list recognizes the top-returning players in all of college basketball.

McCallum, the Horizon League preseason Player of the Year and first team selection for the second-straight season, was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year after he helped lead the Titans to the League crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. McCallum led the team in scoring (15.4 ppg), assists (4.0 apg) and steals (1.6 spg) for the second-straight season.

TITANS PICKED SECOND
The UDM men's basketball team was picked to finish second in the Horizon League preseason poll voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members. The reigning HL Tournament Champions totaled 332 points – including four first-place votes – trailing only Valparaiso's 382 points and 40 first-place selections. Green Bay was picked to finish third with 283 points, while Youngstown State was fourth with 243 and Cleveland State fifth tallying 230. Rounding out the poll was Milwaukee (178), Loyola (105), UIC (96) and Wright State (86).

McCALLUM NAMED HL PRESEASON POY
Junior guard Ray McCallum was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year for the second-straight season, following a super sophomore year.

McCallum, the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year, helped lead the Titans to the League crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. He was named to the Lou Henson All-America team as well as the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) All-District First Team and the National All-Jesuit Team after a superb season that saw him become the 37th Titan to surpass 1,000 career points and the first to do it as a sophomore.

UP NEXT
Detroit will hit the road to take part in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic on Monday, Dec. 17 as the Titans visit No. 4/4 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. The game is scheduled to begin a 7:00 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2. The Titans will also visit Alcorn State (Dec. 19) and Temple (Dec. 28) before hosting Canisius (Dec. 30) as part of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic.