Complete game notes (.pdf)
GAME 29
SEARS BracketBusters
James Madison (11-17) at Detroit (16-12)
Date: Sat., Feb. 18, 2012
Tip Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Location: Detroit, Mich.
Arena: Calihan Hall
All-time Series: First meeting
ON TAP
Detroit steps away from the Horizon League schedule for the final time this regular season, hosting James Madison University in the 10th annual SEARS BracketBusters event on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Calihan. The Titans are winners of four straight, the best current streak in the HL.
SCOUTING THE DUKES
JMU is 11-17 overall, including a 4-12 record in the tough Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). A.J. Davis leads the Dukes with a 16.4 points per game average. Humpty Hitchens supplements the scoring with a 15.3 average while Julius Wells is the team's top rebounder (5.6 rpg).
THE SERIES WITH JAMES MADISON
Saturday will be the first all-time meeting between the schools.
DETROIT ALL-TIME IN THE BRACKETBUSTERS
The 10th annual Sears BracketBusters, a three-day men's college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other Feb. 17-19, will feature 13 nationally televised games – on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN3. The NCAA hopefuls have been selected from a pool of 142 teams from 16 conferences, the largest Sears BracketBusters pool in the event's history, which includes two teams that reached the 2011 Final Four in Houston. Detroit has participated in every BracketBusters event since its inception in 2003.
Detroit all-time in the BracketBusters (5-4)
2003- W, 75-59 at UC Santa Barbara
2004- W, 70-49 vs. Ball State
2005- L, 65-66 vs. Ohio
2006- W, 65-63 vs. Toledo
2007- W, 92-84 at Buffalo
2008- L, 65-81 vs. Bowling Green
2009- L, 75-78 at Tennessee State
2010- W, 68-66 vs. Eastern Michigan
2011- L, 76-84 at Drake
WHAT'S NEXT?
The regular season comes to a close next week when Detroit visits Cleveland State (Feb. 23) and Youngstown State (Feb. 25). Both of those games will have huge implications in the Horizon League standings as Detroit is still in the running for a two-seed. Detroit could finish anywhere from two to six in the seedings for the postseason tournament. If the Titans are slotted anywhere from three to six, Detroit would host a home game on Tues., Feb. 28 in the first round of the HL tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
Visiting Detroit closed the game on a 43-22 run to claim a 71-55 win at the Ervin J. Nutter Center Wednesday night in Horizon League action. The win gave Detroit its fourth victory in a row and ninth in its last 11. Detroit was led by junior
Jason Calliste, who hit three triples en route to a team-high 14 points. Four Titans were in double figures scoring as
Eli Holman added 12,
Doug Anderson 11 and
Chase Simon 10 for Detroit. Holman had his third double-double of the season with 10 rebounds to go along with his dozen points.
CHEER FOR A COIN
In honor of “President Madison's Team” coming to Calihan Hall for the inaugural time, Titan Athletics is offering “Cheer for a Coin”! All Kids 18 and under (with a paid adult admission) are invited to attend the Titan game by donating any US coin with a presidential face. Bring a piece of silver, nickel or even a copper penny with Abe Lincoln on it and receive a complimentary ticket to the 2:00 p.m. game. Proceeds from the Presidents' Cheer for a Coin promotion will be donated to the American Cancer Society in conjunction with Detroit Titan Strength and Conditioning Cardio for a Cause fundraiser.
RIGHT TIME, WRIGHT PLACE
With Detroit's win at Wright State Wednesday, the Titans ran its winning streak to four straight over the Raiders, sweeping the regular season series. The series has now swung to the side of the Titans with Detroit owning a 23-20 edge in the all-time series.
SENIOR SEND-OFF
Saturday's game will be Senior Day, the last regular season home contest for four Titan seniors.
Donavan Foster,
Eli Holman,
LaMarcus Lowe and
Chase Simon will all be introduced pre-game in honor of their time at the University of Detroit Mercy. The group has combined to play 356 games and has chalked-up 3,042 career points heading into Saturday.
BUS TRIP ADDED FOR YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Fans can catch both remaining road games by hopping on the Titan fan bus. A trip to Cleveland State was already in the works for Thursday, but now-- by popular demand-- fans can travel to Youngstown State Saturday to see their beloved Titans in the regular season finale against the Penguins as the teams battle for position in the Horizon League standings. For more information, call Detroit Athletics at 313-993-1700.
THIS ONE GOES TO ELEVEN
The Titans have won nine of their last 11 games, the best 11-game stretch in head coach
Ray McCallum's tenure. Detroit's 9-2 run is the best since the 2003-04 team ripped-off 10 straight wins from Feb. 4 to March 5, 2004.
THREE TO 1,000?
Keeping tabs on individual scoring as we head to the final stretch of the season and there is a possibility that Detroit could have three 1,000-point scorers on the floor at one time.
Chase Simon, already at 1,291 points in a Titan uniform, surpassed the mark in the eraly part of the season. Fellow senior
Eli Holman sits at 950 points with three regular season contests remaining. Sophomore
Ray McCallum also has a shot at quadruple digits this season as he has 879 career points, and depending on the number of postseason games played, could reach that plateau.
ON THE LINE
Coach McCallum has officially joined ON THE LINE and the Black Coaches & Administrators to help bring awareness to prostate cancer. Coach will be sporting a blue bow tie to help raise awareness for prostate cancer. Did you know prostate cancer in men is more common than breast cancer in women? To learn more about Statement Week & ON THE LINE, visit www.ontheline.com.
TIE-BREAKER SCENARIOS
As it stands heading into the final week, Detroit is in a tie for third place with Butler. The Titans are two games back of Valparaiso for the top seed and are just a half-game behind Cleveland State for that coveted two seed and a HL tournament bye all the way to the semifinals. If the season ended today, Detroit would earn the third seed, breaking the tie with Butler with a series sweep over the Bulldogs. The HL tie-breaker policy is:
1.) Head-to-head
2.) If two teams tied- best record against top seed(s)
3.) If three or more teams are tied, combined record of each of the tied teams against the other teams involved in the tie
4.) Compare each of the tied team's records against the team occupying the highest position in the standings and continue down through the standings until the tie is reduced to a two-team tie (at which time revert to items (1) and (2) above or until the tie is broken.
5.) Highest RPI for that season (source for RPI: College Basketball News).
SHOTS FROM THE HEART-- ELITE EIGHT!
Coach McCallum is perfect through three 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 three rounds and has advanced to the "Elite 8", where he will match-up against defending champion Fred Hoiberg of Iowa State. The tournament will be pared down to four in the coming weeks with the finals at the end of 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.
