GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (1/17/14) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will tip-off a three-game road trip on Saturday (Jan. 18) as the Titans visit Youngstown Sate. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Beeghly Center and fans can follow the game live on the Horizon League Network.

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 OUTING
Juwan Howard Jr. poured in a career-high 35 points, but it was not enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped a 78-70 contest to Valparaiso on Wednesday evening at historic Calihan Hall.

Howard was 13-of-23 from the field, 3-of-6 from behind the arc and 6-of-9 from the free throw line in setting his career high all while adding four rebounds and four assists.

Detroit (8-11, 1-3 HL) led 41-38 with 15:39 left in regulation, before the Crusaders put together an 11-3 run to build a 49-43 lead with 12:41 left. The Titans responded with a 7-2 run to trim the lead to one, 51-50, with just less than 10 minutes left, before Valparaiso used an 11-0 run to build its largest lead of the game 62-50. Detroit narrowed the gap to five, 62-57, but that was a close, as the score would get as Valpo closed the game by making 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch.

Freshman guard Matthew Grant netted 14 points hitting four three-pointers, while Evan Bruinsma had 10 points, four steals and two rebounds.

Detroit shot 38.1 percent (24-of-63) overall, while Valparaiso finished shooting 48.7 percent (19-of-39). The Titans dished out 12 assists, while forcing 19 turnovers with 11 steals. The Crusaders won the battle on the boards 36-27, while also connecting on 36-of-44 shots from charity stripe.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State (11-8, 2-2) will be looking for its third-straight win in Horizon League play after dropping its first two contests. The Penguins last game was a heart-pounding 67-66 win over rival Cleveland State.

Senior Kendrick Perry turned in an epic performance with 31 points, including YSU's final 12 points, five coming in the final 38 seconds. Sophomores Bobby Hain and Ryan Weber each had 10 points for the Penguins in the win over CSU.

Perry leads YSU and the League in scoring with 21.6 points per game, while also sitting second in steals (2.8) and third in assists (4.4), respectively. Three other Penguins are also scoring double figures with Kamren Belin averaging 12.3 points per game followed by Hain with 10.6 and Weber 10.3.

SERIES WITH YOUNGSTOWN
This will be the 35th meeting between Detroit and Youngstown State, with the Titans leading the all-time series 26-8. Detroit has won the last four meetings, and nine of the last 10, including a 101-60 win at the Beeghly Center last year. The last time Youngstown State defeated the Titans was a 64-61 win in Detroit on Dec. 1, 2011. The last time YSU defeated Detroit at the Beeghly Center was a 55-48 in on Feb. 7, 2008.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Saturday's game between Detroit and Youngstown State will feature a pair of names that many college basketball fans are well aware of as Juwan Howard and Larry Johnson will collide. But these aren't the retied NBA players facing off against each other, but their sons who carry the same name.

As many Titan fans already know Juwan Howard, Jr.'s father was a member of the University of Michigan's Fab Five which reached the NCAA National Championship game in back-to-back seasons (1992, 1993), while Larry Johnson, Jr.'s father was on the 1990 UNLV team that won the title. Both moved onto to have illustrious NBA career's as Howard played 19 seasons in the association winning back-to-back NBA Championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, while Johnson or "Grandmama" played 10 seasons with the then Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks and was a two-time NBA All-Star.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Detroit co-captains Juwan Howard, Jr. and Evan Bruinsma are definitely leading the Titans and it shows on the court as they both sit atop of the charts in a couple of categories. In scoring Howard and Bruinsma rank first and second with 17.6 and 12.0 points per game, respectively, while Bruinsma leads the team on the glass with 7.9 rebounds per game and Howard is right behind him with 5.7 boards per game.

In the Horizon League Howard ranks fourth in scoring and 10th in rebounds, while Bruinsma ranks 18th in scoring and third on the glass.

BRUINSMA THE SCHOLAR
Senior forward Evan Bruinsma has been named the Horizon League's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Month for December. This is the second-straight month that the co-captain has earned this honor.

Bruinsma carries a 3.8 GPA as a business administration major and was a member of the Horizon League Honor Roll in the Fall and Spring of 2012-13. He was also named to the 2013 UDM Athletic Director's Honor Roll and nominated for the 2014 NABC Good Works Team.

Bruinsma averaged 12.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in December and recorded two double-doubles, including 25 points and 14 rebounds at Toledo. Over the seven games in the month Bruinsma scored in double figure five times, while grabbing 10 or more rebounds four times.

UP NEXT
Detroit will continue its three-game road swing when the Titans invade Wisconsin to face Milwaukee on Friday (Jan. 24) and Green Bay on Sunday (Jan. 26). Both games will be carried live on 97.1 The Ticket's webstream with Dan Leach the voice of Titan Basketball.