GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (1/30/14) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team begin its string of four-straight Friday night games on ESPNU as the Titans host Cleveland State on Friday, Jan. 31 at historic Calihan Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will be televised live nationally on ESPNU with Jim Barber and Malcolm Huckaby making the call.

ROUNDBALL LUNCHEON AT CROWNE PLAZA
The University of Detroit Mercy Athletic Department will continue its annual tradition of hosting a Roundball Luncheon with the third luncheon of the year on Monday, February 3 to take place from 12-1:30 p.m. at Crowne Plaza (formerly the Hotel Pontchartrain) in Detroit.

For just $15, family, friends and all fans of Detroit basketball are welcome to enjoy food at Crowne Plaza. UDM men's basketball head coach Ray McCallum will talk about this year's team and answer basketball questions.

Reserve your spot today and RSVP to Clay Shaw at Clay.Shaw@udmercy.edu or call 313-993-1705.

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. recorded his ninth 20-point performance of the season with a game-high 25 points as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team extinguished the UIC Flames, 74-68, Wednesday night at historic Calihan Hall. The win is the Titans third in Horizon League play this season and fourth straight over UIC dating back to Dec. 29, 2011.

Detroit (10-13, 3-5 HL) broke open a 61-61 tie with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore guard Anton Wilson to close the game with a 13-7 run.

Howard finished 10-of-18 from the field and 2-of-5 from the deep, while dishing out three assists, and two steals. Wilson scored 16, including nine of the Titans final 13 points, while senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma added 15 points to go along with nine rebounds. Senior center Ugochukwu Njoku grabbed a game and career-high 12 rebounds, while the freshman backcourt of Matthew Grant and Jarod Williams combined to score 12 points with five assists and three steals.

Detroit shot 49 percent (28-of-57) overall and 40 percent (8-20) from downtown, while UIC finished shooting 42.4 percent (25-of-59) overall, including 28.6 percent (4-14) from beyond the arc. The Titans won the battle on the boards 35-33 and forced 11 turnovers with six steals, while dishing out 15 assists.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State (14-9, 5-3 HL) head coach Gary Waters became the all-time winningest coach in CSU history with his 150th career win as the Vikings earned an 82-68 victory at Eastern Illinois on Tuesday night at Lantz Arena.

Waters, who tied the mark on Saturday with a victory over Valparaiso, moved past Ray Dieringer, who won 149 games from 1969-1983.

The Vikings reached 80 plus points for the eighth time this year, the most since the 2010-11 squad also did it eight times.

Bryn Forbes paced the Vikings with 25 points, three assists and four steals. He was 4-of-8 from three-point, extending his streak of a three-pointer to 23 straight games, a school record.

Trey Lewis finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Anton Grady added 10 points and eight rebounds. Devon Long chipped in nine points, while Demonte Flannigan scored six points and Jon Harris tallied eight rebounds and four assists.

SERIES WITH CLEVELAND STATE
This will be the 57th meeting between Detroit and Cleveland State, with the Titans leading the all-time series 37-19. The Vikings took the first meeting this year with a 73-63 topping on Jan. 8 at the Wolstein Center. Both teams split in the regular season last year, including a 92-62 thumping by Detroit at Calihan Hall.

FRESHMAN BACKCOURT
On Friday, Jan. 24 at Milwaukee the Titans started freshman guards Matthew Grant and Jarod Williams in the backcourt for the first time this season, making the pair the first freshman guards to start for Detroit since Ray McCallum and Jason Calliste did in 2010. The only difference being that both Grant and Williams are true freshmen, while in 2010 Calliste was a redshirt freshman. The last time two true freshmen started in the Titan backcourt together dates back to the 1980-81 season when Audie Matthews and Mark Moore started 13 games together.

CLEANING THE GLASS
Entering Friday's game the Titans lead the Horizon League in offensive rebounds with 12.3 per game and ranks second overall with 37.5 per game. Senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma leads the team and ranks second in the League with 7.8 boards per game, while Ugochukwu Njoku (6.2) and Juwan Howard Jr. (5.6) rank seventh and 10th.

UP NEXT
Detroit will continue its string of four-straight Friday night games on ESPNU when the Titans visit Valparaiso on Friday, Feb. 7 at the ARC. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m.