GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DETROIT (11/6/14) –The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will conclude its exhibition season when it hosts Marygrove on Saturday, Nov. 8. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m., following the women's exhibition game against Salem International at Noon at Calihan Hall. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and all fans receive
FREE ADMISSION.GAMEDAY CENTRALFans can follow every Detroit game this season through the 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 OUTINGDetroit tipped off its exhibition season with an impressive 84-49 win over Siena Heights on Saturday (Nov. 1) at historic Calihan Hall.
Junior guard
Anton Wilson led the Titans with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-9 from downtown, while senior forward
Juwan Howard Jr. pitched in 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Both senior
Brandan Kearney and sophomore
Jarod Williams scored nine points, while freshman
Paris Bass added eight points to go along with eight rebounds. Junior guard
Carlton Brundidge recorded a game-high seven assists.
Detroit shot 47.3 percent (35-of-74) overall, including 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from behind the arc, while holding Siena Heights to just 27.9 percent (17-of-61) overall. The Titans' defense also forced 22 turnovers and recorded 14 steals and five blocked shots, while dishing out 17 assists.
LAST YEAR IN EXHIBITIONSThe Titans won both of their exhibition contests last year in convincing fashion as they topped Lawrence Tech (93-51) and Concordia (89-50) by a combined total of 81 points.
The Titans opened their first game with a 13-3 run in the first five minutes of action, led by four points from
Juwan Howard Jr., and never looked back. Howard then continued his stellar start from floor with five more points, including a three pointer to put the Titans up 28-8 with 6:43 left in the first half. Howard finished the first half with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-3 from downtown, while
Jarod Williams added seven as Detroit took a 45-24 lead into the locker room.
Howard led the Titans with 28 points, including 19 in the first half, while Williams pitched in 16 points and
Carlton Brundidge added 12.
The Titans then finished their preseason with an 89-50 win over Concordia. Detroit closed the first half with a 27-15 run and opened the second stanza with a 22-6 run to put the game away. Howard led Detroit in scoring with 23 points, while
Anton Wilson pitched in 13 and
Matthew Grant added 11.
TITANS PICKED THIRDDetroit was picked to finish third in the Horizon League preseason poll - voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members – while senior forward
Juwan Howard Jr. was named to the preseason first team at the Horizon League Men's Basketball Media Day at the Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont.
Both Howard and head coach
Ray McCallum attended the 2014 Media Day in the Windy City.
Green Bay was selected as the favorite to win the league with 32 first place votes and 357 points overall, while Cleveland State was picked to finish second with 335 points, including nine first place votes. Detroit was slated to place third with 239 points, while Valparaiso was picked fourth with 228 points.
Wright State is projected to finish fifth totaling 186 points, ahead of sixth-place and defending Horizon League Tournament Champion Milwaukee's 182 points. Metro Series rival Oakland was picked seventh (178), followed by Youngstown State (95) and UIC (45).
The last time Detroit was picked among the top-three of the Horizon League preseason poll was the 2012-13 season when the Titans finished second in Horizon League play with a 12-4 mark and 20-13 overall, earning a trip to the NIT.
WELCOME TO THE SHOWThe Titans welcome an impressive group of new faces to court this season as
Patrick Ackerman,
Paris Bass and
Chris Jenkins will be eligible for competition after sitting out last year. Newcomers
Aaron Foster-Smith,
Jaleel Hogan and
Youssoupha Kane as well as
Brandan Kearney, who transferred from Arizona State, will also look to make an impact.
MOVING FORWARDDetroit returns a core of student-athletes who saw playing time in 30 or more games last season including Howard, who was named to All-Horizon League Second Team last year after averaging 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Also returning up front with Howard will be senior forward
Patrick Onwenu who played in all 32 games for the Titans last year where he averaged 4.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. During the Titans 2014 Summer Trip to Vancouver Onwenu emerged to lead the team with 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Sophomore guard
Jarod Williams also earned All-League honors by being named to the Rookie Team after starting 28 games in which he averaged 7.7 points and 2.0 assists per game. Returning to the back court with Williams will be his classmate
Matthew Grant, who played in all 32 games last year – starting 12 – as a true freshman, while averaging 7.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
A pair of junior guards will also be competing for playing time the backcourt as
Carlton Brundidge and
Anton Wilson both averaged more than seven points per game last year. Brundidge played in 32 games – starting 20 – as a sophomore where he averaged 7.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, while his classmate Wilson also played in all 32 games last season averaging 7.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
Between Howard, Williams, Grant, Brundidge, Wilson and Onwenu the Titans return 75 percent of their scoring from last season along with 52 percent of their work on the boards.
UP NEXTDetroit will tip-off its 110th season of basketball on Friday (Nov. 14) when it hosts Rochester College at historic Calihan Hall. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be televised live on Comcast 900 with the voice of the Titans
Dan Leach calling the action.