GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (12/15/14) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will pack-up for an eight day road trip covering more than 7,000 miles as the Titans visit Central Florida, Rhode Island and Arizona State. The first game against UCF is scheduled for Wednesday (Dec. 17) at CFE Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN3.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Fans 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 OUTING
Senior Juwan Howard Jr. scored a game-high 27 points to become the 39th Titan to join the 1,000-point club, but that wasn't enough as No. 11 Wichita State used a late run to sneak past the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team 77-68 on Saturday. The game was played in front of 4,110 people at historic Calihan Hall.
 
The Titans (6-4) trailed by as much as 11 points in the first half, but used a 23-9 run in the second stanza to build a 54-44 lead with 11:54 remaining. Howard led the charge with 13 points during that run. But the Shockers were able to bounce back to close the game on a 33-14 run including seven-straight free throws in the closing minute to secure their 42nd win over their last 44 games.
 
Howard finished with 27 points – 17 in the second half – three rebounds, two steals and two assists, while freshman Paris Bass added 12 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Matthew Grant also scored 12 points while grabbing seven boards and dishing out three assists. 

Detroit finished the game shooting 44.8 percent overall, including 9-of-24 from three-point territory, while Wichita State finished shooting 41.3 percent overall and 9-of-28 from downtown.
 
ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA
The UCF men's basketball team dropped its third straight game, falling at home to visiting Florida Atlantic 54-41 on Saturday night. The Knights were held to just 16.1 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
 
The Knights (5-4) led 26-25 at halftime, shooting 8-of-20 from the field and 8-of-12 from the line, while holding the Owls (4-3) to just 32.3 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. Freshman B.J. Taylor led UCF with 11 first half points.

FAU outscored the Knights 21-2 to start the second half, giving up just a free throw each to freshman Adonys Henriquez and B.J. Taylor.
 
Taylor led UCF with 17 points in the game. It is the fourth time he has led the Knights in scoring in the seven games he has played.
 
SERIES WITH KNIGHTS
This will be the first meeting between Detroit and UCF.
 
KANE (AND JENKINS) IS ABLE
Last Monday, University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball head coach Ray McCallum announced that junior center Youssoupha Kane will be eligible to play against No. 11 Wichita State. Kane, who has two years of eligibility remaining, joined sophomore guard/forward Chris Jenkins on the active roster, who was eligible on Saturday after transferring from Colorado. 
 
TOP-30 IN THE NATION
As a team the Titans rank among the top-30 in nation in three different categories Turnover margin (21st), steals per game (22nd) and free throw percentage (30th). Detroit has a +4.6 turnover margin on the season, while averaging 9.0 steals per game and shooting 74.6 percent from the charity stripe.
 
TOP-5 RATIO
Sophomore guard Matthew Grant currently leads the Horizon League in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.2) and ranks third in the nation. Through the first 10 games Grant has recorded 31 assists (3.1 per game), while only committing six turnovers.
 
FIVE-GAME HOLIDAY TICKET PACKAGE
The University of Detroit Mercy Department of Athletics is helping kick off the holiday season by announcing a five-game Horizon League Holiday Pack for just $55. For that price, Detroit Titans fans will get men's basketball tickets to five Horizon League home games in 2015 at historic Calihan Hall.

In addition, the first 25 fans that purchase the Holiday Pack will also receive a free Titan coffee mug (one per pack).

The tickets are good for upper reserved seating and the ticket package opens with the highly-anticipated first men's basketball meeting of the season between Detroit and Oakland on Jan. 10 in what is also the first men's basketball Metro Series rivalry meeting.

The other four conference home games in the package are against league favorite Green Bay on Jan. 17, UIC on Feb. 8, Cleveland State on Feb. 13 and Valparaiso on Feb. 25 for the regular season finale. The games are locked in and not interchangeable for another home game.
  
BASS IS SOME FRESHMAN
University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball freshman guard/forward Paris Bass has already been named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week twice through the first five weeks of action. The only weeks that he hasn't received the award were weeks that the Titans only played one game.
 
Through the first 10 games of his career Bass is averaging 12.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.6 assists and 1.2  blocked shots per game in just 24 minutes of action. He leads all Horizon League freshmen in scoring, rebounding and steals, while ranking among the top-15 in the League in six different categories.

HOWARD IS 37 AND CLIMBING
Detroit senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. recently became the 39th Titan to join the 1,000-point club and currently ranks 37th all-time with 1,023 points.  Former Titan Eli Holman '12 is 36th with 1,024 points, while Larry Saci '69 ranks 35th  all-time with 1,059. Juwan Howard, Sr. scored 1,526 points at the University of Michigan from 1992-94 as part of the Fab Five.
 
UDM SELECTED TO HOST NCAA TOURNAMENT
It was announced Monday (Nov. 17) that Detroit was selected as one of the eight host sites for first- and second-round games in the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. University of Detroit Mercy will serve as the host institution with the games being played at the new Detroit arena March 16 & 18. Exact times and ticket availability for those contests will be released at a later date.

Downtown Detroit last hosted the NCAA tournament in 2009 and 2008, when the men's Final Four and Midwest Regional were played at Ford Field, respectively. The Palace of Auburn Hills welcomed early round games in 2013. In addition to the tournament, the area has welcomed other NCAA events, including the Men's Frozen Four (2010), the Division I Wrestling Championship (2007), and the Women's Bowling National Championship (2009, 2011, 2013).

RED, WHITE AND BLUE
Detroit is just one of 15 teams in the nation to have both an active player and coach with USA Basketball. Senior guard Brandan Kearney was a member of the 2010 USA Youth Olympic Games Team that finished in fourth place with a 5-2 record in Singapore. He also played on the 2009 USA U16 National Team that captured the gold medal with a perfect 5-0 slate at the 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mendoza, Argentina.
 
Coach McCallum was an assistant coach for the 2000 USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team and helped coach the USA to a silver medal and a 4-1 slate. His son and former Titan Ray McCallum played on the 2011 USA World University Games Team that finished with a 7-1 record, but dropped its quarterfinal contest and returned home in fifth place.

UP NEXT
Detroit will continue its eight day road trip covering more than 7,000 miles as the Titans visit Rhode Island on Saturday, Dec. 20. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. ET at the Ryan Center and can be listened to on 97.1 The Ticket with the voice of the Titans Dan Leach.