DETROIT (12/18/14) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team 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.

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 forward Juwan Howard Jr. scored a game-high 25 points, but for a second-straight game that wasn't enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell, 75-70, Wednesday night to Central Florida at CFE Arena.
 
The Titans (6-5) trailed by 18 – their largest deficit of the season – 51-33 with 14:06 left in regulation, before trimming the lead to three, 68-65 with 29 seconds left. But the Knights made 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
 
Howard finished with 25 points – 15 in the second half – three rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and a steal, while freshman Paris Bass added 11 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore guard Matthew Grant pitched in eight points while dishing out four assists. 
 
Detroit finished the game shooting 46.6 percent overall, including 8-of-18 from 3-point territory, while UCF finished shooting 50 percent overall and 9-of-20 from downtown. The Knights also made 22 free throws – including seven down the stretch – while Detroit made just eight. Both teams finished tied with 28 rebounds and 15 assists.
 
ABOUT RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island (6-3) used its defense to put the game away early, leading by as many as 15 points in the first half en route to an 83-44 win over Delaware State Saturday.

With Delaware State (4-6) up 10-9 with 14:57 left in the half, the Rams went on a 20-4 run that was sparked by the defense. Rhode Island scored six straight fast-break points, as Jared Terrell and E.C. Matthews scored on back-to-back layups set up by steals, and Hassan Martin had a dunk following a blocked shot by Matthews. Gilvydas Biruta has six points during the run, including a pair of dunks.

The Rams scored 11 points off turnovers and limited their guests to 21.9 percent from the floor in the first half as they controlled the tempo throughout. Rhode Island pushed the lead to as many as 41 points in the second half as its lead was never seriously challenged.
 
SERIES WITH THE RAMS
This will be the sixth meeting between Detroit and Rhode Island, with the Titans leading the all-time series 3-2. Detroit won the last meeting 70-68 at Calihan Hall last year. Juwan Howard Jr. led the Titans with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Matthew Grant scored 11 points and Jarod Williams added eight.

TITAN COURT REPORT
The first episode of the two-time Michigan Emmy Award winning TV show the Titan Court Report is scheduled to air on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 11:30 a.m. on WADL TV-38 in Detroit. The episode will also re-air the following week on the Titan Classic Sports Network (Channel 38.4).
 
The first episode of the fifth season will give fans an opportunity to meet some of the new faces of the 2014-15 Titans as well as a look back on the on the 1964 Football program. The episode also takes a behind the scene trip with the Titans to Ann Arbor as well as a sit down interview with head coach Ray McCallum.
 
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 (5.0) and ranks third in the nation. Through the first 10 games Grant has recorded 35 assists (3.2 per game), while only committing seven 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 four 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 nine games of his career Bass is averaging 12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 1.4 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 36 AND CLIMBING
Detroit senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. recently became the 39th Titan to join the 1,000-point club and currently ranks 36th all-time with 1,048 points. 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 conclude its eight day road trip covering more than 7,000 miles when the Titans visit Arizona State on Tuesday, Dec. 23. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. ET at Wells Fargo Arena and will be televised live on the PAC-12 Network. The can also be heard on AM 1270 with the voice of the Titans Dan Leach.