GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (12/28/14) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team returns to Dick Vitale Court to host Oral Roberts on Tuesday, Dec. 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at historic Calihan Hall and will be televised locally on WADL and nationally on ESPN3.
 
The game can also be heard on AM 1270 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
Arizona State scored 50 points in the first half and never looked back as the Sun Devils topped the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team, 93-54, Tuesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
 
Arizona State (7-5) broke open a two-point game early by closing the first half with a 43-17 run and never looked back.

Senior guard Brandan Kearney – who played 19 games with Arizona State last season – led Detroit (6-7) with 15 points, while classmate Juwan Howard Jr. pitched in nine.
 
Detroit finished the game shooting a season low 30 percent (18-of-60) overall and 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from downtown, while ASU finished shooting 57.4 percent overall (31-of-54).
 
ASU also won the battle of the boards 43-34 and forced 20 Titans turnovers, while dishing out 21 assists.
 
ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS
The Oral Roberts men's basketball team jumped out to a 15-2 lead 3:30 into the game and cruised to a 94-42 victory over Haskell Sunday afternoon at the Mabee Center. It was first 50-point victory for ORU since topping Panhandle State 91-41 November 25, 2006.
 
ORU got a pair of 20-point performances from Obi Emegano (22 points) and Korey Billbury (20 points). Billbury also posted a career best 17 rebounds and seven assists in the game, leading the team in both categories. Emegano had a career best eight steals in the win, the third-most in ORU history behind Haywoode Workman who had nine in a game twice during the 1988-89 season.
 
As a team, ORU notched 19 steals in the game, four off the school record and the most since recording 18 steals at Centenary January 5, 2008.
 
SERIES WITH ORU
This will be the 16th meeting between Detroit and Oral Roberts, with the Golden Eagles leading the all-time series 8-7. ORU won the last meeting, 62-52, in Tulsa during the 1986-87 campaign as both teams were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC). The Titans last win over the Golden Eagles came during that same season, 67-64, at Calihan Hall.
 
UDM NIGHT AT THE PALACE
For a second-straight year the Detroit Pistons will host a special University of Detroit Mercy Night when the Sacramento Kings visit the Palace of Auburn Hills on Sunday, Jan. 4.
 
The Titans host Milwaukee in Horizon League action that same day at 1 p.m. at historic Calihan Hall, before the Pistons tip-off against the Kings at 6 p.m.
 
There will be a special game ball presentation with Detroit Titans head coach Ray McCallum, before tip-off at the Palace.
 
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 13 games of his career Bass is averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.0  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 34 AND CLIMBING
Detroit senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. recently became the 39th Titan to join the 1,000-point club and currently ranks 34th all-time with 1,074 points. Carl Pickett '97 ranks 33rd all-time with 1,075, while Al Cech '64 is 32nd with 1,089. 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 hit the road as the Titans tip-off Horizon League play at Wright State on Friday, Jan. 2. The game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Nutter Center and will be televised nationally on ESPN3.