GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (2/5/14) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will continue its string of four-straight Friday night games on ESPNU when the Titans visit Valparaiso on Friday, Feb. 7. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. (ET) at the ARC and will be televised live nationally on ESPNU with Jim Barber and Malcolm Huckaby making the call.

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 second 20 point performance in three days and 10th of the season but it wasn't enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell to Cleveland State, 86-78, Friday night on ESPNU at historic Calihan Hall.

Howard finished with 20 points, while senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma poured in 21 on 7-of-8 shooting. Sophomore guard Carlton Brundidge added 15 points and senior center Ugochukwu Njoku grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, his second-straight double digit night on the boards, while the freshman backcourt of Matthew Grant and Jarod Williams combined to score 12 points with five rebounds.

Detroit shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) overall and 31.3 percent (5-16) from downtown, while outrebounding the Vikes 34-24 and outscoring them 50-30 in the paint. But Cleveland State finished shooting 59.6 percent (28-of-47) overall, including 64.3 percent (9-14) from beyond the arc.

ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
Winners of five of its last six games,Valparaiso (14-10, 6-3 HL) used a combination of a career-best 33 points from Lavonte Dority and a program record-tying seven blocked shots by Vashil Fernandez to propel the Crusaders to a 70-46 victory at UIC on Saturday. Dority, the Horizon League Player of the Week, scored 22 of his 33 points in the first half, staking Valpo to a 13-point halftime lead, while Fernandez had seven of Valpo's 10 rejections as the Crusaders held UIC to just 26.8% shooting from the field.

SERIES WITH VALPO
This will be the 23rd meeting between Detroit and Valparaiso, with the Crusaders leading the all-time series 13-9. Valpo won the first meeting this year 78-70 at Calihan Hall. The two teams split last year in the regular season, with both winning on the road. Valpo struck first with a late second half rally to snap the Titans 17-game home winning streak at Calihan Hall with an 89-88 win. Detroit then returned the favor with a second half comeback of its own at the ARC to walk away with an 84-74 win.

FRESHMAN BACKCOURT
The Titans have started freshman guards Matthew Grant and Jarod Williams in the backcourt together over the last four games, 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 12.4 per game and ranks second overall with 37.4 per game. Senior co-captain Evan Bruinsma leads the team and ranks second in the League with 7.7 boards per game, while Ugochukwu Njoku (6.4) and Juwan Howard Jr. (5.5) rank sixth and 10th.

MEIJER $10,000 SERIES OF SHOTS
The University of Detroit Mercy and Meijer's have teamed up to give away $10,000 on Sunday during the men's basketball game versus Youngstown State. The UDM Dance Team will pass out raffle tickets and one contestant will be selected during a random drawing. Fans will need to listen for their number to see if they have won. The selected fan will have to make a lay-up, free throw, three-pointer and half court shot in less than 25 seconds to win, so start practicing!

UP NEXT
Detroit will host Youngstown State on Sunday at historic Calihan Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and will be televised locally on Comcast 900. The game can also be seen online through HLN Detroit with Dan York making the call.