GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (1/12/15) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will continue Horizon League play when the Titans visit the Windy City on Wednesday, Jan. 14 to face UIC. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET at the UIC Pavilion 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
The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team improved to 2-1 in the Horizon League on Saturday after earning a 74-54 Metro Series victory over rival Oakland in front of 6,522 fans at historic Calihan Hall.

All 11 Titans who played scored led by freshman Paris Bass' career-high 18 points. Senior Juwan Howard Jr. added 11 points and junior Anton Wilson scored 10 points in the Detroit victory.

Detroit improved to 8-9 overall, 2-1 in league play, while the Golden Grizzlies dropped to 5-12 overall and 1-2 in the league.

The Titans had a 38-23 lead at halftime and didn't relinquish the double-digit advantage in the second half. Detroit's largest lead of the game was 21 points late in the second half.
 
Both teams finished with 38 rebounds, while Detroit shot 46.7 percent from the field. Oakland shot 34.5 percent from the floor. The Titans were 9-for-16 from the free throw line, while the Golden Grizzlies finished shooting 8-of-13 from the charity stripe.

ABOUT UIC
The UIC men's basketball team (5-13, 1-2 HL) dropped a Horizon League road game at Valparaiso (15-3, 2-1 HL) on Thursday night by a final score of 85-56. Senior Ahman Fells equaled a career-high with 13 points on 5-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the outside. Fells now has four straight double-digit scoring efforts.
 
The Flames were once again without the services of 6-foot-9 forwards Jason McClellan and Tai Odiase due to injury. Valpo was able to take advantage of UIC's lack of height on the interior as VU scored 50 points in the paint. Crusader center Vashil Fernandez notched a career-high 15 points and added eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

SERIES WITH THE FLAMES
This will be the 43rd meeting between Detroit and UIC, with the Titans leading the all-time series 29-13. Detroit won both meetings last year, including a 65-59 win at the UIC Pavilion. Juwan Howard Jr. finished with a game-high 20 points, while Jarod Williams scored a career-high 17.
 
BASS NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
UDM freshman guard/forward Paris Bass has been named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week for the third time this season following his performance in the Metro Series win over Oakland.
 
Bass finished with a career-high 18 points in Detroit's 74-54 victory over the Golden Grizzlies on Saturday. He was 8-of-14 from the field and also grabbed four rebounds and had one assist in 21 minutes of action.

Bass scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half as the Titans pulled away from Oakland.

Bass currently leads all freshmen in the conference in scoring (11.1 ppg.), rebounding (5.7 rpg.), steals (24) and blocked shots (15).

DETROIT IN THE TOP-50
Heading into Wednesday's game Detroit finds itself ranked among the top-50 in the nation in three categories, three-point field goal percentage, turnover margin and steals per game. The Titans rank 29th in turnover margin (+3.1), 44th in steals per game (8.1) and 44th in three-point field goal percentage (38.4).

HOWARD IS 27 AND CLIMBING
This season, Detroit senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. became the 39th Titan to join the 1,000-point club and currently ranks 27th all-time with 1,148 points. Former Titan Doug Chappell '84 is next on the list as he ranks 26th overall with 1,169 points. Juwan Howard, Sr. scored 1,526 points at the University of Michigan from 1992-94 as part of the Fab Five.

TITANS PICKED THIRD
Detroit 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.

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.

UP NEXT
Detroit will host Horizon League foe Green Bay on Saturday, Jan. 17 for Homecoming. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET at historic Calihan Hall and will be televised locally on WADL-38 and nationally on ESPN3. The game can also be heard on AM 1270 with the voice of the Titans Dan Leach.