DETROIT (11/22/2016) – The road journey continues for the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team as the Titans fly to New Hampshire to battle the Wildcats on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m., at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.
Fans can watch the game via an online stream on America East TV. Titan fans can also listen to 910 AM Superstation with the "Voice of the Titans"
Cliff Russell on the call. Live stats will also be provided.
The road-tested Titans have already flown over 3,400 miles in the past three games as they will end a four-game road stand on Wednesday. The contest is the third of four games in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Detroit Mercy currently leads the Horizon League in three-point field goal percentage (.394), and is second in three-point field goals made (9.3). The Titans are also averaging 79.3 points per game, fourth in the HL.
The Titans return home this Saturday, Nov. 26, as the Jaspers of Manhattan come to town. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m., at Calihan Hall.
Tickets to all home games start at just $10, $6 for children and seniors. To purchase tickets online, visit
detroittitans.com/tix. To purchase over the phone or for more information on game and season tickets, contact Director of Ticket Operations & Sales
Justin Hairston at 313-993-1700 ext. 7301 or at
hairstjj1@udmercy.edu.
ALL-TIME VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE
The season has brought along a few unfamiliar foes to start the year, and New Hampshire is no different as the Titans and Wildcats have only met one previous time, a 108-70 victory for Detroit Mercy at the 1978 Motor City Tournament.
Terry Duerod netted a game-high 26 points in that contest.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
New Hampshire won its first two games defeating Lesley (85-60) and on the road at Temple (57-52) before dropping two in a row against Abilene Christian (65-57) and at West Virginia (100-41).
Jaleen Smith is leading the team in scoring at 13.5 points along with 7.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Tanner Leissner tops the team in rebounding at 10.3 per night along with 12.8 points, while Daniel Dion is averaging 11.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
New Hampshire was picked to finish second in the America East Preseason Poll after setting a school record with 20 wins last season. The Wildcats also made the CollegeInsider.com Tournament last year.
111 YEARS OF TITAN BASKETBALL
The 2016-17 season marks the 111th year of collegiate basketball at the University of Detroit Mercy as the Tigers – yes, Tigers - beat Collegiate, 18-7, in the first official Detroit basketball game.
Until 1919, the then University of Detroit athletic teams were known as the Tigers. In the fall of 1919, the Detroit Free Press' sportswriter Stan Brink, who was covering football for the paper, thought that a good nickname for the team would be the Titans.
In Greek mythology, the Titans were a class of oversized people who happened to have almost perfect physiques.
In its 111 years (two years records are missing in 1907-08 and 1908-09) Detroit Mercy is 1,394-1169 (.543) all-time with two regular season Horizon League Championships (1998, 1999) and three conference tournament titles (1994, 1999, 2012).
Detroit Mercy has also made six NCAA tournaments (1962, 1977, 1979, 1998, 1999, 2012) and seven NIT appearances (1960, 1961, 1965, 1978, 2001, 2002, 2013).
ANOTHER TITAN MAN AT THE HELM
Head coach Bacari Alexander was named the 21st head coach in Titan history.
He is the eighth alum to serve as head coach joining Walter Hardy (1913-16), Paul Harbrecht (1922-23), John Barrett (1923-25), Lloyd Brazil (1930-46), John Shada (1946-48), Bob Calihan (1948-69) and John Mulroy (1987-88).
He is also the second head coach to come to Detroit Mercy from the University of Michigan joining his college head coach Perry Watson.
JUST 37 LEAD THEIR ALMA MATER
Head coach Bacari Alexander is one of just 37 head coaches - out of 351 at the Division I level - to take the reigns at his alma mater.
CONGRATS COACH
Head coach Bacari Alexander earned his first win in his coaching debut, the first by a Titan rookie coach since the late Ricky Byrdsong led the Titans to a 64-53 victory against Rice in 1988.
It should be noted that there were only two coaches ahead of him in that span in Ray McCallum (2008-16) and Titan Hall-Of-Famer and coach Alexander's collegiate coach Perry Watson (1993-2008).
TOUGH SCHEDULE COACH
The eleven (11) non-conference foes on the Titan men's basketball schedule posted a 197-161 (.550) last season with four teams making the postseason in East Tennessee State (Vegas 16), Florida State (NIT), New Hampshire (CIT) and Fort Wayne (NIT).
Florida State is currently ranked 25th by the AP and receiving votes in the coaches poll. Fort Wayne (18) and ETSU (22) are both ranked in the mid-major poll, while Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Murray State are receiving votes in that poll.
FREQUENT FLYER MILES
The Titans are currently in the midst of a four-game road swing where Detroit Mercy has already flown 3,484 miles in the first three contests.
It started with a trip to East Tennessee State on Sunday-Monday (1,244 miles round trip), a game at Illinois (381 miles), at Florida State from Champaign, Illinois, (861) and a return flight home after the game at FSU (998).
The flight from Detroit Mercy to Durham, New Hampshire, covers 782 miles so round trip has the Titans posting over 5,000 miles in this four-game span.
VS. THE AMERICA EAST
Detroit Mercy is 4-3 all-time against current teams from the America East Conference going 2-0 against Albany, 1-0 versus Maine and New Hampshire and winless in games against Stony Brook, UMBC and Vermont.
CRASHING THE GLASS
Sophomore
Aaron Foster-Smith tallied a career-best seven rebounds along with six points at Florida State, a team that features two seven-footers.
DOUBLE-DIGIT PERFORMERS
Senior
Chris Jenkins and junior
Jaleel Hogan have netted double figures in scoring in three of the four Titan games.
Jenkins is coming off a season-high 18 points at Florida State. He also had 14 against Adrian and 13 at Illinois.
Hogan posted a season-high 16 points at Illinois and also recorded 12 against Adrian and at Florida State.
CAREER NIGHT FOR MCFOLLEY
Sophomore
Josh McFolley tallied a career-high 25 points at ETSU going 8-of-17 from the field and 7-of-9 from behind the arc.
It was his second career 20-point game and his fifth career contest where he knocked down at least four triples.
The seven 3-pointers were the most by a Titan since Jon Goode sank eight at UIC on Jan. 19, 2008.
EXPLOSIVE START
Detroit Mercy began the year with an offensive explosion scoring 99 points in its 99-69 victory over Adrian College.
The 99 points were the most by the Titans in their season opener since cruising past Kalamazoo, 119-68, in 1975.
IT HAPPENED AGAIN?
After going 37 years without seeing a Titan freshman lead the team in scoring in their debut, it has now happened in back-to-back seasons as rookie
Corey Allen topped the squad with 16 points in the season-opening 99-69 victory over Adrian.
Last year,
Josh McFolley had 17 points in a win over Central State.
Prior to McFolley, the last time a Titan freshman led the team in scoring in his collegiate debut was Jerry Davis, who had 18 against Toledo in 1978.
DOUBLE J
Senior
Jarod Williams came up with his first career double-double in the season-opening win over Adrian as he ended the contest with 10 points and a career-best 10 boards.
He came back to record 16 points - just two shy of his career high - at ETSU.
On the year, he is shooting 65.0 percent hitting 13 of his 20 field goal attempts.
SHOW ME THE WAY ED
Freshman walk-on
Ed Carter III had a great collegiate debut as he dished out a game-high five assists in the season opener. What was even better is that he recorded five assists against zero turnovers.
He went on to pick up four more assists before he recorded his first collegiate turnover.
On the year, he has nine assists against just two turnovers.
JUST PERFECT
Sophomore
Gerald Blackshear Jr. had a perfect day from the field against Adrian by tying his career high with 12 points in going 5-for-5 from the field.
On the year, Blackshear Jr. is 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the field.
HE CAN SHOOT THE 3?
Freshman seven-footer
Malik Eichler is 3-for-3 behind the arc this season.
In a stat anomaly, the seven-footer almost has as many 3-pointers (3) as total rebounds (4) on the year.
SENIOR STATUS
Four seniors are on the Titan roster in
Matthew Grant,
Chris Jenkins, Pat Robinson Jr., and
Jarod Williams.
The quartet has played in 260 career games with 136 starts.
100 FOR JAROD
Senior
Jarod Williams has the most game experience on the Titan roster having played in 100 career games with 59 starts.
Last year, he took the court in all 31 games with six starts and averaged 4.2 points. 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game with 12 steals and four blocks. He posted a season-high 12 points and five boards at nationally-ranked Vanderbilt and tied his season high in back-to-back games with 12 points at Milwaukee and at Green Bay.
As a rookie, he was selected to the All-Horizon League Freshman Team.
PRESEASON THOUGHT
Detroit Mercy was picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll as the Titans garnered 195 points.
The defending regular season champion and NIT runner-up Valparaiso was picked to win the league totaling 385 points, while Oakland was selected second tallying 337.
Last year's conference champion Green Bay earned third with 309 points, while UIC (217) and Wright State (202) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
After Detroit Mercy, Northern Kentucky (153), Cleveland State (150), Youngstown State (125) and Milwaukee (72) rounded out the poll.
NEW FACES
Detroit Mercy has eight newcomers on the squad, the most since the 2008-09 season when then first-year head coach Ray McCallum had 10.
The eight newcomers include one Division I transfer in
Kameron Chatman (Michigan), two junior college transfers in
DeShawndre Black (Schoolcraft College) and
Isaiah Jones (Mt. San Jacinto College) and five true freshmen in
Corey Allen (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti),
Malik Eichler (Berlin, Germany/MacDuffie Prep (MA),
Cole Long (Orangeville, Ont./Athletic Institute Basketball Academy),
Jacob Joubert (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) and
Ed Carter III (Detroit, Mich./Edison).
MR. BASKETBALL FINALIST SUITING UP FOR THE TITANS
Freshman
Corey Allen has a distinguished career at Ypsilanti High School, including finishing fourth in the Michigan Mr. Basketball voting with 1,597 points as a senior.
He is the first Michigan Mr. Basketball Finalist to sign with the Titans out of high school since Ray McCallum in 2010 and only the ninth Mr. Basketball Finalist to sign with Detroit Mercy straight out of high school.
In his four years, Ypsilanti was 79-15, including 22-2 as a senior, and won its conference in all four seasons. He tallied 23.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in his final prep year, while shooting 52 percent from the field, 48 percent from behind the arc and 86 percent at the free throw line.
In his career, he totaled over 1,500 points.
THE MAN FROM NEWFOUNDLAND
Freshman
Cole Long is believed to be the first Titan in school history to hail from Newfoundland.
He later moved to Orangeville, Ontario, to attend high school at the prestigious Athlete Institute Preparatory School of Basketball.
He was ranked the No. 17 recruit in Canada by Hoops Hype Canada as well as No. 22 by North Pole Hoops. Long finished his two-year prep career with the Athlete Institute basketball team, where he played alongside Jamal Murray, who suited up for one season at Kentucky and was the No. 7 pick in the 2016 NBA draft as well as Thon Maker, the No. 10 overall pick in the draft.
2017 LITTLE CAESARS MOTOR CITY MADNESS UPDATE
The Horizon League Executive Council has approved a revised bracket for the 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championships. In the new format, the women's basketball championship will run concurrently with the men's from March 3-7, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
The five days of games will feature men's and women's tournament contests on each day, beginning with the 8-9 and 7-10 games on Friday, March 3. The winners of those contests will play the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the second round, with the victors advancing to Monday's semifinals. Sunday's third round contests will see the 4-5 and 3-6 seeds play for a berth in the semifinals. Semifinal winners will meet on Tuesday, March 7, for the Horizon League title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Men's and Women's Tournaments.
2017 marks the final year the Little Caesars Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championships will be contested at Joe Louis Arena before moving to the state-of-the-art Little Caesars Arena, currently under construction in downtown Detroit. After serving as the title sponsor for the 2016 men's basketball championship, Little Caesars will return for the 2017 edition of the men's and women's tournaments.
The 2016 Little Caesars Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship was carried across ESPN networks, culminating in Green Bay's first conference championship in 21 years. Over 20,900 fans attended the four-day tournament, the first neutral-site Horizon League men's basketball championship since 2003.
