DETROIT (11/25/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will finally be back in historic Calihan Hall as the Titans host Manhattan in the final game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Saturday.

Game time is set for 2 p.m., on Star Wars Day. All fans are encouraged to dress up as their favorite Star Wars character for the game against the Jaspers. There will also be a drawing for free tickets to see the latest movie in the series, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which will be released in December. 

The Titans will also host a Canned Food Drive in conjunction with The Campus Kitchen at the University of Detroit Mercy, all to help benefit the local community.

The game will be televised locally on WADL TV-38 and on ESPN3 with Dan Dickerson and Earl Cureton on the call. The "Voice of the Titans" Cliff Russell will have the action over the airwaves on 910 AM Superstation. Live stats will also be provided.

Detroit Mercy started the year at home with a win, but has been on the road the last four games. The contest starts two in a row at Calihan Hall with the red, white and blue welcoming in-state rival Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. 

Tickets to all home games start at just $10, $6 for children and seniors and FREE for all students, with proper ID. 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. MANHATTAN
This is the first-ever meeting between the two urban religious institutions on the hardwood. 

The two schools are actually conference rivals in men's lacrosse as both programs are a part of the MAAC. 

ABOUT THE JASPERS
Manhattan is 1-3 on the year with the lone victory at home against Hofstra, 80-68. The three losses have come with two on the road at Bucknell (76-64) and at Temple (88-67) along with a home setback to Winthrop (94-81).

Zavier Turner leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points. Aaron Walker Jr. is tallying 11.3 points and 4.0 rebounds, while Zane Waterman is posting 10.5 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds.

As a team, Manhattan is registering 73.0 points and giving up 81.5. 

Manhattan has won two MAAC titles in the past three years, but was picked to finish sixth in the league's preseason coaches poll. The Jaspers have also been without the services of senior Rich Williams, a preseason Second Team selection, so far on the year. He averaged 14.8 ppg and a team-best 6.0 rpg last year with seven 20-point games and three double-doubles. 

Steve Masiello is in his sixth year as the team's head coach. 

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 third head coach to come to Detroit Mercy from the University of Michigan joining his college head coach Perry Watson and Don Sicko.  

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.

HARLEM GLOBETROTTER TURNED COACH
Head coach Bacari Alexander '99 is one of just two men's basketball coaches at the Division I level to play for the famous Harlem Globetrotters.

Joining coach Alexander (1999-2001) in that honor is current South Florida head coach Orlando Antigua (1995-2002). 

In addition, current Prairie View A&M head coach Byron Smith was the head coach for the team in the early 2000's. 

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. 

CALIHAN HOSPITALITY
The Titans have made life tough for non-conference opponents visiting Calihan Hall as Detroit Mercy is 83-19 in its last 102 home games against non-league schools.

The Titans have won seven straight non-conference home games dating back to last season. 

Last year, Detroit Mercy was 6-0 with wins over Central State, UM-Dearborn, Northeastern, Toledo, Bowling Green and UCF, and began this season with a win over Adrian.

FREQUENT FLYER MILES
The Titans just finished a four-game road swing where Detroit Mercy traveled over 5,000 miles in a nine-day span.

It started with a trip to East Tennessee State (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). It ended on Wednesday with a flight from Detroit Mercy to Durham, New Hampshire (1,562 miles round trip). 

VS. THE MAAC
The Titans are 36-22 all-time against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with most of that being compiled with against Jesuit-rival Canisius (17-14).

Some other Titan record against MAAC schools are 9-3 versus Iona, 5-1 against St. Peter's and 4-3 against Niagara. 

VS. THE EMPIRE STATE
Detroit Mercy has handled teams from the state of New York in its history owning a 70-48 record (.593) all-time against New York programs. 

The best marks include 17-14 over Canisius, 14-10 versus St. Bonaventure and 10-4 versus Buffalo. 

DOUBLE-DIGIT PERFORMER
Junior Jaleel Hogan has netted double figures in scoring in four of the five Titan games on the year, and is coming off a season-best 18 points in just 15 minutes at New Hampshire. 

Hogan also posted 16 points at Illinois and 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 triples were the most since Jon Goode sank eight at UIC on Jan. 19, 2008. 

DRE DAY
Junior DeShawndre Black finally had his breakout performance offensively on the road as he tallied 14 points (5-11 FG) with three rebounds and three assists at New Hampshire.

BALL CONTROL FOR BLACK
Junior DeShawndre Black has looked every bit of the steady point guard the Titans want.

He has had at least three assists in four of the first five games with a season-high four in the season opener at Adrian. 

He also has an outstanding 7-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (14 assists, 2 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.

He is now coming off a nine-point and season-high seven-rebound game at New Hampshire, where he was 4-of-5 from the field. 

On the year, Blackshear Jr. is 12-of-16 (75.0%) from the field. 

HE CAN SHOOT THE 3?
Freshman seven-footer Malik Eichler is 4-for-4 behind the arc this season.

In a stat anomaly, the seven-footer almost has as many 3-pointers (4) as total rebounds (5) on the year.

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.   

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 263 career games with 138 starts.

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.

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 62.5 percent in averaging 7.8 points.

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. 

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 are among the most in the nation behind only Southeast Missouri (11), Eastern Kentucky (10), Tulsa (10), East Carolina (9),  Jacksonville State (9), Memphis (9), SIUE (9), UT Martin (9) and tied with Indiana, Tulane and UCF. 

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).

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.

A GIANT IN CALIHAN HALL
Freshman Malik Eichler stands at 7-feet tall and he is believed to be just the fifth seven-footer in school history and the first since 7-3, 275-pound center Jason Bennett in 2008-09.

JENKINS TABBED PRESEASON ALL-HL
Senior Chris Jenkins was named Second Team All-Horizon League in the HL's preseason accolades. 

Jenkins earned his first career Horizon League accolade in the second team selection. 

Last year, he notched double figures in scoring 16 times with six 20-point games and three double-doubles. He finished second on the team in rebounding (5.7), third in scoring (12.0), fourth in steals (1.0) and fifth in assists (1.4). In the Horizon League, he ranked 12th in rebounding, 15th in steals and 20th in scoring.

A versatile player, he led the team in three-point field-goal percentage (.432), sixth in the HL, while his 1.6 three-pointers per game was second on the team and 12th in the league. He was third on the team and 15th in the conference in field-goal percentage (.476) and ended second on Detroit Mercy and eighth in the HL in free throw percentage (.772).

At the end of the year, he took home the William Ebben Academic and Athletic Excellence Award as well as shared the Larry Doyle Most Dedicated Titan Award at the annual team banquet. 

2017 LITTLE CAESARS MOTOR CITY MADNESS UPDATE
The Horizon League 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 No. 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. 

Over 20,900 fans attended the four-day tournament last year, the first neutral-site HL men's basketball championship since 2003.

Follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam:  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  YouTube