DETROIT (1/25/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will be back at home on Friday, Jan. 27, as the Titans host the Milwaukee Panthers in historic Calihan Hall.
Game time is set for 7 p.m., and it will be a red out with the first 250 fans receiving a red t-shirt, courtesy of Alliance Catholic Credit Union.
Fans can catch all the action locally on WADL-38 and on ESPN3 with
Dan Dickerson on the call alongside former Titan standout Earl Cureton as well as on the radio on 910 AM Superstation with
Cliff Russell providing the action. Live stats will also be provided.
The game will pit a pair of ex-Michigan assistant coaches leading their teams in their first year as a head coach as Detroit Mercy's
Bacari Alexander '99 and Milwaukee's LaVall Jordan spent six seasons under head coach John Beilein at U-M. The duo helped Michigan to five NCAA Tournament bids and a trip to the 2013 national title game.
Tickets to all Titan 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 tickets, contact Director of Ticket Operations & Sales
Justin Hairston at 313-993-1700 ext. 7301 or at
hairstjj1@udmercy.edu.
VS. MILWAUKEE
The Titans have lost four of the last six to Milwaukee, but did split the season series last year.
Detroit Mercy has won four of the last five against the Panthers in Calihan Hall and is 13-8 all-time in the Motor City in the series.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee has won two in a row and three of the last five to enter the game at 7-14 overall, 3-5 in Horizon League play. The Panthers are coming off a weekend sweep at home with wins over Cleveland State and Youngstown State.
Cody Wichmann and Brock Stull are tied for the team lead with 12.2 points per game, top 20 in the HL. Stull also has a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game, seventh in the league, while August Haas is averaging a team-best 3.7 assists, fifth in the league.
The Panthers are ninth in the league in scoring at 66.8 points, but are third in defense yielding 70.6 per contest.
HIGH POWERED OFFENSE
The Titans have totaled at least 70 points in 15 games this season, including hitting 80 six times and 90 on two occasions.
They currently rank fifth in the Horizon League in offense at 76.9 ppg., but have raised that to 79.4 in eight HL games, leading the conference in league only games.
In the last four games, Detroit Mercy is averaging 88.7 points.
The Titans are also second in the Horizon League in field-goal percentage (44.7%), third in three-point field-goal percentage (36.2%) and tied for third in three-point field goals per game (7.9).
HERE COMES THE PRESSURE
The Titans unleashed a new pressure defense six games ago and the results have been extremely positive with 121 caused turnovers (20.1 per game) in that span.
Against Youngstown State, the Titans saw YSU commit 21 and turned those into 25 points.
At Oakland, the Titans forced the Golden Grizzlies into 25 turnovers on their own court - including 14 in the second half - a season high for Detroit Mercy with 25 points scored off those, while at NKU their last time out, they forced 21 and netted 28 points.
Detroit Mercy forced UIC into 23 turnovers - with 10 steals - and then record 20 turnovers with 12 steals at Valparaiso. In both games, the Titans notched 27 points off turnovers.
The 25 turnovers by Oakland were the most since forcing Milwaukee into 25 in 2012.
TAKE IT AWAY
The Titans registered a season-high 12 steals at Oakland and at Valparaiso in the last three weeks.
The 12 steals are the most since accumulating 13 at Northeastern in 2015.
Detroit Mercy has now posted 76 steals in the last eight games (9.5) and has the thief of the league in sophomore
Josh McFolley, who tops the conference with 1.8 steals per game.
As a team, the Titans are fourth in the HL in steals (6.7), but are leading the conference in league games at 9.4 per game.
GOOD TEAMMATES
The Titans were credited with a season-high 19 assists against Youngstown State, the most since posting 22 against Michigan-Dearborn in 2015.
Detroit Mercy now has six games with 15 or more assists on the year, including in three of the last four games.
RETURN TO SENDER
Detroit Mercy showed some toughness in the paint against Northern Kentucky on Dec. 29 swatting away a season-high 10 blocks, the most since getting 10 at Green Bay in 2001.
Junior
Jaleel Hogan was the rim protector for the most part blocking a career-best eight shots, the most by a Titan since Mike Harmon had eight against Green Bay in 2001.
The eight blocks are also tied for the most this season by a HL player and he is fifth in the league with 1.32 blocks per game.
GETTING THE FREE ONES
After struggling at the free throw line for much of the season, the Titans have connected on 126-of-171 (73.6%) in the last nine games.
In that span
Chris Jenkins is 31-of-33 (93.9%)
Josh McFolley is 25-of-31 (80.6%)
The Titans sank a season-high 22 free throws at Oakland (22-of-27) on Jan. 13 and were just 20-of-21 at NKU for a 95.2 percent clip, the highest ever in school history when shooting at least 20 free throws in a game
Detroit Mercy is currently ninth in the league in free throw percentage at 66.7 percent, but have increased that to 73.4 percent in HL play, fourth in the conference.
LONG DISTANCE OFFENSE
The Titans nailed 15-of-30 from three-point range against Fort Wayne, the most since setting a school record with 18 against Milwaukee on Feb. 26, 2000. The 15 triples are also the most in the HL this season.
Detroit Mercy has now reached double digit 3-pointers in seven games on the year, including five times in the last 10 games, including 13 at Wright State, 14 against Youngstown State and 12 at Valparaiso.
In HL play, the Titans are second in three-point field-goal percentage (36.2%) and three-point field goals (8.5).
UNSTOPPABLE
Junior
Jaleel Hogan has once again been an offensive force down low for the Titans as he leads the Horizon League and is 17th in the nation in field-goal percentage at 60.8 percent.
He is currently second in school history in career field-goal percentage at 59.5 percent trailing only Eli Holman '12 (60.5%).
JALETHAL
Junior
Jaleel Hogan scorched Oakland for a career-high 39 points and has now been in double figures in 14 games this season.
He has also led the team in scoring six times.
To start conference play, he posted a then career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 from the field against NKU and came back with 16 points hitting 6-of-9 field goals against Wright State, 17 points at UIC and eight points and eight rebounds at Valparaiso and eight points with a career-high four assists and a season-high three steals against Youngstown State.
He also had eight rebounds and a career-high eight blocks against the Norse.
Hogan is second on the team and 11th in the HL in scoring at 14.3 ppg., while standing second on the squad and 19th in the HL in rebounding at 5.0 per night.
In seven HL games, he is tallying 16.0 points - sixth in the league - on 61.8 percent shooting.
CAREER NIGHT FOR MCFOLLEY
Sophomore
Josh McFolley is coming off a couple of great offensive games with 25 points at Wright State and a career-best 26 points against Youngstown State. He has done a lot of his scoring from the outside with 16 triples in the last three games (16-of-30, 53.3%), including a career-high 8-of-11 against the Penguins and 6-of-11 at Wright State.
He now has five career games with 20 or more points and his 26-point effort bested his previous high of 25 points at ETSU earlier in the season, where he was 8-of-17 from the field and 7-of-9 from behind the arc.
He also hit 20-point territory with 24 in the win over WKU, where he was 6-of-9 from three-point range.
McFolley now has 15 career games with at least three triples in a game, including seven this season.
He also has 54 treys on the season after hitting just 32 last year.
HIGH SCORING MCFOLLEY
Sophomore
Josh McFolley is leading the team and is 10th in the Horizon League in scoring at 14.7 points per game.
He is also third in the HL in three-point field goals per game (2.7) and three-point field-goal percentage (40.0%) and 13th in free throw percentage (76.8%).
McFolley tallied a career-high 26 points against Youngstown State, where he hit eight 3-pointers and that was after an 11-point, three-assist, three-steal game at rival Oakland, where he iced the win hitting 4-of-4 free throws down the stretch.
BEAST MODE
Not to many words can describe what junior
Jaleel Hogan did at Oakland on Jan. 13 in Detroit Mercy's 93-88 victory.
Hogan posted a career-high 39 points and 11 rebounds - good for his third career double-double.
He was also 17-of-24 from the field and 5-of-6 at the free throw line.
The 39 points is tied for the second most among HL players on the season, just one shy of the league mark this year.
The 39 points are the most by a Titan since Willie Green netted 41 against Wright State in 2003. It was also the most points by a Titan on the road since Green had 43 at UIC in 2003.
The 17 field goals were the most since Green connected on 18 in that game against the Flames, and are tied for the second most field goals in Division I this season.
HIGHEST SCORING FRESHMAN IN THE HL
Corey Allen is the highest scoring freshmen in the Horizon League at 12.5 points per game - 14th in the HL.
He also leads the league in three-point field-goal percentage (46.1%) - hitting 41-of-89 on the season - and is tied for sixth in three-point field goals per game (2.2).
COREY GETTING IN A ZONE
Freshman
Corey Allen has notched double figures in scoring 11 times this season, including a Titan true freshman record of 33 points against Fort Wayne - where he scored 27 points in the second half.
He now has three 20-point games on the season.
Allen scored 17 points hitting 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from three with a season-tying five rebounds against rival Oakland.
In HL play, he also had 23 against Wright State and 18 at Wright State.
In his last 14 games, he is averaging 14.3 points on 70-of-143 shooting (48.9%) and 35-of-72 (48.6%) from three.
In his first five games, Allen averaged 8.2 points on 36.6 percent shooting (15-of-41) and 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from long range.
CJ DOES IT ALL
Senior
Chris Jenkins is well known for his all-around play and is among the Titan leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.
He is fourth on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg.) - 18th in the HL - while topping the squad on the boards (7.4 rpg.) - fourth in the HL. He is also tied for third on the squad with 1.7 assists per game and fourth with 14 steals.
He picked up his eighth career double-double and fourth of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds at Wright State.
He also posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds at Valparaiso.
Jenkins tallied a season-high 20 points against NKU at home and then matched that against the Norse on the road for his ninth career game hitting the 20-point mark.
Earlier in the season, he posted a double-double with 11 points and a career-best 16 rebounds against Fort Wayne.
With his 20 points at NKU his last time out, Jenkins has now scored in double figures in 14 games on the season and his four double-doubles on the year makes him one of four HL players with at least four double-doubles in 2016-17 (Alec Peters-14, Drew McDonald-9, Tai Odiase-4).
Earlier this year, Jenkins netted a team-high 18 points at Florida State.
He has also handed out an assist in 17 games with a season and career high five at ETSU.
YOU LITTLE THIEF
Sophomore
Josh McFolley has recorded a steal in 16 games this season, including 13 multi-steal contests and six with at least three takeaways.
In fact, he has recorded all six of the three-plus steal games in the last 12 contests.
He tied his career high with four steals at Toledo and has 24 steals in the last 10
games with three against Oakland, UIC, WKU, Valparaiso and Fort Wayne and two at Bowling Green, against NKU and at Wright State.
McFolley leads the Horizon League with 1.8 steals per game, but is registering 2.0 per game in HL-only contests.
HARD WORK PAYS OFF
Senior walk-on
Patrick Robinson Jr. has been with the team for two years and has seen limited playing time, but he was ready when called upon.
Against Youngstown State on Jan. 16, he scored a career-high 10 points going 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from behind the arc in 10 minutes of action.
Robinson Jr.'s career high in points was five until that game and he had never scored more than one field goal in 18 career games.
At Wright State, he scored five points and pulled down a career-best three rebounds and just had eight points hitting 3-of-5 from the field with a pair of treys at NKU his last time out.
He now has 14 career field goals and 13 have been scored this year, while 10 of those 14 have been from three.
DID YOY SAY 33?
Freshman
Corey Allen was on fire against Fort Wayne on Dec. 22 after posting 33 points on an 11-of-17 effort from the field and 9-of-13 from three, while also handing out a career-high five assists.
The nine triples are the most by a player in the HL this season and the most by a conference player since Oakland's Max Hooper had nine at Green Bay last year.
The 33 points are tied for the sixth-most in the HL this season and is the most ever by a "true" freshmen in school history - breaking the 31 Titan Hall-Of-Famer John Long had against Bradley in 1975.
Meanwhile, his nine 3-pointers were the most since Desmond Ferguson had 10 against Milwaukee in 2000.
DRE DAY
Junior
DeShawndre Black has had at least three assists in 10 games on the year.
He had a great game at Oakland, where he registered a season-high eight assists along with scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds.
He ran the offense dishing out seven assists against Manhattan and five assists at Murray State in the non-conference campaign.
Black also has a team-high 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio on the season (53 assists, 25 turnovers).
He tied his season high with 14 points at Valparaiso, going 5-of-12 from the field with a season-high four 3-pointers. He also had four assists and a season-best four steals against the Crusaders.
Earlier this season, he scored 14 points at New Hampshire.
LONG BALL
Freshman
Cole Long tallied a season-high nine points and seven rebounds at Wright State.
In the game before against Youngstown State, he recorded six points and six rebounds after notching those stats in the season opener against Adrian.
He made his first collegiate start against WKU and played a season-high 34 minutes, posting four points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
2017 LITTLE CAESARS MOTOR CITY MADNESS UPDATE
The 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championship will run concurrently from March 3-7, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Tickets to the 2017 Motor City Madness went on sale on Dec. 29 at
motorcitymadness.horizonleague.org.
The championship games will be held on Tuesday, March 7, with 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.
