DETROIT (2/18/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will look to knock off another team at the top of the Horizon League as the Titans host first place Valparaiso on Sunday, Feb. 19, at Calihan Hall.

Game time is set for 2 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on ESPN3 only as well as over the airwaves with Cliff Russell calling the action on 910 AM.

The Titans have a couple of victories already against the top half of the league winning at Oakland earlier this season when the Golden Grizzlies were undefeated at 4-0 and in first place, while also defeating Green Bay two weeks ago when the Phoenix came into the game in second place at 7-2 in the HL.

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. VALPARAISO
The Titans and Crusaders have met only 28 times despite the fact that both campuses are just 244 miles apart. 

In fact, before joining the Horizon League, Detroit Mercy and Valparaiso met just six times and that was all between 1921 and 1927 as the Crusaders now lead the all-time series, 17-11.

The Titans are 6-6 all-time at home in the series. 

LAST TIME VS. VALPO
Senior Chris Jenkins tallied a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds and a late surge by the Titans had the red, white and blue thinking upset, but it just wasn't enough as Detroit Mercy fell, 81-74, at Valparaiso.

Junior DeShawndre Black tied his season high with 14 points, while collecting a season-high four steals and finishing with four assists. Sophomore Josh McFolley posted 10 points, a team-high five assists and three steals.

The Titan defense forced Valparaiso into 20 turnovers and registered a season-high 12 steals, but the Crusaders were 33-of-42 at the free-throw line while the Titans were 4-of-9.

Detroit Mercy trailed by 15, 67-52, with 7:23 left when the Titans went on an 18-6 run over the next six minutes. Black had two treys in that span, while McFolley and Jenkins each drilled one from downtown. 

The defense held Valpo to 1-of-3 from the field with three turnovers during the spurt and the last triple from Jenkins had the Titans down 73-70 with 1:40 remaining.

LOOKING AHEAD
The last home game of the regular season will also be Senior Day as the Titans host Cleveland State on Tuesday with tip-off at 7 p.m. at Calihan Hall.

2017 LITTLE CAESARS MOTOR CITY MADNESS IS ALMOST HERE
The 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championship will run from March 3-7, at Joe Louis Arena. 

Tickets to Motor City Madness are on sale at motorcitymadness.horizonleague.org.
 
Fans, use access code UDM for Single Session tickets and TITANS for All-Session tickets to sit in the Titan section. 

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.

HORIZON LEAGUE TO HOLD CHAMPIONSHIP BRUNCH
The Horizon League and Olympia Entertainment will gather industry leaders to discuss experiences in athletics during a Champions Brunch at Joe Louis Arena at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 7, prior to the Little Caesars Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship Game at noon.

The cost to attend the event is $25 and is open to the public. Attendees receive a ticket to the Champions Brunch and a game ticket to the women's and men's championship games. Or, fans with a game ticket can purchase a Champions Brunch ticket for $15. Click here to purchase tickets. 

The Champions Brunch will begin with a breakfast at 10:00 a.m. followed by a panel featuring standout professional and collegiate athletes focusing on key topics relating to athletic administration at 10:30 a.m.

NEXT WIN NO. 1,400
The next win by the Titans will be number 1,400 in the program's history. 

DON'T SLEEP ON US
The Titans have a couple of victories already against the top half of the league winning at Oakland earlier this season when the Golden Grizzlies were undefeated at 4-0 and in first place, while also defeating Green Bay two weeks ago when the Phoenix came into the game in second place at 7-2. 

TOUGH D
The Titans held their first opponent to under 40. percent shooting against UIC on Friday night as the Flames shot just 38.1 percent from the field (24-of-63).

STEPPING UP
Detroit Mercy has been playing a bit shorthanded due to injuries, but the Titans saw some young players step up against UIC. 

Freshman Cole Long started and scored five points, grabbed five boards and blocked two shots, while freshman Malik Eichler grabbed a season-best four boards and had two steals. 

UNSTOPPABLE
Junior Jaleel Hogan has once again been an offensive force down low for the Titans as he is second in the Horizon League and 19th in the nation in field-goal percentage at 60.0 percent.  

He is currently second in school history in career field-goal percentage at 59.3 percent trailing only Eli Holman '12 (60.5%). 

JALETHAL
With 12 points his last time out against UIC, junior Jaleel Hogan has now been in double figures in 20 games this season, which includes five 20+ point contests - all in conference play. 

To start the conference season, he posted a then career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 from the field against NKU.

He had a terrific game at Oakland tallying 39 points on 17-of-24 from the field, all career highs, and recently had 23 points in the rematch at home against the Golden Grizzlies.

Hogan has also tallied a game-high 28 points in the win over Green Bay and had 21 points in the win at Youngstown State.

Hogan is leading the team and is ninth in the HL in scoring at 15.4 ppg., while standing second on the squad and 10th in the HL in rebounding at 5.8 per night. 

In his 13 HL games - he did not play at NKU - he is tallying 17.4 points - fifth in the league - and 6.9 rebounds on 60.0 percent shooting.

HIGHEST SCORING FRESHMAN IN THE HL
Corey Allen is the highest scoring freshmen in the Horizon League at 14.7 points per game - 11th in the HL and top 20 in the nation among all freshmen. 

He is also leading the league in three-point field-goal percentage (46.3%) - hitting 69-of-149 on the season - and is third in three-point field goals per game (2.8). 

In Horizon League only games, he is sixth in scoring with 16.6 a night and is top six in three-point field goals (2.9) and three-point field-goal percentage (43.2%). 

COREY TOP 10 IN THE NATION
Freshman Corey Allen is not only leading the Horizon League in three-point field-goal percentage (46.3%), he is currently ninth in the nation in that category. 

His 2.75, 3-point field goals per game is 67th in the country among all players. 

Allen already has a Titan freshmen record 69 triples on the year.

WHO WILL CRACK THE TOP 10 FIRST?
Sophomore Josh McFolley and freshman Corey Allen have a great battle going on who will be the first to etch their name in the Titan record books.

Allen currently has 69, 3-pointers and McFolley has hit 65 as they both are chasing the top 10 single records in school history. 

Right now the No. 10 spot for single-season triples is held by Jason Calliste (2013) and Rashad Phillips (1999), who both had 73 in their respective seasons. 

IN A ZONE
Freshman Corey Allen has notched double figures in scoring 17 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 saw his streak of four-straight 20-point games end as he tallied 16 against Oakland last week, but was right back at the mark his last time out tallying a team-high 21 against UIC.

He now has eight 20-point games on the year and five in the last six games. 

Allen posted a game-high 27 points at Youngstown State on Feb. 4, going 10-of-16 overall and 6-of-10 from downtown, and a team-high 24 points at Cleveland State on Feb. 2, where he was 8-of-17 from the field and 6-of-9 from three. 

The week before, he averaged 21.0 points en route to the HL Freshman of the Week honors after scoring 20 against Green Bay and a team-high 22 points against Milwaukee - 16 in the second half.

In the last six games, he is averaging 21.6 points on 42.1 percent shooting (32-of-102) overall and 46.6 (28-of-60) from behind the arc.

CAREER NIGHT FOR JOSH
Sophomore Josh McFolley recorded his sixth career 20-point game with 21 against Oakland on Feb. 10. 

He has five of those 20-point games this season, including a great stretch where he recorded back-to-back 20-point games with 25 points at Wright State and a career-best 26 points against Youngstown State. 

He was especially effective from the outside nailing a career-high 8-of-11 against the Penguins and 6-of-11 at WSU.  

His 26-point effort against YSU 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.

McFolley now has 16 career games with at least three triples in a game, including eight this season after going 4-of-7 against Oakland.
He has 65 treys on the season - after hitting just 32 last year. 

HIGH SCORING MCFOLLEY
Sophomore Josh McFolley is third on the team and 12th in the Horizon League in scoring at 14.3 points per game. 

He is also fourth in the HL in three-point field goals per game (2.6), 10th in three-point field-goal percentage (39.5%) and 13th in free throw percentage (76.8%).

WHAT A STREAK
Senior Chris Jenkins is currently fourth in the Horizon League and 99th in the nation in free-throw percentage (83.5), but he is working on an incredible streak.

He is currently shooting 100.0 percent at the line in 2017 as he has made 33-straight free throws.

His last miss came on Dec. 31 against Wright State, where he missed his last free throw in a 5-of-6 performance. 

In fact, he actually started the season 18-of-27 (66.6%) at the line in his first seven games, but has hit 53-of-58 (91.3%) since. 

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 (11.4 ppg.) - tied for 21st in the HL - while topping the squad on the boards (6.7 rpg.) - tied for sixth in the HL. He is also fourth on the squad with 1.6 assists per game. 

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. 

Jenkins has scored in double figures in 15 games on the season, and he is one of just seven HL players with at least four double-doubles on the year.

He has also handed out an assist in 17 games with a season and career-high five at ETSU.

Jenkins missed the UIC contest with an undisclosed injury and is day-to-day.

DRE DAY
Junior DeShawndre Black has had at least three assists in 11 games on the year, including four games with at least five assists. 

Black had a career game against Green Bay on Jan. 29, finishing with a career-best 15 points and five rebounds and handed out seven assists.

He also had the game-winning basket netting the old-fashioned three-point play with less than 11 seconds left to help the red, white and blue upend Green Bay, 93-92. 

Black had a great game at Oakland, where he registered a season-high eight assists along with seven points and three rebounds. 

He ran the offense dishing out seven assists against Manhattan and had five assists at Murray State in the non-conference campaign. 
Black has a team-high 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio on the season (65 assists, 31 turnovers). 

Some of his other big games saw him end 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.  

THE RIGHT SHOT
The Titans posted a season-high 53.2 percent at Youngstown State on Feb. 4. 

It was the fourth game this year and the first on the road that the Titans shot 50.0 percent or higher (52.5% vs. Green Bay, 52.4% vs. WKU and 50.0% vs. Wright State). 

HIGH POWERED OFFENSE
The Titans have totaled at least 70 points in 19 games this season, including hitting 80 nine times and 90 on four occasions. 

Detroit Mercy came away with a win in a high-scoring 93-92 affair over Green Bay and just tallied 90 points in a win at YSU. 

In the last 10 games, Detroit Mercy is averaging 83.0 points. 

The Titans are tied for fourth in the Horizon League in offense at 77.3 ppg., but have raised that to 79.2 in HL games, second in the conference in league-only games. 

The Titans are also third in the Horizon League in field-goal percentage (44.8%), third in three-point field-goal percentage (36.9%) and tied for third in three-point field goals per game (8.1).

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 eight games on the year and six times in the last 16 games, including 13 at Wright State, 14 against Youngstown State, 12 at Valparaiso and 10 against Oakland. 

HERE COMES THE PRESSURE
The Titans unleashed a new pressure early in conference play and the results have been extremely positive with 203 caused turnovers (16.9 per game) in the last 12 games. 

Against Green Bay, Detroit Mercy forced 21 turnovers with nine steals and turned those into 24 points. 

The 25 turnovers by Oakland were the most by an opponent since forcing Milwaukee into 25 in 2012. 

TAKE IT AWAY
The Titans registered a season-high 12 steals at Oakland on Jan. 13 and at Valpo on Jan. 8. 

The 12 steals are the most since accumulating 13 at Northeastern in 2015. 

Detroit Mercy has now posted 111 steals in the last 15 games (7.4) and has the thief of the league in sophomore Josh McFolley, who tops the conference with 1.9 steals per game - 31st in the NCAA. 

As a team, the Titans are tied for fourth in the HL in steals (6.5), and are third in league-only games (7.8). 

GETTING THE FREE ONES
The Titans totaled a 14-of-18 performance (77.8%) effort at the free throw line against Oakland on Feb. 10. 

Detroit Mercy sank a season-high 22 free throws at Oakland (22-of-27) on Jan. 13 as well as against Green Bay on Jan. 29 (22-of-35).

Detroit Mercy was also 20-of-21 at NKU on Jan. 22 for a 95.2 percent clip, the highest ever in school history when shooting at least 20 in a game.

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 tied for fourth in the league with 1.1 blocks per game. 

DIFFERENT FIVE
Detroit Mercy has used 10 different starting line-ups this season and no Titan has started every game due to injuries. 

Seniors Chris Jenkins and Matthew Grant, juniors Jaleel Hogan and Isaiah Jones, sophomore Gerald Blackshear Jr., and freshmen Corey Allen and Ed Carter III have all missed time this year due to various ailments.