Detroit Titans To Face Youngstown State In HL Quarters Friday
HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
Date: Fri., Mar. 2, 2012
Tip Time: 6:00 p.m. ET (winner advances to Sat. 6pm game vs. Cleveland State)
Location: Valparaiso, Ind.
Arena: Athletics Recreation Center
Live Stats: valpoathletics.com
Live Video: Horizon League Network
Live Video: espn3.com
All-time Series: Detroit leads, 23-8
Series streak: Detroit- W1
This Year: Tied, 1-1
Dec. 1- YSU 64, @ Detroit 61
Feb. 25- Detroit 76, @ YSU 74
ON TAP
Third-seed Detroit advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2012 Horizon League Championships with an 80-71 win over Loyola in the opening round Tuesday at Calihan Hall. The Titans will face sixth-seeded Youngstown State on Friday in the quarterfinals with the winner set to face Cleveland State in the semifinals Saturday.
SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State got out to a blistering start on seventh-seed Green Bay en route to a 77-60 win in the opening round. The Penguins grabbed a quick 15-point lead in the first nine minutes and kept the Phoenix at arm's length the rest of the way to grab the win. Sophomore guard Kendrick Perry scored 12 of YSU's first 14 points, and all five Penguins starters reached double figures in scoring. Damian Eargle led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds, five of which were on the offensive end, and DuShawn Brooks scored 16. Perry, a HL First Teamer, leads the league in scoring with his 16.8 points per game average.
THE SERIES WITH YSU
Detroit owns a big edge in the all-time series with the Penguins, winning 23 of the previous 31 meetings. The teams split the regular season series, with each road team garnering a win. These teams will be meeting for the second time in six days as Detroit dispatched the Guins 76-74 on the final day of the regular season (Feb. 25).
LAST TIME OUT
Five Titans scored in double figures – led by senior Eli Holman's 20 points – to usher Detroit into the second round of the Horizon League Championship with an 80-71 victory over Loyola on Tuesday night at Calihan Hall. In a balanced attack, Detroit made a concerted effort to get to the free throw line, knocking down 30-of-36 from the charity stripe. Detroit also turned Loyola over 23 times to help keep a feisty Rambler squad at bay. Chase Simon added 19 points while Doug Anderson tied a career high with 18 for the Titans.
3-SEED HISTORY
The last time Detroit earned the three seed in the league tournament, the Titans raced all the way to the championship game before falling by a point at Milwaukee in 2005. Historically, the three seed has performed well in the tournament, advancing to the championship game 15 times (since 1979-80) and winning the whole business six times (last time: Cleveland State in 2009).
HORIZON HONORS
Sophomore Ray McCallum was named to the All-Horizon League First Team and senior Eli Holman was named the Sixth Man of the Year when the league announced its postseason awards Monday. The sophomore leads the team in points, assists and steals for the second straight season. McCallum becomes the 16th Detroit first team honoree and first since current NBA'er Willie Green was the Player of the Year in 2002-03. Holman has played in 21 games, 19 off-the-bench as Detroit's key bench member. He is averaging 11 points and seven rebounds per game and has three double-doubles to hive him 27 for his career. Holman became the first Titan to win the top reserve, an honor that has been awarded since the 2007-08 season.
DETROIT IN THE HL TOURNAMENT
The Titans are 30-29 all-time in the Horizon League (formerly MCC) tournament. Detroit won the 1994 and 1999 postseason titles. Last season, the Titans beat Loyola in the first round, then fell to Valparaiso in the quarterfinal round.
TURNING 18
Junior Doug Anderson turned in an 18-point performance Tuesday in the first round win over Loyola. That point total matched his career high that was set earlier in the season against Austin Peay (Nov. 23). While Anderson did get a trademark dunk on an alley-oop, he did a bulk of his damage from the perimeter with a few jumpers and a triple (his 5th of the season).
HOTTEST IN THE LEAGUE
Detroit shot all the way up to third place in in the Horizon League standings after a 1-4 start. UDM was mired in eighth place and completed the climb all the way to the third seed. The overall records for each HL school in that span:
Overall records after Jan. 6
DETROIT 12-3
Valpo 11-4
CSU 9-6
Butler 9-6
Green Bay 8-7
Milwaukee 9-6
Youngstown St 8-8
Wright St 4-10
UIC 2-12
Loyola 1-13
JUST GET NO. 10 to 10
Jason Calliste has scored in double figures in 13 of his last 16 ball games and 19 overall. More impressive is the fact that when Calliste reaches 10 points in a game, the Titans sport a 14-5 record. Despite making just one field goal Tuesday, Calliste was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line to get to 10 points in the Titan win.
THREE TO 1,000?
Keeping tabs on individual scoring as we head to the final stretch of the season and there is a possibility that Detroit could have three 1,000-point scorers on the floor at one time. Chase Simon, already at 1,353 points in a Titan uniform, surpassed the mark in the early part of the season. Fellow senior Eli Holman sits just eight points shy at 992 career points. Sophomore Ray McCallum also has a shot at quadruple digits this season as he has 924 career points, and depending on the number of postseason games played, could reach that plateau.
SHOTS FROM THE HEART-- FINAL FOUR!
Head Coach Ray McCallum is perfect through four rounds of the CollegeInsider.com "Shots from the Heart" head coach's bracket to benefit the Skip Prosser Foundation. Coach made all 25 shots in each of the first four rounds and has advanced all the way to the "Final Four", where he will match-up against Buzz Peterson of UNC-Wilmington. He ousted defending champion, Fred Hoiberg of Iowa State, who was 23-25 in their matchup. The tournament concludes in the coming weeks with the finals at the end of February. The Free Throw Champions of both the head and assistant coach's brackets will be recognized as part of the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet in New Orleans, site of the 2012 Men's NCAA Basketball Championship. Follow detroittitans.com for updates on Coach Ray's progress in the tourney. For more on the "Shots from the Heart", got to http://collegeinsider.com/shots.
FUN FEBRUARY
The Titans were 7-2 in the month of February, the most wins in any calendar month this season. Detroit's two losses were both road defeats. The last home loss for Detroit was back on Jan. 6, a tough 73-71 defeat at the hands of Valparaiso. February's wins included four wins by five points or less.
