Post by Commissioner on Jun 1, 2014 8:34:28 GMT -5
Continuing the countdown of great Titans wins.
Earlier threads are here:
Overview: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/285/100-great-titan-victories-overview
Games 91-100: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/286/great-wins-100-bonus-game.
Games 81-90: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/287/great-titan-wins-81-90
Games 71-80: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/288/great-titan-wins-71-80
Games 61-70: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/289/great-titan-wins-61-70
Games 51-60: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/290/great-titan-wins-51-60
Games 41-50
50. February 1, 1930: Detroit 24, Marquette 23 (3 OT).
The Detroit/Marquette series began in the 1922 season, when a strong Marquette squad (15-5) drilled Detroit's worst team ever (2-13) by a 38-22 score. The two teams would play 86 more times through the 1991 season, after which Marquette left the MCC and ended the rivalry. The teams played twice in the 1922-23 season, with Marquette winning both, then not again until 1929, when they played a home and home, Marquette winning twice. Marquette also won the first of two scheduled games in the 1930 season, 31-20 in Milwaukee. The return game in Detroit, 11 days later, marked both the Titans' first win in the series, and the first of many truly great games between the two Jesuit schools.
This game was close all the way, with the leading changing hands several times (or about as often as it could in a game featuring just 44 points). Marquette led 11-10 at the half and was leading in the final minute of the game, but Cy Aaron and Lloyd Brazil hit late foul shots to force the game into overtime. Neither team scored in the first overtime period. A Leslie Butcher basket gave the Titans a quick lead in the second extra period, but Marquette tied it on the next possession and the teams were scoreless the rest of that period. In the third OT, Aaron hit a free throw at just under three minutes, and neither team scored again as the Titans claimed the 24-23 victory. Butcher led the Titans in scoring with 6 points, and Aaron 5 for Detroit. But the Varsity News gave the most credit to Brazil, who added 4 points and who was, in the News' words, "all over the floor" and "played a great defensive game," holding Marquette captain Jim O'Donnell to one point. Marquette coach Cord Lipe played his starting 5 the entire game.
Detroit and Marquette played home and home series the next 3 years, with Marquette winning all 6 games. The rivalry then broke until the 1940 season, and continued every year (except 1958, when the Hilltoppers played in the Motor City Tournament but were upset in the opening game by Georgia Tech and so missed the Titans) through the 1982 season, usually as a home & home until the 1970s, when the teams began alternating hosting one game a year. The rivalry briefed resumed for Marquette's two seasons in the MCC (1990-91) but the teams have met just once since then, with Marquette smoking the Titans early in the 2006-2007 season, 87-45. Overall, Marquette got much the better of the rivalry, leading the series 61-27, but the series was 24-22 over the quarter century from 1940 through 1964. Marquette began to dominate in the late 1960s under Al McGuire, winning 13 of 15 before Dick Vitale's arrival in Detroit. The Vitale/Smokey Gaines teams played some legendary games in the last half of the 1970s, with Marquette winning 4 of 6, but Marquette chose to let the rivalry die in the 1980s.
49. March 9, 1994: Detroit 72, Evansville 63.
The Titans won their first ever Midwestern Collegiate Conference (aka Horizon) Tournament title (and first post-season tournament title of any kind) by turning back Evansville, 72-63, in Indianapolis. The Titans reached the final by defeating regular season conference champion Xaiver, 76-72. Evansville entered at 21-10 after finishing second in the regular season.
An old-fashioned three point play by Tony Tolbert broke a 46-46 tie with 5:13 remaining. After Evansville came up empty on its next possession, Tolbert hit a three pointer, and a few seconds later center Greg Grant added a 15 footer to put UD up by 8. The Titans led the rest of the way. Tolbert scored 13 of his game high 21 points in the second half.
Unfortunately, 1994 was the season that the MCC had lost its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. A period of flux in the league’s membership had left the MCC ineligible for an automatic bid for not having had enough teams playing together long enough. Thus Detroit was left at home, even as Evansville and Xavier both received NIT bids. Still, it was a fine way to cap off Perry Watson’s first year as coach, and a sign that UD basketball was stirring after 11 losing seasons in the previous 13 years.
48. January 8, 1956: Detroit 80, #15 Tulsa 72.
An unpredictable Detroit club showed well early in the 1956 Missouri Valley Conference season, upsetting defending champion and 15th ranked Tulsa 80-72.
The Titans entered the game with a record of 8-4, but just 1-3 in the Valley after splitting road games with Bradley and St. Louis and losing twice to Houston in Houston. (In these pre-jet travel days, the Valley handled the travel distance between Detroit, at Canadian border, and Houston, near the Mexican border, by an odd scheduling twist – one year, UD would play both games with Houston at Houston; and the next year, the clubs would play both games at Detroit. The games would be played on consecutive nights.) But the Titans did boast a non-conference win over Notre Dame, and they had also dealt Tulsa one of just two conference losses the prior year. Tulsa entered the game at 10-2.
The Titans took the lead six minutes into the first half and never trailed again, although Tulsa hung close and pulled within 3 twice in the second half. Tulsa managed to shut down the Valley’s leading scorer, All American Bill Ebben, holding him to 13 points, but junior center Don Hasse picked up the slack by scoring 22 points for the Titans.
Both teams faded after this game, however. UD went just 4-8 the rest of the way, while Tulsa stumbled to a 6-7 record in the second half of the season.
47. Feb. 28, 1933: Detroit 35, DePaul 24.
The Titans trailed heavily favored, 12-2 DePaul by 4 at the half, but blitzed the Demons in the second half for a surprisingly easy upset win. Bill Pegan led the Titans with 15 and Bill Hayes added 12. After dropping this game, DePaul won 23 straight and 35 of 36 games over portions of 3 seasons. The Titans finished the 1933 season at 12-5.
46. December 22, 1973: Detroit 73, Michigan State 71 (OT).
Michigan State had high hopes for the 1973-74 season, led by Senior Michael Robinson and a pair of talented underclassmen, Terry Furlow and Lindsay Hairston, and entered the game 4-2 after a disappointing loss to Toledo. Detroit was off to a fast start in Dickie Vitale’s first season, and came in 6-1 with a win over Michigan already under its belt.
The Titans grabbed an early lead in this one and led most of the way, but MSU took a 54-53 lead with nine minutes to play, and lead changed hands six times after that, before the clubs headed into overtime. The Spartans led late in the overtime, but Terry Thomas hit a 20 foot jumper with 20 seconds left to tie the score and 71, and after a turnover Owen Wells hit a game winning layup with 10 seconds left on the clock.
The game, played at Cobo Hall, was the first meeting between the two schools since the 1958-59 season, and marks the only time that the Titans have beaten Michigan and Michigan State in the same season. Detroit would finish 17-9, the Spartans 14-12.
45. Feb. 25, 1950: Detroit 73, #15 St. Louis 60.
En route to its first 20 win season, UD knocked off #15 St. Louis 73-60, in Detroit. This game, win #17, set a new Titan mark for wins in a season. Norm Swanson with 20 and John Kirwan with 18 led Detroit, but Jerry Olson iced the win with 8 points and 2 assists in the final three minutes. Despite wins over #4 (and eventual #1) Bradley, Michigan St., and perennial power Oklahoma A&M, Detroit was passed over for an NIT bid. Detroit finished 20-6, St. Louis 17-9.
44. January 15, 1977: Detroit 65, Dayton 63.
It was neck and neck the entire game, but in the end Detroit successfully stretched its winning streak to 11 in a row. The game was tied at the half, but the Titans took the lead at the start of the second half and held it the entire remainder, though never by more than a few points. Dayton closed to 64-63 and had the ball but Doug Harris missed a layup with under 10 seconds remaining, Dayton was forced to foul, and the real UD held on for the win. Detroit’s balanced scoring was led by John Long with 16, Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod with 12 apiece, and Dennis Boyd with 11.
The loss dropped Dayton to 10-3 for the year. The Titans improved to 12-1, and would win set a school winning streak record by taking another ten games before losing to Duquesne.
43. January 11, 1986: Detroit 76, Xavier 72, and February 8, 1986: Detroit 80, Xavier 71.
The Xavier Musketeers, emerging to dominance in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, went 25-4 in the regular season and won the Conference’s regular season and tournament titles in 1986. The Musketeers non-conference victims included Pittsburgh, Providence, Marquette, and Cincinnati. But one club had the Musketeers number in 1986: the University of Detroit.
For Detroit, 1986 was a disappointing season. The Titans had finished strong in 1985, going 10-4 over the last half of the season, including a late season victory over 4th ranked Memphis. UD returned a pair of powerful forwards in Greg Wendt and Brian Humes. Senior Kevin McAdoo, the Titans career leader in assists, manned the point, with sophomore Archie Tullos as the shooting guard. So expectations were high.
The two schools opened MCC Conference play in Cincinnati on January 11. The Titans entered the game just 6-8 after a tough non-conference slate that included losses to Kansas, Minnesota, Purdue, Dayton, and Houston. At times the Titans showed some muscle, as when they defeated Iowa St., a Big 12 school that would make the NCAA tourney, by double digits in December. But they also lost to Eastern Michigan, Toledo, and Colorado, and needed an overtime to defeat Central Michigan. All four of those clubs would finish with losing records.
Detroit was on in the January game, played at Xavier. Greg Wendt went a perfect 11 for 11 from the floor and the Titans won by 4. Detroit then moved on smartly in conference play. They lost to St. Louis by 2 but carried an otherwise unblemished conference record when Xavier came to Detroit in February for the rematch. This time, the Titans hammered the Musketeers, 80-71, to move into sole possession of first place at 6-1. The Titans beat Butler by 24 in their next game, but then self-destructed, losing their last 4 conference games. Detroit righted itself long enough to defeat Evansville in the first round of the conference tourney, but lost in the second round to St. Louis for a third time that year. That closed the Titans’ season at 14-15, a disappointing finish.
42. January 30, 1963: Detroit 83, Michigan 70.
Dave DeBusschere’s departure after the 1962 season did not leave the Titans without weapons, most notably juniors Dick Dzik (9.1 ppg in 1962) and Al Cech (13.4 ppg in 1962), plus a pair of talented sophomores in forward Terry Page and guard John Watson. The Titans started out well enough, losing by a single point to Purdue and thumping Xavier by 18 en route to a 6-3 start, but then they dropped six straight, including a 35 point loss at Notre Dame and a 43 point drubbing at Western Michigan. Wins over Assumption and St. Bonaventure righted the ship but Detroit was still at just 8-9 when Michigan came to town at the end of January.
For the Wolverines, 1963 was a turnaround year. Michigan had never had sustained success in basketball before 1963, with just 1 NCAA appearance and 1 Big 10 title (both in 1948). After three straight seasons with single digit victory totals, however, in the 1962-63 season UM unveiled talented sophomore center Bill Buntin, and began a rapid rise to become one of the college game’s dominant powers for the next 35 years. The Wolverines came into Detroit at 10-3, their losses on the road to Butler, Minnesota and Ohio State by a combined total of just six points.
On this night, however, the Titans were all over Michigan from the opening tip. Detroit held UM without a field goal for the game’s first six minutes in building a 14-1 lead, pushed the lead to 16 at one point, and led 41-29 at the half. Detroit retained control through much of the second half, but midway through the period the Wolverines ran off 12 straight points to cut the Titan lead to one, 59-58. Detroit finally steadied itself, and when Buntin twisted a knee and went to the bench with six and a half minutes remaining, UD pulled away for the win. Dzik led Detroit with 23, while Cech and Page each added 14, Watson 13, and John Schramm 12. Buntin led Michigan with 16.
The win marked the only time the Titans have ever defeated Michigan in back to back seasons, having won in Ann Arbor in 1962. UD would finish the season at 13-12, while UM wound up at 16-8.
41. January 9, 1965: Detroit 76, Dayton 74 (OT).
8-2 Dayton came into Detroit in January of 1965, but high-scoring sophomore forward Donnie May was out for this one. The real UD featured a sophomore star of its own in broad-shouldered center Dorie Murrey, and an able supporting cast including Lou Hyatt, John Watson, and Terry Page. The Titans were just 7-5, however, and had been blown out by Indiana, Minnesota, and Notre Dame.
The Titans led by 5, 41-36, at the half, and opened a 10 point lead in the second half. But Murrey hit the bench with 4 fouls and Dayton went on a 19-7 run to take a 65-63 lead with under four minutes to play. Hyatt hit a jumper to tie the game at 65 with 3:21 to play, and then Dayton went into a stall to play for final shot (ah, those pre-shot clock days). Page forced the issue by fouling John Wannamacher with 28 seconds to play, and Wannamacher obligingly missed the front end, but Detroit was unable to capitalize and the game went to OT. The Titans led all the way in the OT, with a pair of Watson free throws providing the final and ultimately winning points. Coach Calihan used just six players in the game. Murrey and Hyatt led the Titans with 20 each, and Page and Watson each added 14. The fifth starter on that team was guard Jim Boyce.
The overtime win over the Flyers seemed to be the moment the talented Titans finally came together. The Titans thumped Marquette by 12 in their next game, lost at Villanova 74-72 on a pair of free throws with 4 seconds remaining, then rolled off 10 more wins in their final 11 games, including a 14 point win at Marquette and a victory in a rematch with Notre Dame at Memorial. That got the Titans an NIT bid, where they recorded their first ever post-season victory by downing La Salle. Dayton, for its part, made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual runner-up Michigan.
Earlier threads are here:
Overview: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/285/100-great-titan-victories-overview
Games 91-100: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/286/great-wins-100-bonus-game.
Games 81-90: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/287/great-titan-wins-81-90
Games 71-80: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/288/great-titan-wins-71-80
Games 61-70: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/289/great-titan-wins-61-70
Games 51-60: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/290/great-titan-wins-51-60
Games 41-50
50. February 1, 1930: Detroit 24, Marquette 23 (3 OT).
The Detroit/Marquette series began in the 1922 season, when a strong Marquette squad (15-5) drilled Detroit's worst team ever (2-13) by a 38-22 score. The two teams would play 86 more times through the 1991 season, after which Marquette left the MCC and ended the rivalry. The teams played twice in the 1922-23 season, with Marquette winning both, then not again until 1929, when they played a home and home, Marquette winning twice. Marquette also won the first of two scheduled games in the 1930 season, 31-20 in Milwaukee. The return game in Detroit, 11 days later, marked both the Titans' first win in the series, and the first of many truly great games between the two Jesuit schools.
This game was close all the way, with the leading changing hands several times (or about as often as it could in a game featuring just 44 points). Marquette led 11-10 at the half and was leading in the final minute of the game, but Cy Aaron and Lloyd Brazil hit late foul shots to force the game into overtime. Neither team scored in the first overtime period. A Leslie Butcher basket gave the Titans a quick lead in the second extra period, but Marquette tied it on the next possession and the teams were scoreless the rest of that period. In the third OT, Aaron hit a free throw at just under three minutes, and neither team scored again as the Titans claimed the 24-23 victory. Butcher led the Titans in scoring with 6 points, and Aaron 5 for Detroit. But the Varsity News gave the most credit to Brazil, who added 4 points and who was, in the News' words, "all over the floor" and "played a great defensive game," holding Marquette captain Jim O'Donnell to one point. Marquette coach Cord Lipe played his starting 5 the entire game.
Detroit and Marquette played home and home series the next 3 years, with Marquette winning all 6 games. The rivalry then broke until the 1940 season, and continued every year (except 1958, when the Hilltoppers played in the Motor City Tournament but were upset in the opening game by Georgia Tech and so missed the Titans) through the 1982 season, usually as a home & home until the 1970s, when the teams began alternating hosting one game a year. The rivalry briefed resumed for Marquette's two seasons in the MCC (1990-91) but the teams have met just once since then, with Marquette smoking the Titans early in the 2006-2007 season, 87-45. Overall, Marquette got much the better of the rivalry, leading the series 61-27, but the series was 24-22 over the quarter century from 1940 through 1964. Marquette began to dominate in the late 1960s under Al McGuire, winning 13 of 15 before Dick Vitale's arrival in Detroit. The Vitale/Smokey Gaines teams played some legendary games in the last half of the 1970s, with Marquette winning 4 of 6, but Marquette chose to let the rivalry die in the 1980s.
49. March 9, 1994: Detroit 72, Evansville 63.
The Titans won their first ever Midwestern Collegiate Conference (aka Horizon) Tournament title (and first post-season tournament title of any kind) by turning back Evansville, 72-63, in Indianapolis. The Titans reached the final by defeating regular season conference champion Xaiver, 76-72. Evansville entered at 21-10 after finishing second in the regular season.
An old-fashioned three point play by Tony Tolbert broke a 46-46 tie with 5:13 remaining. After Evansville came up empty on its next possession, Tolbert hit a three pointer, and a few seconds later center Greg Grant added a 15 footer to put UD up by 8. The Titans led the rest of the way. Tolbert scored 13 of his game high 21 points in the second half.
Unfortunately, 1994 was the season that the MCC had lost its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. A period of flux in the league’s membership had left the MCC ineligible for an automatic bid for not having had enough teams playing together long enough. Thus Detroit was left at home, even as Evansville and Xavier both received NIT bids. Still, it was a fine way to cap off Perry Watson’s first year as coach, and a sign that UD basketball was stirring after 11 losing seasons in the previous 13 years.
48. January 8, 1956: Detroit 80, #15 Tulsa 72.
An unpredictable Detroit club showed well early in the 1956 Missouri Valley Conference season, upsetting defending champion and 15th ranked Tulsa 80-72.
The Titans entered the game with a record of 8-4, but just 1-3 in the Valley after splitting road games with Bradley and St. Louis and losing twice to Houston in Houston. (In these pre-jet travel days, the Valley handled the travel distance between Detroit, at Canadian border, and Houston, near the Mexican border, by an odd scheduling twist – one year, UD would play both games with Houston at Houston; and the next year, the clubs would play both games at Detroit. The games would be played on consecutive nights.) But the Titans did boast a non-conference win over Notre Dame, and they had also dealt Tulsa one of just two conference losses the prior year. Tulsa entered the game at 10-2.
The Titans took the lead six minutes into the first half and never trailed again, although Tulsa hung close and pulled within 3 twice in the second half. Tulsa managed to shut down the Valley’s leading scorer, All American Bill Ebben, holding him to 13 points, but junior center Don Hasse picked up the slack by scoring 22 points for the Titans.
Both teams faded after this game, however. UD went just 4-8 the rest of the way, while Tulsa stumbled to a 6-7 record in the second half of the season.
47. Feb. 28, 1933: Detroit 35, DePaul 24.
The Titans trailed heavily favored, 12-2 DePaul by 4 at the half, but blitzed the Demons in the second half for a surprisingly easy upset win. Bill Pegan led the Titans with 15 and Bill Hayes added 12. After dropping this game, DePaul won 23 straight and 35 of 36 games over portions of 3 seasons. The Titans finished the 1933 season at 12-5.
46. December 22, 1973: Detroit 73, Michigan State 71 (OT).
Michigan State had high hopes for the 1973-74 season, led by Senior Michael Robinson and a pair of talented underclassmen, Terry Furlow and Lindsay Hairston, and entered the game 4-2 after a disappointing loss to Toledo. Detroit was off to a fast start in Dickie Vitale’s first season, and came in 6-1 with a win over Michigan already under its belt.
The Titans grabbed an early lead in this one and led most of the way, but MSU took a 54-53 lead with nine minutes to play, and lead changed hands six times after that, before the clubs headed into overtime. The Spartans led late in the overtime, but Terry Thomas hit a 20 foot jumper with 20 seconds left to tie the score and 71, and after a turnover Owen Wells hit a game winning layup with 10 seconds left on the clock.
The game, played at Cobo Hall, was the first meeting between the two schools since the 1958-59 season, and marks the only time that the Titans have beaten Michigan and Michigan State in the same season. Detroit would finish 17-9, the Spartans 14-12.
45. Feb. 25, 1950: Detroit 73, #15 St. Louis 60.
En route to its first 20 win season, UD knocked off #15 St. Louis 73-60, in Detroit. This game, win #17, set a new Titan mark for wins in a season. Norm Swanson with 20 and John Kirwan with 18 led Detroit, but Jerry Olson iced the win with 8 points and 2 assists in the final three minutes. Despite wins over #4 (and eventual #1) Bradley, Michigan St., and perennial power Oklahoma A&M, Detroit was passed over for an NIT bid. Detroit finished 20-6, St. Louis 17-9.
44. January 15, 1977: Detroit 65, Dayton 63.
It was neck and neck the entire game, but in the end Detroit successfully stretched its winning streak to 11 in a row. The game was tied at the half, but the Titans took the lead at the start of the second half and held it the entire remainder, though never by more than a few points. Dayton closed to 64-63 and had the ball but Doug Harris missed a layup with under 10 seconds remaining, Dayton was forced to foul, and the real UD held on for the win. Detroit’s balanced scoring was led by John Long with 16, Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod with 12 apiece, and Dennis Boyd with 11.
The loss dropped Dayton to 10-3 for the year. The Titans improved to 12-1, and would win set a school winning streak record by taking another ten games before losing to Duquesne.
43. January 11, 1986: Detroit 76, Xavier 72, and February 8, 1986: Detroit 80, Xavier 71.
The Xavier Musketeers, emerging to dominance in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, went 25-4 in the regular season and won the Conference’s regular season and tournament titles in 1986. The Musketeers non-conference victims included Pittsburgh, Providence, Marquette, and Cincinnati. But one club had the Musketeers number in 1986: the University of Detroit.
For Detroit, 1986 was a disappointing season. The Titans had finished strong in 1985, going 10-4 over the last half of the season, including a late season victory over 4th ranked Memphis. UD returned a pair of powerful forwards in Greg Wendt and Brian Humes. Senior Kevin McAdoo, the Titans career leader in assists, manned the point, with sophomore Archie Tullos as the shooting guard. So expectations were high.
The two schools opened MCC Conference play in Cincinnati on January 11. The Titans entered the game just 6-8 after a tough non-conference slate that included losses to Kansas, Minnesota, Purdue, Dayton, and Houston. At times the Titans showed some muscle, as when they defeated Iowa St., a Big 12 school that would make the NCAA tourney, by double digits in December. But they also lost to Eastern Michigan, Toledo, and Colorado, and needed an overtime to defeat Central Michigan. All four of those clubs would finish with losing records.
Detroit was on in the January game, played at Xavier. Greg Wendt went a perfect 11 for 11 from the floor and the Titans won by 4. Detroit then moved on smartly in conference play. They lost to St. Louis by 2 but carried an otherwise unblemished conference record when Xavier came to Detroit in February for the rematch. This time, the Titans hammered the Musketeers, 80-71, to move into sole possession of first place at 6-1. The Titans beat Butler by 24 in their next game, but then self-destructed, losing their last 4 conference games. Detroit righted itself long enough to defeat Evansville in the first round of the conference tourney, but lost in the second round to St. Louis for a third time that year. That closed the Titans’ season at 14-15, a disappointing finish.
42. January 30, 1963: Detroit 83, Michigan 70.
Dave DeBusschere’s departure after the 1962 season did not leave the Titans without weapons, most notably juniors Dick Dzik (9.1 ppg in 1962) and Al Cech (13.4 ppg in 1962), plus a pair of talented sophomores in forward Terry Page and guard John Watson. The Titans started out well enough, losing by a single point to Purdue and thumping Xavier by 18 en route to a 6-3 start, but then they dropped six straight, including a 35 point loss at Notre Dame and a 43 point drubbing at Western Michigan. Wins over Assumption and St. Bonaventure righted the ship but Detroit was still at just 8-9 when Michigan came to town at the end of January.
For the Wolverines, 1963 was a turnaround year. Michigan had never had sustained success in basketball before 1963, with just 1 NCAA appearance and 1 Big 10 title (both in 1948). After three straight seasons with single digit victory totals, however, in the 1962-63 season UM unveiled talented sophomore center Bill Buntin, and began a rapid rise to become one of the college game’s dominant powers for the next 35 years. The Wolverines came into Detroit at 10-3, their losses on the road to Butler, Minnesota and Ohio State by a combined total of just six points.
On this night, however, the Titans were all over Michigan from the opening tip. Detroit held UM without a field goal for the game’s first six minutes in building a 14-1 lead, pushed the lead to 16 at one point, and led 41-29 at the half. Detroit retained control through much of the second half, but midway through the period the Wolverines ran off 12 straight points to cut the Titan lead to one, 59-58. Detroit finally steadied itself, and when Buntin twisted a knee and went to the bench with six and a half minutes remaining, UD pulled away for the win. Dzik led Detroit with 23, while Cech and Page each added 14, Watson 13, and John Schramm 12. Buntin led Michigan with 16.
The win marked the only time the Titans have ever defeated Michigan in back to back seasons, having won in Ann Arbor in 1962. UD would finish the season at 13-12, while UM wound up at 16-8.
41. January 9, 1965: Detroit 76, Dayton 74 (OT).
8-2 Dayton came into Detroit in January of 1965, but high-scoring sophomore forward Donnie May was out for this one. The real UD featured a sophomore star of its own in broad-shouldered center Dorie Murrey, and an able supporting cast including Lou Hyatt, John Watson, and Terry Page. The Titans were just 7-5, however, and had been blown out by Indiana, Minnesota, and Notre Dame.
The Titans led by 5, 41-36, at the half, and opened a 10 point lead in the second half. But Murrey hit the bench with 4 fouls and Dayton went on a 19-7 run to take a 65-63 lead with under four minutes to play. Hyatt hit a jumper to tie the game at 65 with 3:21 to play, and then Dayton went into a stall to play for final shot (ah, those pre-shot clock days). Page forced the issue by fouling John Wannamacher with 28 seconds to play, and Wannamacher obligingly missed the front end, but Detroit was unable to capitalize and the game went to OT. The Titans led all the way in the OT, with a pair of Watson free throws providing the final and ultimately winning points. Coach Calihan used just six players in the game. Murrey and Hyatt led the Titans with 20 each, and Page and Watson each added 14. The fifth starter on that team was guard Jim Boyce.
The overtime win over the Flyers seemed to be the moment the talented Titans finally came together. The Titans thumped Marquette by 12 in their next game, lost at Villanova 74-72 on a pair of free throws with 4 seconds remaining, then rolled off 10 more wins in their final 11 games, including a 14 point win at Marquette and a victory in a rematch with Notre Dame at Memorial. That got the Titans an NIT bid, where they recorded their first ever post-season victory by downing La Salle. Dayton, for its part, made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual runner-up Michigan.