Post by Commissioner on May 24, 2014 22:40:32 GMT -5
First installment of great Titan wins, games 91-100.
Bonus Game. January (?), 1906: Detroit 18, Collegiate 7.
Some time during the 1905-06 school year, probably in January 1906, a basketball squad representing the University of Detroit defeated a team called simply "Collegiate" in the first UD game ever. I suppose that somewhere in the athletic department or university archives there is more on this game, but I couldn't find a thing. It struck me that the game deserved mention, but where and how would one rank it among Titan wins? "Collegiate" could have been a local club team, a pick up squad of students from other area colleges, a high school - colleges and universities in those days played all such teams. The Titans' other games that year included wins over Delray High School, and a team called "Cleary" (probably a team from Cleary Business College in Washtenaw County), but the Detroiters dropped their fourth and final game, 7-6 to the "Flint Mutes" (presumably from the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint). Titan basketball-or Tiger basketball, as it was then called, with Detroit not picking up the name "Titans" for another decade plus- was underway.
100. Feb. 1, 2003: Detroit 86, W. Kentucky 65.
After being ranked 20th in the preseason polls, it had been a disappointing year for Western Kentucky, which brought a 12-7 record to Calihan Hall at the start of February. Detroit was all over the Hilltoppers from the opening tip, hitting 14 of our first 18 shots from the floor and taking a 14 point lead before the 10 minute mark of the first half. Leading 49-31 at the break, Detroit opened the second half with a long three pointer by All American Willie Green and a jump shot from Rulon Harris to up the lead to 24. The Hilltoppers never got than 13 after that as the Titans coasted to the win. Green popped in 31 points, Harris 12, and Willie Wallace 15. The loss in Detroit marked the low point of the Hilltoppers’ season – they would go on to win the Sunbelt Conference regular season and tournament championships, and in fact would not lose again until falling to Illinois in the NCAA Tournament.
The win was the Titans fourth in a row, the first three coming on the road, but unfortunately UD was unable to capitalize on the rout of a good Western Kentucky squad, and dropped three of their next five games, en route to an 18-12 finish.
99. Jan. 30, 1960, Detroit 82, Central Michigan 62.
The Titans ran their record to 14-2 and advanced to #14 in the AP poll with this thrashing of Central Michigan. The game makes the list, however, mainly because Detroit’s sophomore star Dave DeBusschere had one of the biggest nights of his collegiate career, scooping in 39 rebounds – to this day the 6th highest total in NCAA history. DeBusschere added 38 points as well.
98. Feb. 25, 1939: Detroit 40, Xavier 37.
Bob Calihan scored 19 as the Titans rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit. The victory avenged an early season loss to a good (13-7) Xavier team.
97. Jan. 2, 1956. Detroit 106, @ Bradley 91.
This game was the Titans’ first 100 point game against what would today be classified as D-I competition (the Titans had scored 101 points in a December, 1953 victory over Youngstown, and 109 earlier in the 1955-56 season in beating Baldwin-Wallace). The 1956 Bradley Braves were one of the school’s weakest teams in the era – the only Bradley team between the 1954 and 1962 seasons not to either make the final 8 of the NCAA tournament or crack the Top 5 in the AP poll. But they were off to a good start at 7-2 when Detroit visited Peoria for the MVC season opener. The Titans scored 46 of their points from the foul line (in 68 attempts), with 5 Bradley players fouling out of the game. Not that Bradley didn’t get to the line, too, attempting 51 free throws, but making just 25. Bradley also fired up 94 shots from the floor. Bill Ebben led Detroit with 28 points. This was the most points ever scored against a Bradley team until 1976.
96. Jan. 5, 1946: Detroit 40, Toledo 34.
Coach Harold Anderson turned Toledo into a national power after becoming head coach before the 1934-35 season. Under Anderson and his successors, Toledo was 343-133 record (72%) in the twenty years from 1935-1954, with NIT bids in 1942 and 1943. The Titans had a good team in 1946, led by war veteran Art Stolkey and Canadian Gino Sovran, but Sovran was out with a sprained ankle. The Titans entered this game at 3-1 on the way to a 7-1 start; Toledo, featuring future Detroit Piston coach Paul Seymour and 6-9 Sylvester “Stretch” Goedde, who pitched for the Toledo Mud Hens while attending Toledo, was 6-0 on the way to an 11-1 start. The Rockets led by as many as 10 in the early going, but the Titans fought back to close to within 3 at the half, and gradually ground the Rockets down in the second half. Ed Bartz led the Titans with 10 points, inluding 5 in the crucial rally late in the first half; and Stolkey added 7. Seymour led Toledo with 9. The Rockets would gain revenge later in the year in Toledo, rallying from 14 down to win 57-50, and finish the season 20-7. The Titans finished 15-8.
95. Jan. 24, 1959. Detroit 85, Bowling Green 79.
In the days before freshman eligibility, a mediocre Titans varsity spent most of the 1959 season watching Dave DeBusschere star on the freshman team. The season did have one big moment, however, when the Titans upset an NCAA bound, MAC champion Bowling Green. Detroit overcame a 37 point performance by BGSU All-American Jim Darrow.
94. Feb. 26, 1969: Detroit 107, Canisius 88.
Spencer Haywood closed out his brilliant but all too brief Titan career by scoring a school record 45 points and hauling in 25 rebounds as the Titans routed Canisius is the season finale. Haywood’s big night broke the single game scoring record held jointly by two other Titan All-Americans, Dave DeBusschere and Dorie Murrey. Haywood also tied DeBusschere’s mark for field goals in a season with 288. (Both records would be broken during the 1978-79 season by Terry Duerod.) Adding to the glow, the win allowed Coach Bob Calihan, the Titans’ all-time winningest coach, to finish his 21 year head coaching career on a high note, though sadly it wasn’t recognized at the moment, as the Titans hoped to get an NIT bid (they didn’t), and it was only later that the University decided to force Calihan out as head coach. It is perhaps fitting that Calihan, Detroit’s first first-team All-American, and Haywood, the Titans last (to date) first-team All American, ended their Titan careers together. It was also a big night for Jerry Swartzfager, who scored 17 to end his Titan years with exactly 1000 points, the 13th Titan to reach that milestone.
93. Dec. 15, 1990: Detroit 85, Eastern Michigan 81.
In 1991, the Titans were nearing the end of the worst extended period of Titan basketball. From 1981 through 1992, the Titans had just one winning season in 12 years. This long slump came at the worst possible time, as college basketball was undergoing a major shakeout with high-majors separating themselves from mid-majors, and the Titans were shaken down to the ranks of mid-majors, from which we have never fully recovered. One of the few bright spots in this long decade was this win over what is probably EMU’s best team ever, a 26-7 squad that reached the NCAA Sweet 16. Detroit entered the game at winless in 4 attempts; EMU was 4-2 with a 2 point road loss to Michigan’s Fab 5. The Titans have played Eastern 73 times, more than any other school except for Loyola, Marquette, and Xavier. It’s been a lopsided rivalry, with the Titans winning 58 times. But this may have been the most impressive of all those victories.
92. Dec. 5, 2011: Detroit 69, St. John’s 63.
Ray McCallum scored 21 and Chase Simon 20 as the Titans dedicated Dick Vitale Court in style with a 69-63 win over St. John’s. The Titans led for all of 21 seconds in the game, after which they reeled off 14 straight points to lead 32-21 at halftime. St. John’s made three second half runs, closing once to within 4 and twice to within 5, but that was the closest they could get. This wasn’t a very good St. John’s team – they entered the game 4-4 and would finish 13-19- but after an authentically touching opening talk by Vitale emotion was so high in Calihan that the student section stormed the court after the game.
91. Dec. 15, 2012, Detroit 80, Akron 73.
Akron scored the first 10 points of this game and led most of the way. But the Titans fought back and finally took the lead for good after Jason Calliste was fouled on a three point attempt with 4:41 to play. Calliste hit all three free throws to put Detroit ahead 69-68 and Detroit closed out the game on a 17-5 run. Ray McCallum’s 21 points led all scorers. After dropping this one in Detroit, Akron won 19 straight on the way to a 26-7 season and MAC regular season and tournament championships.
Bonus Game. January (?), 1906: Detroit 18, Collegiate 7.
Some time during the 1905-06 school year, probably in January 1906, a basketball squad representing the University of Detroit defeated a team called simply "Collegiate" in the first UD game ever. I suppose that somewhere in the athletic department or university archives there is more on this game, but I couldn't find a thing. It struck me that the game deserved mention, but where and how would one rank it among Titan wins? "Collegiate" could have been a local club team, a pick up squad of students from other area colleges, a high school - colleges and universities in those days played all such teams. The Titans' other games that year included wins over Delray High School, and a team called "Cleary" (probably a team from Cleary Business College in Washtenaw County), but the Detroiters dropped their fourth and final game, 7-6 to the "Flint Mutes" (presumably from the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint). Titan basketball-or Tiger basketball, as it was then called, with Detroit not picking up the name "Titans" for another decade plus- was underway.
100. Feb. 1, 2003: Detroit 86, W. Kentucky 65.
After being ranked 20th in the preseason polls, it had been a disappointing year for Western Kentucky, which brought a 12-7 record to Calihan Hall at the start of February. Detroit was all over the Hilltoppers from the opening tip, hitting 14 of our first 18 shots from the floor and taking a 14 point lead before the 10 minute mark of the first half. Leading 49-31 at the break, Detroit opened the second half with a long three pointer by All American Willie Green and a jump shot from Rulon Harris to up the lead to 24. The Hilltoppers never got than 13 after that as the Titans coasted to the win. Green popped in 31 points, Harris 12, and Willie Wallace 15. The loss in Detroit marked the low point of the Hilltoppers’ season – they would go on to win the Sunbelt Conference regular season and tournament championships, and in fact would not lose again until falling to Illinois in the NCAA Tournament.
The win was the Titans fourth in a row, the first three coming on the road, but unfortunately UD was unable to capitalize on the rout of a good Western Kentucky squad, and dropped three of their next five games, en route to an 18-12 finish.
99. Jan. 30, 1960, Detroit 82, Central Michigan 62.
The Titans ran their record to 14-2 and advanced to #14 in the AP poll with this thrashing of Central Michigan. The game makes the list, however, mainly because Detroit’s sophomore star Dave DeBusschere had one of the biggest nights of his collegiate career, scooping in 39 rebounds – to this day the 6th highest total in NCAA history. DeBusschere added 38 points as well.
98. Feb. 25, 1939: Detroit 40, Xavier 37.
Bob Calihan scored 19 as the Titans rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit. The victory avenged an early season loss to a good (13-7) Xavier team.
97. Jan. 2, 1956. Detroit 106, @ Bradley 91.
This game was the Titans’ first 100 point game against what would today be classified as D-I competition (the Titans had scored 101 points in a December, 1953 victory over Youngstown, and 109 earlier in the 1955-56 season in beating Baldwin-Wallace). The 1956 Bradley Braves were one of the school’s weakest teams in the era – the only Bradley team between the 1954 and 1962 seasons not to either make the final 8 of the NCAA tournament or crack the Top 5 in the AP poll. But they were off to a good start at 7-2 when Detroit visited Peoria for the MVC season opener. The Titans scored 46 of their points from the foul line (in 68 attempts), with 5 Bradley players fouling out of the game. Not that Bradley didn’t get to the line, too, attempting 51 free throws, but making just 25. Bradley also fired up 94 shots from the floor. Bill Ebben led Detroit with 28 points. This was the most points ever scored against a Bradley team until 1976.
96. Jan. 5, 1946: Detroit 40, Toledo 34.
Coach Harold Anderson turned Toledo into a national power after becoming head coach before the 1934-35 season. Under Anderson and his successors, Toledo was 343-133 record (72%) in the twenty years from 1935-1954, with NIT bids in 1942 and 1943. The Titans had a good team in 1946, led by war veteran Art Stolkey and Canadian Gino Sovran, but Sovran was out with a sprained ankle. The Titans entered this game at 3-1 on the way to a 7-1 start; Toledo, featuring future Detroit Piston coach Paul Seymour and 6-9 Sylvester “Stretch” Goedde, who pitched for the Toledo Mud Hens while attending Toledo, was 6-0 on the way to an 11-1 start. The Rockets led by as many as 10 in the early going, but the Titans fought back to close to within 3 at the half, and gradually ground the Rockets down in the second half. Ed Bartz led the Titans with 10 points, inluding 5 in the crucial rally late in the first half; and Stolkey added 7. Seymour led Toledo with 9. The Rockets would gain revenge later in the year in Toledo, rallying from 14 down to win 57-50, and finish the season 20-7. The Titans finished 15-8.
95. Jan. 24, 1959. Detroit 85, Bowling Green 79.
In the days before freshman eligibility, a mediocre Titans varsity spent most of the 1959 season watching Dave DeBusschere star on the freshman team. The season did have one big moment, however, when the Titans upset an NCAA bound, MAC champion Bowling Green. Detroit overcame a 37 point performance by BGSU All-American Jim Darrow.
94. Feb. 26, 1969: Detroit 107, Canisius 88.
Spencer Haywood closed out his brilliant but all too brief Titan career by scoring a school record 45 points and hauling in 25 rebounds as the Titans routed Canisius is the season finale. Haywood’s big night broke the single game scoring record held jointly by two other Titan All-Americans, Dave DeBusschere and Dorie Murrey. Haywood also tied DeBusschere’s mark for field goals in a season with 288. (Both records would be broken during the 1978-79 season by Terry Duerod.) Adding to the glow, the win allowed Coach Bob Calihan, the Titans’ all-time winningest coach, to finish his 21 year head coaching career on a high note, though sadly it wasn’t recognized at the moment, as the Titans hoped to get an NIT bid (they didn’t), and it was only later that the University decided to force Calihan out as head coach. It is perhaps fitting that Calihan, Detroit’s first first-team All-American, and Haywood, the Titans last (to date) first-team All American, ended their Titan careers together. It was also a big night for Jerry Swartzfager, who scored 17 to end his Titan years with exactly 1000 points, the 13th Titan to reach that milestone.
93. Dec. 15, 1990: Detroit 85, Eastern Michigan 81.
In 1991, the Titans were nearing the end of the worst extended period of Titan basketball. From 1981 through 1992, the Titans had just one winning season in 12 years. This long slump came at the worst possible time, as college basketball was undergoing a major shakeout with high-majors separating themselves from mid-majors, and the Titans were shaken down to the ranks of mid-majors, from which we have never fully recovered. One of the few bright spots in this long decade was this win over what is probably EMU’s best team ever, a 26-7 squad that reached the NCAA Sweet 16. Detroit entered the game at winless in 4 attempts; EMU was 4-2 with a 2 point road loss to Michigan’s Fab 5. The Titans have played Eastern 73 times, more than any other school except for Loyola, Marquette, and Xavier. It’s been a lopsided rivalry, with the Titans winning 58 times. But this may have been the most impressive of all those victories.
92. Dec. 5, 2011: Detroit 69, St. John’s 63.
Ray McCallum scored 21 and Chase Simon 20 as the Titans dedicated Dick Vitale Court in style with a 69-63 win over St. John’s. The Titans led for all of 21 seconds in the game, after which they reeled off 14 straight points to lead 32-21 at halftime. St. John’s made three second half runs, closing once to within 4 and twice to within 5, but that was the closest they could get. This wasn’t a very good St. John’s team – they entered the game 4-4 and would finish 13-19- but after an authentically touching opening talk by Vitale emotion was so high in Calihan that the student section stormed the court after the game.
91. Dec. 15, 2012, Detroit 80, Akron 73.
Akron scored the first 10 points of this game and led most of the way. But the Titans fought back and finally took the lead for good after Jason Calliste was fouled on a three point attempt with 4:41 to play. Calliste hit all three free throws to put Detroit ahead 69-68 and Detroit closed out the game on a 17-5 run. Ray McCallum’s 21 points led all scorers. After dropping this one in Detroit, Akron won 19 straight on the way to a 26-7 season and MAC regular season and tournament championships.