Post by Commissioner on May 27, 2014 18:44:28 GMT -5
In our list of 100 Great Titan wins, here are games 71-80. For earlier posts, see:
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
80. Dec. 3, 1943: Detroit 42, Naval Procurement 8.
Military base teams were common opponents during the war years, and some were quite good. According to the Varsity News, due to the manpower shortage created by the war, the Titans did not play the "usual" doubleheader with a freshman game first. Instead, a dance band was hired to round out the evening for the Titans' season opener. The band was greeted with enthusiasm, but Coach Lloyd Brazil noted that “there was a deficiency of girls,” which he attributed in part to competition from “Coed Theater Night.” As for the basketball game, played before some 800 fans, the Titans held the naval team without a field goal for the first 30 minutes in the romp. The Titans had led the nation in scoring defense in the 1942-43 campaign, and certainly started strong in that category in 1943-44. This is the last time the Titans have held an opponent to single digits. Joey Smith and Dan O’Neill led the Titan rout with 6 points each.
79. Dec. 1, 1955. Detroit 77, Notre Dame 71.
Another season opener. The Titans entered the 1955-56 season picked to finish last in the MVC, and opened the season against Notre Dame, which had beaten the Titans 24 times in 24 games between the Catholic rivals. But the Titans made the front page of sports sections around the country on December 2 after upsetting the Irish behind Bill Ebben’s 32 points. Ebben scored 22 of his points in the first half as the Titans raced to a 48-33 lead, shooting 56% in the half. After the game Coach Calihan said “we’re not a great team, but this was one of our greatest victories.” The upset was not all that it at first appeared - Notre Dame turned out not to be that good in 1956, finishing 9-15 for its first losing season in 34 years. The Titans, meanwhile, exceeded expectations, going 13-12. But they still finished last in the Valley at 3-9. Every Valley team had an overall winning record that year. Whatever-our first victory over the Irish after so much futility was undoubtedly still meaningful for the Titan faithful.
78. Feb. 16, 1997: Detroit 72, Green Bay 36
Green Bay had played in three straight NCAA tournaments from 1994-96, as champs of the Summit, of the MCC, and finally as an at-large qualifier from the MCC. The Phoenix slumped to .500 in the 1997 campaign, however, but this thrashing from the Titans was certainly their low point. For the Titans, this is the fewest points allowed since 35 to Chicago State in 1971; fewest to D-I opponent since defeating Michigan State 35-34 in 1949 season. The Titans forced 21 turnovers, outrebounded the Phoenix 43-17 (including just 3 offensive rebounds for Green Bay), and limited Green Bay to 8 foul shots (making 4). It was 36-11 at halftime. Both teams started cold, with the game tied at 2-2 after 6 ½ minutes. The Titans then went on a 21-0 run to lead 23-2 with 6:39 left in the half. During the run, the Titans forced 6 turnovers while allowing Green Bay just 5 shots. The margin grew to 37 points late in the second half before Green Bay scored 7 points in the final 3 minutes. EJ Haralson led Detroit with 16, and Leon Derricks added 15.
77. Feb. 19, 1956: Detroit 72, Marquette 71.
Trailing by 9 against a Marquette squad that had been ranked as high as 13th nationally earlier the season, the Titans outscored the Warriors 12-2 over the game’s final 6 minutes to claim the upset. Ralph Goldstein keyed start of the rally with a basket and a pair of free throws, and then sank two more free throws late for the winning margin. For the game, Bill Ebben led the Titans with 21, and Goldstein hit for 15. Marquette rebounded and went on to the NIT.
76. Feb. 25, 1989: Detroit 74, St. Louis 72.
The 1989 Titans were one of the worst teams in Titan history. With the lone exception of the 1922 Titans (2-13), the 7-win Titans of 1987 and 1988 featured the worst W-L records of any Titan teams. The mess inherited by new coach Ricky Byrdsong before the 1989 season was not going to be solved overnight, and the Titans straggled through the 1989 season, losing 12 straight after an opening win over Rice. The Titans began to show some signs of life in early January, beating Bowling Green 68-62 behind an 11-0 run to start the second half. A week later, before 6600 fans at Calihan, the Titans ambushed MCC favorite Xavier – a team led by Tyrone Hill, Stan Kimbrough, and Derek Strong- by a score of 89-80. But the Titans would continue to struggle, losing a rematch to Xavier by 22, dropping a pair of lopsided games to Evansville, and suffering an embarrassing non-conference loss to Florida International.
In late February the Titans, 5-20, hosted the St. Louis Billikens, a strong team featuring Anthony Bonner, Roland Gray, and Monroe Douglass. The Bills entered the game at 21-7, having won 6 in a row and 9 of 10. St. Louis was thinking it was in contention for an at-large berth in the NCAA if it didn’t win the MCC Conference tournament. Trailing Evansville by a game in the MCC standings, it was also looking for an easy win over Detroit to set up a showdown for the regular season championship when it would host the Purple Aces in the season finale one week later. St. Louis had beaten the Titans by 30 points in January.
This time, the Billikens were sluggish from the start, but nonetheless rolled up a 38-29 halftime lead. The Titans, however, played truly inspired ball in the second half, shooting an amazing 73.9% from the floor. The Titans’ 6-7 soph Darrien McKinney was unstoppable in the second half, finishing with 21 points and 13 rebounds. His inside game was complimented by the outside shooting of guard Billy Wood, who also hit for 21 points. Still, a little 5-0 run by the Billikens gave St. Louis a 1 point lead with 10 seconds to play. Rather than call time out, Byrdsong elected to let the Titans play. “I just motioned to Calvin [Winfield] to go with it," said Byrdsong after the game. "I wanted to take our chances scrambling around and hoped that we'd get lucky." Winfield drove the floor, thought about taking it to the hoop, but pulled up and nailed the trey with 3 seconds on the clock.
St. Louis would go on to beat Evansville in that season finale to finish second in the conference, but settle for the NIT after losing to Xavier in the conference semi-finals. In the NIT they would beat Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Michigan State en route to a 2nd place finish, 27-10 overall. The Titans would finish with a third straight 7-win season and suffer through three more losing seasons before going 15-12 in Byrdsong’s final season with the team. But if this game didn’t exactly turn Titan hoops around, it still has to score as one of the Titans’ biggest upsets, and one of the most exciting games at Calihan during the dismal "long decade" of Titan ball from 1981-1992.
75. Dec. 21, 1964: Detroit 75, Colorado State 73.
John Watson’s desperation 40 foot jumper bounced high off the rim, and with the buzzer already sounded, the ball dropped straight down through the nets to give the Titans an exciting win over an NCAA bound Colorado State squad.
The talented Titans were sputtering early in the 1964-65 season, and entered this game at 4-3, with losses to Purdue, Indiana, and Notre Dame, and unimpressive wins over Western Ontario, Christian Brothers, John Carroll, plus a rollicking 123-110 win over Xavier that set a school record for points scored. Colorado State was in the midst of a span of 5 post-season bids in 6 years, and the Titans needed to start getting wins, especially over good teams.
In this game, the Titans blew an early 14 point lead and trailed by 9 with under seven minutes to play, but rallied behind Lou Hyatt, who hit back-to-back jumpers to tie the game with 1:28 to play. That set the stage for Watson’s big shot, his only bucket of the half. Dorie Murrey led the Titans with 21 and Hyatt added 18. Colorado State finished 16-8 and returned to the NCAA as an at-large selection. The Titans went on to the NIT.
74. Feb. 21, 1942: Detroit 39, Wayne State 21.
The Titans left their usual home at the Armory to try out playing Wayne at Olympia Stadium. This game drew over 7000, helping to convince Titan officials that a major basketball facility could be supported in Detroit, eventually leading to the construction of the Memorial Building after the war. Wayne in the 1940s was not merely a local opponent, but a power in its own right. This 12-3 WSU team beat Oregon and Cincinnati during the season. The Titans came away with a surprisingly easy victory over the Tartars, but unfortunately the game cost them leading scorer Charley O'Brien for the remainder of the season. O'Brien broke his leg in the second half. Without O'Brien the Titans lost their final three games of the season, at Marquette (by 4), at Loyola (by 3), and against Notre Dame (by 2), to finish 13-8.
73. Dec. 14, 1996: Detroit 86, Michigan State 84 (3OT).
EJ Haralson scored his only points of the game on a layup at the buzzer ending the third overtime as UD beat MSU at Calihan in one of the most exciting games of the 61-game series between the Titans and Spartans. Before Haralson's shot, it was night of heroics for the Spartans’ Ray Weathers. At the close of a second half that featured 13 lead changes and 6 ties, Weathers sent the game into OT with a pair of free throws with 14 seconds to play. Weather then hit two free throws to tie the game at the end of the second OT. Finally, Weathers nailed a three pointer to tie the game with 8 seconds left in the third OT. But the Spartans lagged on defense and Haralson beat Antonio Smith to the basket for the game winner. There were plenty of Titan heroes besides Haralson. Leon Derricks led the Titans with 23 points and 17 rebounds, while Derrick Hayes added 22 points and Brian Alexander had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Little used Terrence Porter played just 3 minutes and took one shot, but it was a big one, a three-pointer with 1:18 left in the third OT to give UD a 4 point lead. And Jermaine Jackson contributed 11 points, 7 assists and 6 steals. Michigan State would finish the year, Tom Izzo's second, at 17-12, and Detroit finished at 16-13.
72. Nov. 30, 1968: #18 Detroit 105, Aquinas 40.
It wasn't the opponent, or even the lopsided score, but the hopes that this game gave rise to that rank it so high. Spencer Haywood’s much anticipated career opened with a smashing (literally) victory over outmatched Aquinas College. With Detroit ahead 105-40 and six and a half minutes left to play, Haywood smashed home a dunk shot with such force that it shattered the glass backboard. Mercifully, the clubs agreed to simply call the game, rather than leave poor Aquinas to muddle through another six minutes after a long delay to replace the board (or worse, calling the game a forfeit by the Titans). Haywood’s dunk was illegal under college rules at the time – Haywood said he did it to avoid being undercut by an Aquinas player while going in for a layup. No one protested the dunk – Aquinas was undoubtedly glad to get off the court.
The Titans entered the season ranked 18th in the AP pre-season poll, a first for UD, on the strength of Haywood’s promise. After Lew Alcindor and Elvin Hayes boycotted the Olympic games, Haywood had led the young American Olympic team to a gold medal, topping the team in scoring and rebounding and knocking down 23 points in the gold medal game despite a case of stomach flu. Olympic coach Hank Iba proclaimed, “Haywood could become the best basketball player there has ever been.”
The Aquinas game marked a stunning major college debut for Detroit’s Olympic hero, who scored 36 points and grabbed 31 rebounds in the game (why he was still in the game at the point of his dunk is a question for the late Coach Bob Calihan). In the process, Haywood alone matched Aquinas’s total for field goals. Calihan drolly stated after the game, “he performed as well as we thought he would. He’ll be better against better opponents.” Opening night suggested that it would indeed be a lively season in Detroit.
71. Feb. 14, 1928: Detroit 16, Loyola (IL) 13 (OT).
The Titans have played our Jesuit brothers at Loyola of Chicago 121 times, more than any other school, with Loyola leading the series 64-57. Somewhat surprisingly, though, the teams have played very few memorable games. The two schools have shown a remarkable ability to keep out of each other’s way. When Detroit was strong in the 1990s and the Ray McCallum era, Loyola was weak. When Loyola’s Alfredrick Hughes teams were nationally ranked in the 1980s, Detroit was struggling. It was Detroit’s turn in the 1970s as Loyola hit hard times. The teams had simultaneous up years in the early 1960s, but Loyola won meetings in both 1961, upsetting the Titans in Chicago 83-82, and in 1962, when they beat the NCAA bound Titans on their way to a 23-4 season and an NIT berth. Both teams were strong in the late 1930s and again in the late 1940s, but didn’t play each other in some of those years, notably 1938, 1939, and 1950. There have been remarkably few notable upsets in the series.
One of the few Detroit victories that stands out, then, is this game from 1928. A powerful Rambler squad, with wins over Oregon State, Marquette, Michigan State, St. Louis and Illinois under its belt, entered the game at 12-2. The Titans came in at 7-1. Before a “packed crowd” at the Armory, the Titans led 9-5 at the half, but Loyola tied the game at 13 all at the end of regulation. Loyola made a basket for the win at the buzzer, but the refs ruled the shot too late, prompting a spirited argument by the Loyola coaches. In the OT, the Titans held Loyola scoreless and so won their 7th consecutive game. Lloyd Brazil led the Titans with 6 points. Unfortunately, the Titans lost to Michigan State (which had dealt the Titans their earlier loss) and Lombard College in their next two games, and later lost a rematch to Loyola. The Titans did score late season wins over DePaul and Dayton to finish at 11-4, their best winning percentage since the undefeated 1913 season. Loyola finished 16-4 (including a pair of wins over Lombard and one over MSU).
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
80. Dec. 3, 1943: Detroit 42, Naval Procurement 8.
Military base teams were common opponents during the war years, and some were quite good. According to the Varsity News, due to the manpower shortage created by the war, the Titans did not play the "usual" doubleheader with a freshman game first. Instead, a dance band was hired to round out the evening for the Titans' season opener. The band was greeted with enthusiasm, but Coach Lloyd Brazil noted that “there was a deficiency of girls,” which he attributed in part to competition from “Coed Theater Night.” As for the basketball game, played before some 800 fans, the Titans held the naval team without a field goal for the first 30 minutes in the romp. The Titans had led the nation in scoring defense in the 1942-43 campaign, and certainly started strong in that category in 1943-44. This is the last time the Titans have held an opponent to single digits. Joey Smith and Dan O’Neill led the Titan rout with 6 points each.
79. Dec. 1, 1955. Detroit 77, Notre Dame 71.
Another season opener. The Titans entered the 1955-56 season picked to finish last in the MVC, and opened the season against Notre Dame, which had beaten the Titans 24 times in 24 games between the Catholic rivals. But the Titans made the front page of sports sections around the country on December 2 after upsetting the Irish behind Bill Ebben’s 32 points. Ebben scored 22 of his points in the first half as the Titans raced to a 48-33 lead, shooting 56% in the half. After the game Coach Calihan said “we’re not a great team, but this was one of our greatest victories.” The upset was not all that it at first appeared - Notre Dame turned out not to be that good in 1956, finishing 9-15 for its first losing season in 34 years. The Titans, meanwhile, exceeded expectations, going 13-12. But they still finished last in the Valley at 3-9. Every Valley team had an overall winning record that year. Whatever-our first victory over the Irish after so much futility was undoubtedly still meaningful for the Titan faithful.
78. Feb. 16, 1997: Detroit 72, Green Bay 36
Green Bay had played in three straight NCAA tournaments from 1994-96, as champs of the Summit, of the MCC, and finally as an at-large qualifier from the MCC. The Phoenix slumped to .500 in the 1997 campaign, however, but this thrashing from the Titans was certainly their low point. For the Titans, this is the fewest points allowed since 35 to Chicago State in 1971; fewest to D-I opponent since defeating Michigan State 35-34 in 1949 season. The Titans forced 21 turnovers, outrebounded the Phoenix 43-17 (including just 3 offensive rebounds for Green Bay), and limited Green Bay to 8 foul shots (making 4). It was 36-11 at halftime. Both teams started cold, with the game tied at 2-2 after 6 ½ minutes. The Titans then went on a 21-0 run to lead 23-2 with 6:39 left in the half. During the run, the Titans forced 6 turnovers while allowing Green Bay just 5 shots. The margin grew to 37 points late in the second half before Green Bay scored 7 points in the final 3 minutes. EJ Haralson led Detroit with 16, and Leon Derricks added 15.
77. Feb. 19, 1956: Detroit 72, Marquette 71.
Trailing by 9 against a Marquette squad that had been ranked as high as 13th nationally earlier the season, the Titans outscored the Warriors 12-2 over the game’s final 6 minutes to claim the upset. Ralph Goldstein keyed start of the rally with a basket and a pair of free throws, and then sank two more free throws late for the winning margin. For the game, Bill Ebben led the Titans with 21, and Goldstein hit for 15. Marquette rebounded and went on to the NIT.
76. Feb. 25, 1989: Detroit 74, St. Louis 72.
The 1989 Titans were one of the worst teams in Titan history. With the lone exception of the 1922 Titans (2-13), the 7-win Titans of 1987 and 1988 featured the worst W-L records of any Titan teams. The mess inherited by new coach Ricky Byrdsong before the 1989 season was not going to be solved overnight, and the Titans straggled through the 1989 season, losing 12 straight after an opening win over Rice. The Titans began to show some signs of life in early January, beating Bowling Green 68-62 behind an 11-0 run to start the second half. A week later, before 6600 fans at Calihan, the Titans ambushed MCC favorite Xavier – a team led by Tyrone Hill, Stan Kimbrough, and Derek Strong- by a score of 89-80. But the Titans would continue to struggle, losing a rematch to Xavier by 22, dropping a pair of lopsided games to Evansville, and suffering an embarrassing non-conference loss to Florida International.
In late February the Titans, 5-20, hosted the St. Louis Billikens, a strong team featuring Anthony Bonner, Roland Gray, and Monroe Douglass. The Bills entered the game at 21-7, having won 6 in a row and 9 of 10. St. Louis was thinking it was in contention for an at-large berth in the NCAA if it didn’t win the MCC Conference tournament. Trailing Evansville by a game in the MCC standings, it was also looking for an easy win over Detroit to set up a showdown for the regular season championship when it would host the Purple Aces in the season finale one week later. St. Louis had beaten the Titans by 30 points in January.
This time, the Billikens were sluggish from the start, but nonetheless rolled up a 38-29 halftime lead. The Titans, however, played truly inspired ball in the second half, shooting an amazing 73.9% from the floor. The Titans’ 6-7 soph Darrien McKinney was unstoppable in the second half, finishing with 21 points and 13 rebounds. His inside game was complimented by the outside shooting of guard Billy Wood, who also hit for 21 points. Still, a little 5-0 run by the Billikens gave St. Louis a 1 point lead with 10 seconds to play. Rather than call time out, Byrdsong elected to let the Titans play. “I just motioned to Calvin [Winfield] to go with it," said Byrdsong after the game. "I wanted to take our chances scrambling around and hoped that we'd get lucky." Winfield drove the floor, thought about taking it to the hoop, but pulled up and nailed the trey with 3 seconds on the clock.
St. Louis would go on to beat Evansville in that season finale to finish second in the conference, but settle for the NIT after losing to Xavier in the conference semi-finals. In the NIT they would beat Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Michigan State en route to a 2nd place finish, 27-10 overall. The Titans would finish with a third straight 7-win season and suffer through three more losing seasons before going 15-12 in Byrdsong’s final season with the team. But if this game didn’t exactly turn Titan hoops around, it still has to score as one of the Titans’ biggest upsets, and one of the most exciting games at Calihan during the dismal "long decade" of Titan ball from 1981-1992.
75. Dec. 21, 1964: Detroit 75, Colorado State 73.
John Watson’s desperation 40 foot jumper bounced high off the rim, and with the buzzer already sounded, the ball dropped straight down through the nets to give the Titans an exciting win over an NCAA bound Colorado State squad.
The talented Titans were sputtering early in the 1964-65 season, and entered this game at 4-3, with losses to Purdue, Indiana, and Notre Dame, and unimpressive wins over Western Ontario, Christian Brothers, John Carroll, plus a rollicking 123-110 win over Xavier that set a school record for points scored. Colorado State was in the midst of a span of 5 post-season bids in 6 years, and the Titans needed to start getting wins, especially over good teams.
In this game, the Titans blew an early 14 point lead and trailed by 9 with under seven minutes to play, but rallied behind Lou Hyatt, who hit back-to-back jumpers to tie the game with 1:28 to play. That set the stage for Watson’s big shot, his only bucket of the half. Dorie Murrey led the Titans with 21 and Hyatt added 18. Colorado State finished 16-8 and returned to the NCAA as an at-large selection. The Titans went on to the NIT.
74. Feb. 21, 1942: Detroit 39, Wayne State 21.
The Titans left their usual home at the Armory to try out playing Wayne at Olympia Stadium. This game drew over 7000, helping to convince Titan officials that a major basketball facility could be supported in Detroit, eventually leading to the construction of the Memorial Building after the war. Wayne in the 1940s was not merely a local opponent, but a power in its own right. This 12-3 WSU team beat Oregon and Cincinnati during the season. The Titans came away with a surprisingly easy victory over the Tartars, but unfortunately the game cost them leading scorer Charley O'Brien for the remainder of the season. O'Brien broke his leg in the second half. Without O'Brien the Titans lost their final three games of the season, at Marquette (by 4), at Loyola (by 3), and against Notre Dame (by 2), to finish 13-8.
73. Dec. 14, 1996: Detroit 86, Michigan State 84 (3OT).
EJ Haralson scored his only points of the game on a layup at the buzzer ending the third overtime as UD beat MSU at Calihan in one of the most exciting games of the 61-game series between the Titans and Spartans. Before Haralson's shot, it was night of heroics for the Spartans’ Ray Weathers. At the close of a second half that featured 13 lead changes and 6 ties, Weathers sent the game into OT with a pair of free throws with 14 seconds to play. Weather then hit two free throws to tie the game at the end of the second OT. Finally, Weathers nailed a three pointer to tie the game with 8 seconds left in the third OT. But the Spartans lagged on defense and Haralson beat Antonio Smith to the basket for the game winner. There were plenty of Titan heroes besides Haralson. Leon Derricks led the Titans with 23 points and 17 rebounds, while Derrick Hayes added 22 points and Brian Alexander had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Little used Terrence Porter played just 3 minutes and took one shot, but it was a big one, a three-pointer with 1:18 left in the third OT to give UD a 4 point lead. And Jermaine Jackson contributed 11 points, 7 assists and 6 steals. Michigan State would finish the year, Tom Izzo's second, at 17-12, and Detroit finished at 16-13.
72. Nov. 30, 1968: #18 Detroit 105, Aquinas 40.
It wasn't the opponent, or even the lopsided score, but the hopes that this game gave rise to that rank it so high. Spencer Haywood’s much anticipated career opened with a smashing (literally) victory over outmatched Aquinas College. With Detroit ahead 105-40 and six and a half minutes left to play, Haywood smashed home a dunk shot with such force that it shattered the glass backboard. Mercifully, the clubs agreed to simply call the game, rather than leave poor Aquinas to muddle through another six minutes after a long delay to replace the board (or worse, calling the game a forfeit by the Titans). Haywood’s dunk was illegal under college rules at the time – Haywood said he did it to avoid being undercut by an Aquinas player while going in for a layup. No one protested the dunk – Aquinas was undoubtedly glad to get off the court.
The Titans entered the season ranked 18th in the AP pre-season poll, a first for UD, on the strength of Haywood’s promise. After Lew Alcindor and Elvin Hayes boycotted the Olympic games, Haywood had led the young American Olympic team to a gold medal, topping the team in scoring and rebounding and knocking down 23 points in the gold medal game despite a case of stomach flu. Olympic coach Hank Iba proclaimed, “Haywood could become the best basketball player there has ever been.”
The Aquinas game marked a stunning major college debut for Detroit’s Olympic hero, who scored 36 points and grabbed 31 rebounds in the game (why he was still in the game at the point of his dunk is a question for the late Coach Bob Calihan). In the process, Haywood alone matched Aquinas’s total for field goals. Calihan drolly stated after the game, “he performed as well as we thought he would. He’ll be better against better opponents.” Opening night suggested that it would indeed be a lively season in Detroit.
71. Feb. 14, 1928: Detroit 16, Loyola (IL) 13 (OT).
The Titans have played our Jesuit brothers at Loyola of Chicago 121 times, more than any other school, with Loyola leading the series 64-57. Somewhat surprisingly, though, the teams have played very few memorable games. The two schools have shown a remarkable ability to keep out of each other’s way. When Detroit was strong in the 1990s and the Ray McCallum era, Loyola was weak. When Loyola’s Alfredrick Hughes teams were nationally ranked in the 1980s, Detroit was struggling. It was Detroit’s turn in the 1970s as Loyola hit hard times. The teams had simultaneous up years in the early 1960s, but Loyola won meetings in both 1961, upsetting the Titans in Chicago 83-82, and in 1962, when they beat the NCAA bound Titans on their way to a 23-4 season and an NIT berth. Both teams were strong in the late 1930s and again in the late 1940s, but didn’t play each other in some of those years, notably 1938, 1939, and 1950. There have been remarkably few notable upsets in the series.
One of the few Detroit victories that stands out, then, is this game from 1928. A powerful Rambler squad, with wins over Oregon State, Marquette, Michigan State, St. Louis and Illinois under its belt, entered the game at 12-2. The Titans came in at 7-1. Before a “packed crowd” at the Armory, the Titans led 9-5 at the half, but Loyola tied the game at 13 all at the end of regulation. Loyola made a basket for the win at the buzzer, but the refs ruled the shot too late, prompting a spirited argument by the Loyola coaches. In the OT, the Titans held Loyola scoreless and so won their 7th consecutive game. Lloyd Brazil led the Titans with 6 points. Unfortunately, the Titans lost to Michigan State (which had dealt the Titans their earlier loss) and Lombard College in their next two games, and later lost a rematch to Loyola. The Titans did score late season wins over DePaul and Dayton to finish at 11-4, their best winning percentage since the undefeated 1913 season. Loyola finished 16-4 (including a pair of wins over Lombard and one over MSU).