Post by Commissioner on May 28, 2014 19:45:27 GMT -5
More Great Titan wins:
70. Dec. 30, 1972: Detroit 75, Massachusetts 59.
Taking on the eventual Yankee Conference Champs in the finals of the Motor City Tournament, the Titans trailed 33-26 at the half. UD came out firing in the second half, however, shooting 54% while stifling the Minutemen on the defensive end. Owen Wells led the Titans with 25 points and 17 rebounds, while Preston Pace added 20 and 10. In the last year of the Jim Harding reign, the Titans were quite competitive, finishing 16-9, but fan interest had bottomed out. The Motor City Tournament drew just 1662 as the Titans beat Denver on the first night, despite the presence of EMU in the first game. Attendance for the finals was just 1787. Dick Vitale always said he was told when hired 4 months later that his job was to "get butts in the seats," though my guess is that it wasn't framed quite that way. UMass was a good team that finished 20-7.
69. January 5, 1986: Detroit 77, Iowa St. 67.
Greg Wendt scored 20 as the Titans soundly defeated Iowa State’s eventual Sweet 16 club. Detroit took the lead at 14-12 and never trailed again, despite Jeff Granger’s 25 points for the Cyclones.
68. Feb. 14, 1985: Detroit 68, Dayton 67.
In one of the most exciting games in the long Dayton rivalry, Keith Gray hit a baseline jumper to pull the Titans to within one point with 8 seconds left. Greg Wendt fouled Dayton's Damon Goodwin after the inbounds, and Goodwin missed the front end of a one and one. Wendt grabbed the rebound, dribbled the court, and hit a 24 foot bomb at the buzzer for the win. Wendt led the Titans with 19 points
With the win over NCAA-bound Dayton, the Titans liked their chances for a post-season bid, especially after beating #4 Memphis two weeks later, but the 16-12 Titans were snubbed by the NIT.
67. Jan. 17, 1961: Detroit 71, Dayton 57.
Dayton held Dave DeBusschere to just 8 points, but Charlie North hit for 23 as the Titans easily vanquished 9-2 Dayton. Both teams would eventually make the 12 team NIT field, where both would lose to Holy Cross, Detroit in the first round and Dayton in the semi-finals.
66. Feb. 17, 1942: Detroit 39, @ Michigan State 37.
From the Associated Press, Feb. 17, 1942. “Michigan State College’s home court invincibility was denied by an aggressive University of Detroit quintet which set the Spartans down with a 39-37 defeat last night. … Detroit’s superiority was far greater than indicated by the score… .” For the Titans, Bob Brice led the scoring with 13, but it was Art Stolkey who hit what proved to be the game winner with 90 seconds to play. Joe Gerard did set a new record for most career points for the Spartans in the game. The Spartans would finish 15-6, including 13-2 at East Lansing. The Titans finished the season at 13-8.
65. Nov. 24, 1978: Detroit 67, Toledo 64.
The Titans opened the season with a win over eventual MAC Champ, #19 year end, Sweet 16 Rockets. Trailing 60-53 with 8:40 to play, the Titans held Toledo scoreless for the next 6:53 to take charge. Jerry Davis finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Earl Cureton added 12 points and 10 rebounds. This cut Toledo's lead in the long rivalry to 17-16.
64. February 22, 1921: Detroit 37, Niagara 23.
In the early 1920s Niagara emerged as an early eastern power in college basketball. Over the 6 seasons from 1918 through 1923, the Purple Eagles recorded 70 wins and just 18 losses. Niagara clobbered Detroit 27-13 on February 5 in Niagara. But the Titans roared back with an equally impressive win in Detroit 17 days later, basically reversing the score. The Tigers (as the Titans were then known) took control early as Center Walter Voss scored the game’s first 6 points, and led 21-12 at the half. After that Niagara never challenged. Voss led the Titans with 10 points on the night. After this game Niagara won 6 straight to close out the season at 15-4, and after a one point loss in their 1921-22 opener, won another 16 straight.
63. December 4, 1998: Detroit 49, Gonzaga 48.
Detroit and Gonzaga met in the opening round of the Hawkeye Invitational in December, 1998, as two of the nation’s better mid-major programs. The Titans had upset St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament the prior spring, and were the Horizon Conference favorite. For its part, Gonzaga was not yet the monster mid-major it would become. The Zags had still never won an NCAA game, and indeed had appeared in the tourney only once in its 55 years of NCAA basketball. But Gonzaga was coming off a successful 1998 season, in which it had won 24 games and the WCC regular season title, only to be relegated to the NIT after falling to San Francisco in the WCC conference tourney. The Bulldogs had won 20 or more games in 5 of the prior 7 seasons, and were clearly a program on the rise. The game marked a chance to impress the NCAA and poll voters, with the winner getting a further opportunity to shine against host Iowa in the final. Detroit entered the game at 4-1, its record marred only by a loss at Michigan. Gonzaga entered at 3-2, its losses on the road at Kansas and Purdue.
The two clubs were also two of the nation’s best defensive teams, and it showed, The first half was a low scoring, back and forth affair, ending with Detroit up 27-24. But Gonzaga started the second half with a 15-2 run, spurred by four 3 pointers, to take a 39-29 lead with 15:28 to play. The Titan defense, including 4 players who would earn Horizon Conference All-Defensive honors during their careers (Jermaine Jackson, Rashad Phillips, Bacari Alexander, and Darius Belin), clamped down. UD held Gonzaga to just six points in the next 12 minutes, closing the gap to 45-44. A three pointer by Quentin Hall gave Gonzaga a four point lead with just over three minutes to play, but baskets by Jackson and Alexander tied the game at 48 with 1:25 remaining. Neither team made a field goal after that – indeed, the only point came when Alexander hit 1 of 2 free throws with 52 seconds on the clock. Gonzaga missed two foul shots in the final 18 seconds as the Titans held on. Jackson led the Titans with 15 points, but it was Alexander who took over the game in the final minutes. In what may have been the finest game of his career, Alexander scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 6:51. Casey Calvary led Gonzaga with 10.
Although Detroit lost to Iowa by one the next night, both teams would go on to win their conference regular season and tournament titles, and pull first round NCAA upsets, with Detroit beating UCLA and Gonzaga knocking off Minnesota. But from there, the fortunes of these two Jesuit colleges deviated. Detroit got mauled by Ohio State in the second round of the 1999 tournament, while Gonzaga made that year’s tournament its coming out party, advancing to the Elite 8 with wins over Stanford and Florida, before a dramatic loss to Connecticut. Detroit did not returned to the NCAA for 13 years, while Gonzaga made 13 consecutive NCAA appearances. Why not us?
62. Jan. 27, 1939: Detroit 33, Butler 24.
Bob Calihan scored all 16 of Detroit’s first half points as the Titans never trailed in a battle of major Midwest independents.
Butler was a major basketball power in the 1920s and 1930s. With the NIT and NCAA tournaments not beginning until 1938 and 1939, respectively, Butler lays claim to National Championships for 1924 and 1929, the former by virtue of defeating the Kansas City Athletic Club in the AAU National Championships (college teams made the finals of that tournament 10 times between 1915 and 1934), and in the latter by virtue of the Veteran Athletes of Philadelphia, which used to award a trophy for the national champions in football and basketball (sort of like the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded by the Downtown Athletic Club). Butler briefly joined the Missouri Valley Conference for the 1933 and 1934 seasons, and won the league title in both. In any case, beating a good, Tony Hinkle-coached Butler team in the pre-WWII era was always an accomplishment. Though Butler never led, the game was close for three quarters and change. Butler tied the game just once, at 20-20, but the Titans finally pulled away by outscoring the Dogs 9-2 in the final six minutes. Calihan led all scorers with 18. Butler would finish out the year at 14-6, the Titans 15-5.
61. Feb. 3, 1968: Detroit 82, Notre Dame 79.
The Titans trailed most of the afternoon before an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of Rapid Ralph Brisker baskets gave Detroit its first lead with under 5 minutes to play in the second half. The Titans hung on to defeat the Irish. Jerry Swartzfager's 23 points led Detroit, Larry Salci added 20 and Brisker 18. Notre Dame would finish 21-9 and in third place in the NIT. This is probably the Titans most impressive win over Notre Dame.
70. Dec. 30, 1972: Detroit 75, Massachusetts 59.
Taking on the eventual Yankee Conference Champs in the finals of the Motor City Tournament, the Titans trailed 33-26 at the half. UD came out firing in the second half, however, shooting 54% while stifling the Minutemen on the defensive end. Owen Wells led the Titans with 25 points and 17 rebounds, while Preston Pace added 20 and 10. In the last year of the Jim Harding reign, the Titans were quite competitive, finishing 16-9, but fan interest had bottomed out. The Motor City Tournament drew just 1662 as the Titans beat Denver on the first night, despite the presence of EMU in the first game. Attendance for the finals was just 1787. Dick Vitale always said he was told when hired 4 months later that his job was to "get butts in the seats," though my guess is that it wasn't framed quite that way. UMass was a good team that finished 20-7.
69. January 5, 1986: Detroit 77, Iowa St. 67.
Greg Wendt scored 20 as the Titans soundly defeated Iowa State’s eventual Sweet 16 club. Detroit took the lead at 14-12 and never trailed again, despite Jeff Granger’s 25 points for the Cyclones.
68. Feb. 14, 1985: Detroit 68, Dayton 67.
In one of the most exciting games in the long Dayton rivalry, Keith Gray hit a baseline jumper to pull the Titans to within one point with 8 seconds left. Greg Wendt fouled Dayton's Damon Goodwin after the inbounds, and Goodwin missed the front end of a one and one. Wendt grabbed the rebound, dribbled the court, and hit a 24 foot bomb at the buzzer for the win. Wendt led the Titans with 19 points
With the win over NCAA-bound Dayton, the Titans liked their chances for a post-season bid, especially after beating #4 Memphis two weeks later, but the 16-12 Titans were snubbed by the NIT.
67. Jan. 17, 1961: Detroit 71, Dayton 57.
Dayton held Dave DeBusschere to just 8 points, but Charlie North hit for 23 as the Titans easily vanquished 9-2 Dayton. Both teams would eventually make the 12 team NIT field, where both would lose to Holy Cross, Detroit in the first round and Dayton in the semi-finals.
66. Feb. 17, 1942: Detroit 39, @ Michigan State 37.
From the Associated Press, Feb. 17, 1942. “Michigan State College’s home court invincibility was denied by an aggressive University of Detroit quintet which set the Spartans down with a 39-37 defeat last night. … Detroit’s superiority was far greater than indicated by the score… .” For the Titans, Bob Brice led the scoring with 13, but it was Art Stolkey who hit what proved to be the game winner with 90 seconds to play. Joe Gerard did set a new record for most career points for the Spartans in the game. The Spartans would finish 15-6, including 13-2 at East Lansing. The Titans finished the season at 13-8.
65. Nov. 24, 1978: Detroit 67, Toledo 64.
The Titans opened the season with a win over eventual MAC Champ, #19 year end, Sweet 16 Rockets. Trailing 60-53 with 8:40 to play, the Titans held Toledo scoreless for the next 6:53 to take charge. Jerry Davis finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Earl Cureton added 12 points and 10 rebounds. This cut Toledo's lead in the long rivalry to 17-16.
64. February 22, 1921: Detroit 37, Niagara 23.
In the early 1920s Niagara emerged as an early eastern power in college basketball. Over the 6 seasons from 1918 through 1923, the Purple Eagles recorded 70 wins and just 18 losses. Niagara clobbered Detroit 27-13 on February 5 in Niagara. But the Titans roared back with an equally impressive win in Detroit 17 days later, basically reversing the score. The Tigers (as the Titans were then known) took control early as Center Walter Voss scored the game’s first 6 points, and led 21-12 at the half. After that Niagara never challenged. Voss led the Titans with 10 points on the night. After this game Niagara won 6 straight to close out the season at 15-4, and after a one point loss in their 1921-22 opener, won another 16 straight.
63. December 4, 1998: Detroit 49, Gonzaga 48.
Detroit and Gonzaga met in the opening round of the Hawkeye Invitational in December, 1998, as two of the nation’s better mid-major programs. The Titans had upset St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament the prior spring, and were the Horizon Conference favorite. For its part, Gonzaga was not yet the monster mid-major it would become. The Zags had still never won an NCAA game, and indeed had appeared in the tourney only once in its 55 years of NCAA basketball. But Gonzaga was coming off a successful 1998 season, in which it had won 24 games and the WCC regular season title, only to be relegated to the NIT after falling to San Francisco in the WCC conference tourney. The Bulldogs had won 20 or more games in 5 of the prior 7 seasons, and were clearly a program on the rise. The game marked a chance to impress the NCAA and poll voters, with the winner getting a further opportunity to shine against host Iowa in the final. Detroit entered the game at 4-1, its record marred only by a loss at Michigan. Gonzaga entered at 3-2, its losses on the road at Kansas and Purdue.
The two clubs were also two of the nation’s best defensive teams, and it showed, The first half was a low scoring, back and forth affair, ending with Detroit up 27-24. But Gonzaga started the second half with a 15-2 run, spurred by four 3 pointers, to take a 39-29 lead with 15:28 to play. The Titan defense, including 4 players who would earn Horizon Conference All-Defensive honors during their careers (Jermaine Jackson, Rashad Phillips, Bacari Alexander, and Darius Belin), clamped down. UD held Gonzaga to just six points in the next 12 minutes, closing the gap to 45-44. A three pointer by Quentin Hall gave Gonzaga a four point lead with just over three minutes to play, but baskets by Jackson and Alexander tied the game at 48 with 1:25 remaining. Neither team made a field goal after that – indeed, the only point came when Alexander hit 1 of 2 free throws with 52 seconds on the clock. Gonzaga missed two foul shots in the final 18 seconds as the Titans held on. Jackson led the Titans with 15 points, but it was Alexander who took over the game in the final minutes. In what may have been the finest game of his career, Alexander scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 6:51. Casey Calvary led Gonzaga with 10.
Although Detroit lost to Iowa by one the next night, both teams would go on to win their conference regular season and tournament titles, and pull first round NCAA upsets, with Detroit beating UCLA and Gonzaga knocking off Minnesota. But from there, the fortunes of these two Jesuit colleges deviated. Detroit got mauled by Ohio State in the second round of the 1999 tournament, while Gonzaga made that year’s tournament its coming out party, advancing to the Elite 8 with wins over Stanford and Florida, before a dramatic loss to Connecticut. Detroit did not returned to the NCAA for 13 years, while Gonzaga made 13 consecutive NCAA appearances. Why not us?
62. Jan. 27, 1939: Detroit 33, Butler 24.
Bob Calihan scored all 16 of Detroit’s first half points as the Titans never trailed in a battle of major Midwest independents.
Butler was a major basketball power in the 1920s and 1930s. With the NIT and NCAA tournaments not beginning until 1938 and 1939, respectively, Butler lays claim to National Championships for 1924 and 1929, the former by virtue of defeating the Kansas City Athletic Club in the AAU National Championships (college teams made the finals of that tournament 10 times between 1915 and 1934), and in the latter by virtue of the Veteran Athletes of Philadelphia, which used to award a trophy for the national champions in football and basketball (sort of like the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded by the Downtown Athletic Club). Butler briefly joined the Missouri Valley Conference for the 1933 and 1934 seasons, and won the league title in both. In any case, beating a good, Tony Hinkle-coached Butler team in the pre-WWII era was always an accomplishment. Though Butler never led, the game was close for three quarters and change. Butler tied the game just once, at 20-20, but the Titans finally pulled away by outscoring the Dogs 9-2 in the final six minutes. Calihan led all scorers with 18. Butler would finish out the year at 14-6, the Titans 15-5.
61. Feb. 3, 1968: Detroit 82, Notre Dame 79.
The Titans trailed most of the afternoon before an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of Rapid Ralph Brisker baskets gave Detroit its first lead with under 5 minutes to play in the second half. The Titans hung on to defeat the Irish. Jerry Swartzfager's 23 points led Detroit, Larry Salci added 20 and Brisker 18. Notre Dame would finish 21-9 and in third place in the NIT. This is probably the Titans most impressive win over Notre Dame.