Post by Commissioner on Jun 16, 2014 20:33:56 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: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/291/great-titan-wins-41-50
The wins are starting to get pretty serious here.
40: January 10, 1964, Detroit 114, Notre Dame 104 (OT).
This overtime victory was Detroit’s first ever win in South Bend. Dick Dzik had 26 and Lou Hyatt 24 to overcome Larry Sheffield’s Notre Dame record 47 points. Notre Dame led 52-50 at the half, and it was 100-100 at end of regulation. The score was not that atypical for UD in 1964 – the Titans led the nation in scoring, but played little enough defense that their season ending 14-11 record was the worst, to that time, of any team ever to lead the nation in scoring. Notre Dame would finish 10-14.
39. January 20, 1974: Detroit 79, Dayton 72 (OT).
After an impressive 11-1 start, including wins over Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota, the Titans lost consecutive road games to Western Michigan and Villanova. This overtime win over a good Dayton club, 10-3, temporarily got the Titans back on track. Jerry Guinane, making a rare start, scored 10 of the Titans final 16 points in regulation, but with the score tied at 62 Owen Wells missed the front end of a one & one with seven seconds to play, giving Dayton a chance for the win. Wells compounded the problem when he fouled Dayton's Mike Sylvester, an 85% foul shooter, as Sylvester heaved up a long desperation jumper at the buzzer. But Sylvester missed both foul shots, and Riley Dotson scored 6 and Walter Smith 5 (all on free throws) as the Titans dominated the extra period. Wells led the Titans with 18 points, Dotson added 16, and Guinane finished with 14.
The Titans eventually entered the last two weeks of the season at 16-5 and looked like a good bet for post-season play, but they lost 4 of their last 5 and were passed over by both the NCAA and NIT. Dayton finished the year ranked 20th in the nation, and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament before losing in triple overtime to UCLA.
38. March 14, 2001: Detroit 68, @ Bradley 49 (NIT).
Detroit opened the 2001 NIT with a surprisingly easy win over Bradley before 6500 fans at the Carver Center in Peoria. The victory snapped Bradley’s 12 game home winning streak, and was the worst defeat ever for Bradley in post-season play. Bradley, which finished 19-12, played without lead scorer Jerome Robertson. Rashad Phillips scored 17 points to lead UD. Greg Grays added 13 as Detroit ran its record to 23-10.
37. February 7, 1998: Detroit 76, Illinois-Chicago 58.
Derrick Hayes and Brian Alexander each scored 16 points and the Titans clinched their first 20 victory season in 19 years. More importantly, the win over second place UIC (18-3 entering the game) put the Titans in the driver’s seat in the MCC race. The Titans also avenged a loss at Chicago earlier in the year.
The Titans used two big runs to whip the Flames. A 9-0 Detroit spurt put the Titans up 26-14 with 5:46 left in the first half, and a 14-2 Titan blitz early in the second half left Detroit ahead 50-29. UIC never recovered. The Titans played a near flawless game, shooting 51% from the floor (64% in the second half), and featuring a balanced attack that included 11 points apiece from Rashad Philips and Perry Robinson and 10 from Jermaine Jackson. The Titans committed just 6 turnovers while forcing 17, and out-rebounded the taller Flames, 35-32.
A regular season ending loss to Cleveland State forced Detroit to settle for a tie with UIC for the conference title, and both teams were upset in the conference tournament. However, in the end both UIC (RPI 29, win over Michigan State) and UD (RPI 38, win over MSU) made the Big Dance as at-large selections, and the Titans scored an opening round win over St. John’s.
36. Jan. 2, 1968, Detroit 99, #14 Indiana 93.
Indiana, the defending Big 10 champs, had opened the 1967-68 season 6-0, including wins over North Carolina St., Missouri, Kansas St. and Notre Dame, to advance to #3 in the AP and #5 in the last polls of calendar 1967. However, back to back losses to Western Kentucky and SMU in the Dallas Classic over Christmas week dropped them out of the AP poll ( AP ranked only the top 10 that year) and to 14th in the UPI poll, both released just hours before the tip-off with Detroit. Meanwhile, the Titans had started the season 7-2, the losses only to Missouri and Michigan, and the victims including West Virginia, Xavier, and Calvin Murphy-led Niagara.
Trailing 21-20 midway through the first half, Detroit went on a 9-0 run and led the rest of the game. At the half it was 46-42. Forward Bruce Rodwan scored 5 consecutive points as the Titans built their lead to 56-45 in the opening minutes of the second half, and UD gradually upped the lead to 16 points, 83-67, with six minutes to play. At that point, Indiana went into a full court press and chopped steadily into the Detroit lead, but Rodwan hit 4 consecutive free throws down the stretch to keep the Hoosiers at bay.
Rodwan finished the game with a career high 36 points, plus 19 rebounds. Larry Salci added 19 points and center Tom Richardson 14 points and 19 rebounds to the Titan effort. All 5 Titan starters scored in double figures – not unusual that year as the Titans featured a high scoring but balanced attack by Rodwan (15.2 ppg), Jerry Swartzfager (14.6), Salci (14.9 ppg), Ralph Brisker (15.4), and Richardson. Swartzfager had 15 and Brisker 14 in the win over Indiana.
So how could a Titan victory over a #14 Indiana squad not even make the Top 30 Titan wins? Well… Unfortunately, the win was the not the harbinger of good things to come for the Titans. In fact, both clubs soon found themselves on a downhill slide. Indiana rebounded from the Detroit loss to beat Minnesota and Illinois, but the Hoosiers would lose 11 of their last 13 to finish 10-14 overall. The Titans proceeded to lose 7 of their next 9 against a tough slate that included road losses to Notre Dame, Dayton, Xavier, and St. Bonaventure, and home defeats to Duquesne, Marquette, and Villanova. The Titans did beat Notre Dame at the Memorial Building later in the season, but only victories over John Carroll and Canisius in their final two games raised them above .500 at the finish, at 13-12.
This was one victory that looked awfully good at the time, but that lost its luster rather quickly
35. December 30, 1961: Detroit 77, #19 St. Bonaventure 70.
The 1961 Motor City Classic featured one of the Tournament’s best fields. In the opening round, Dave DeBusschere scored 28 points and grabbed 30 rebounds as Detroit ripped a unusually poor Syracuse team 97-70, while 19th ranked, once-beaten St. Bonaventure defeated previously unbeaten DePaul.
In the championship game, DeBusschere scored 30 and covered 16 boards as the Titans dropped St. Bonaventure 77-70 to win the tournament for the third consecutive year. UD broke open a close game early in the second half, then held off a furious St. Bonnie rally for the victory. Frank Chickowsky added 21 points for Detroit.
With the win, Detroit advanced to 9-2 on its way to its first ever NCAA appearance.
34. March 1, 1972: #18 Detroit 79, #20 Duquesne 71.
“The surprise of the opening day’s bids was the selection of two local schools – St. John’s and Fordham – over 18th ranked Detroit and 20th ranked Duquesne. Both teams had been major candidates for NCAA bids but were bypassed, and it was assumed that the NIT would grab them on the first day [of offering bids]. The NIT still has 11 vacant spots.” Such was flashed out on the United Press International wires on Wednesday, March 1, 1972.
The Jim Harding era had not been a happy one for Detroit, with his team staging a walk out before Harding had ever coached a game, and a series of suspensions, walkouts, and declining fan interest over the ensuing three years. But in the spring of 1972, it looked like all that might be forgotten. The 17-5 Titans had just moved into the rankings for the first time since the Spencer Haywood season by blasting second-ranked and previously unbeaten Marquette, 70-49 four days before.
As it so happened, Detroit and Duquesne were scheduled to meet in the Memorial Building the very evening after both were passed over in the first round of bids, giving the game something of a play-in feel for the still prestigious NIT. UD entered the game having won 12 of 14, including wins over Boston College, Dayton, and St. Bonaventure, as well as Marquette, and also owned an early season win over then 15th ranked and eventual MAC co-champ Ohio University. But the Titans had laid an egg in an appearance at Madison Square Garden in mid-February, losing badly to a mediocre St. Peter’s squad, and the defeat was thought to weigh heavily on the NIT selection committee. Duquesne entered the contest at 19-4, fresh off a win over Providence.
The game see-sawed back and forth in the first half, with the Titans gaining a 39-36 edge at the break. After intermission, however, Detroit slowly added to its margin, going up 66-56 with 6:06 to play on a Frank Russell jump shot. Duquesne was unable to close the gap and the Titans wound up winning 79-71. Russell led the Titans with 20 points and Bill Pleas added 18. 7’0” center Gerald Smith and senior forward Daryl Johnson each scored 10 for the Titans.
But the victory was for naught. The Titans squandered the Duquesne win by dropping their season finale, 98-85, to 9-14 Western Michigan. They were passed over by the NIT, “leaving some doubt among coaches as to the wisdom of the seven member selection committee,” according to UPI. In a late turn of events, however, Ohio State and Tennessee turned down an NIT bids, and UPI reported on March 10 that the Titans had been offered one of those slots. The report turned out to be premature. That same day Johnson was determined to have been ineligible for the entire season as a result of having played JC games at Wright JC in Chicago in 1966 (meaning he had used up his collegiate eligibility). The Johnson revelation was almost certainly the final blow to the Titans’ hopes. Davidson and Oral Roberts were given the final bids.
The irony may be that had the Titans gotten the NIT bid, the hated Jim Harding might have kept his job beyond the 1973 season, and the Titans might never have hired Dick Vitale, thus setting the program on a new course. Be careful what you wish for.
33. January 19, 1960: #20 Detroit 68, #17 Notre Dame 61.
This game was one of many landmarks in the Debusschere era.
The Titans and the Irish first squared off in 1912, but not until 1955 did the Titans score a win in the series, when Bill Ebben poured in 32 points and the Titans blew out a sub-par Notre Dame squad in the Memorial Buildling. But Notre Dame won the next four meetings to take a 29-1 lead in the series. Included in those four wins was a 75-63 thrashing of Detroit in South Bend just 10 days before this game in the Memorial Building on January 19, 1960.
Detroit entered the game with a record of 12-2 and #20 ranking in AP poll released earlier that day. The Titans only loss besides the defeat in South Bend was an 89-85 loss at Indiana in December. Notre Dame came in at 11-3, with a #17 ranking from UPI. A then-record 9353 fans packed into Memorial Building for the game.
The clubs see-sawed through the first half, with Notre Dame taking a 26-22 lead late in the half, but the Titans closed the period on a 8-2 run with a pair of buckets by DeBusschere, two Charlie North free throws, and a jumper by Larry Hughes just before the buzzer. Notre Dame rallied behind Emmitt McCarthy in the second half, tying the score on 4 occasions, but DeBusschere knocked in 17 of his game high 30 points in the second half, and after opening a lead midway through the second half, the Titans used a semi-stall to hold off Notre Dame for the final seven minutes. McCarthy led Notre Dame with 22 points. North and Ray Albee supported DeBusschere with 11 and 15 points, respectively.
The victory, followed by an 82-62 rout of Central Michigan in which DeBusschere grabbed 39 rebounds, boosted Detroit to #14 in the next poll. Unfortunately, the Titans lost 4 of their last 9 to finish the regular season at 20-6. The Titans still got an NCAA bid, but had accepted an NIT bid moments before (the two tournaments still competed for teams in those days). There Detroit lost an 88-86 first round heartbreaker to Villanova. Notre Dame also struggled down the stretch to finish 17-9, still good enough for an NCAA bid.
32. February 11, 1962, Detroit 97, @ Dayton 75.
Dave Debusschere set a school scoring record with 44 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as the Titans scored perhaps the biggest win in their long rivalry with Dayton, crushing the Flyers at Dayton, 97-75. DeBusschere hit 16 of 26 shots from the floor.
1961-62 was an up-down year for Detroit. With running mate Charlie North graduated, the Titans, coming off consecutive NIT bids, were clearly going to go only as far as DeBusschere could carry the team. The Titans rolled out to a 9-2 start that included wins over Xavier and, in the finals of the Motor City Classic, 19th ranked St. Bonaventure; but also included an embarrassing 25 point loss at #6 Purdue. After the St. Bonaventure victory, the Titans dropped 4 of 5, including a home loss to Western Michigan, falling to 10-6. But with post-season hopes rapidly fading, the Titans scored wins at Michigan and at home against #10 Villanova before the Dayton game.
The blowout at Dayton was vital to helping the Titans withstand a sluggish loss to a mediocre Marquette team two nights later, and gain their first NCAA bid ever. Meanwhile Dayton, which entered the game at 13-5, did not lose again in 1962, winning its final 11 games and defeating St. John’s in Madison Square Garden to win the NIT.
31. March 6, 2012: Detroit 70, @ Valparaiso 50.
Picked as a top 40 team by many pre-season publications, the 2012 Titans ran into a buzzsaw of misfortune even before the season began. First, star Center Eli Holman was suspended for the team’s first 10 games after breaking another student’s nose in an off-campus fight. A key rotation player, guard Chris Blake, was declared academically ineligible before the season began. Forward John Hoskins, considered a key back up, succumbed to a series of minor injuries and a large dose of indifference, and never saw action before leaving the team. Then, in the season’s fifth game, starting forward Nick Minnerath tore up his knee, putting him out for the season. By the time Holman returned in December, the Titans were 4-6, and continued to struggle through early January. After losing to Valparaiso at Calihan Hall on January 6, the Titans were 7-10, just 1-4 in conference play and already 3 games out of first.
The Titans finally put it together starting in January. Detroit won 14 of 17 to close out the season (although losing again to Valpo). In the conference tournament, the Titans dispatched Youngstown and Cleveland State, setting up a title game with the regular season champion Crusaders. The Titans trailed by 9 early and by three at the half, but took the lead with an 11-0 run early in the second half. On Coach Ray McCallum’s birthday, son Ray McCallum turned in one of the biggest games of his college career, leading UD with 21 points on 10-16 shooting, grabbing six rebounds and claiming four steals, and dominating the game far beyond the raw statistical numbers as the Titans pulled away. Jason Calliste finished with 17 points and LaMarcus Lowe had a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the Titans shot 58% after halftime. The win propelled Detroit to its first NCAA appearance in 13 years.
Unfortunately, the early season losses relegated the Titans to a #15 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Kansas in the first round. It’s never a bad season when you reach the NCAA tournament, but Titan fans have to wonder what this team might have done with Holman, Minnerath, and Blake playing all season, and without all the off-court distractions.
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: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/291/great-titan-wins-41-50
The wins are starting to get pretty serious here.
40: January 10, 1964, Detroit 114, Notre Dame 104 (OT).
This overtime victory was Detroit’s first ever win in South Bend. Dick Dzik had 26 and Lou Hyatt 24 to overcome Larry Sheffield’s Notre Dame record 47 points. Notre Dame led 52-50 at the half, and it was 100-100 at end of regulation. The score was not that atypical for UD in 1964 – the Titans led the nation in scoring, but played little enough defense that their season ending 14-11 record was the worst, to that time, of any team ever to lead the nation in scoring. Notre Dame would finish 10-14.
39. January 20, 1974: Detroit 79, Dayton 72 (OT).
After an impressive 11-1 start, including wins over Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota, the Titans lost consecutive road games to Western Michigan and Villanova. This overtime win over a good Dayton club, 10-3, temporarily got the Titans back on track. Jerry Guinane, making a rare start, scored 10 of the Titans final 16 points in regulation, but with the score tied at 62 Owen Wells missed the front end of a one & one with seven seconds to play, giving Dayton a chance for the win. Wells compounded the problem when he fouled Dayton's Mike Sylvester, an 85% foul shooter, as Sylvester heaved up a long desperation jumper at the buzzer. But Sylvester missed both foul shots, and Riley Dotson scored 6 and Walter Smith 5 (all on free throws) as the Titans dominated the extra period. Wells led the Titans with 18 points, Dotson added 16, and Guinane finished with 14.
The Titans eventually entered the last two weeks of the season at 16-5 and looked like a good bet for post-season play, but they lost 4 of their last 5 and were passed over by both the NCAA and NIT. Dayton finished the year ranked 20th in the nation, and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament before losing in triple overtime to UCLA.
38. March 14, 2001: Detroit 68, @ Bradley 49 (NIT).
Detroit opened the 2001 NIT with a surprisingly easy win over Bradley before 6500 fans at the Carver Center in Peoria. The victory snapped Bradley’s 12 game home winning streak, and was the worst defeat ever for Bradley in post-season play. Bradley, which finished 19-12, played without lead scorer Jerome Robertson. Rashad Phillips scored 17 points to lead UD. Greg Grays added 13 as Detroit ran its record to 23-10.
37. February 7, 1998: Detroit 76, Illinois-Chicago 58.
Derrick Hayes and Brian Alexander each scored 16 points and the Titans clinched their first 20 victory season in 19 years. More importantly, the win over second place UIC (18-3 entering the game) put the Titans in the driver’s seat in the MCC race. The Titans also avenged a loss at Chicago earlier in the year.
The Titans used two big runs to whip the Flames. A 9-0 Detroit spurt put the Titans up 26-14 with 5:46 left in the first half, and a 14-2 Titan blitz early in the second half left Detroit ahead 50-29. UIC never recovered. The Titans played a near flawless game, shooting 51% from the floor (64% in the second half), and featuring a balanced attack that included 11 points apiece from Rashad Philips and Perry Robinson and 10 from Jermaine Jackson. The Titans committed just 6 turnovers while forcing 17, and out-rebounded the taller Flames, 35-32.
A regular season ending loss to Cleveland State forced Detroit to settle for a tie with UIC for the conference title, and both teams were upset in the conference tournament. However, in the end both UIC (RPI 29, win over Michigan State) and UD (RPI 38, win over MSU) made the Big Dance as at-large selections, and the Titans scored an opening round win over St. John’s.
36. Jan. 2, 1968, Detroit 99, #14 Indiana 93.
Indiana, the defending Big 10 champs, had opened the 1967-68 season 6-0, including wins over North Carolina St., Missouri, Kansas St. and Notre Dame, to advance to #3 in the AP and #5 in the last polls of calendar 1967. However, back to back losses to Western Kentucky and SMU in the Dallas Classic over Christmas week dropped them out of the AP poll ( AP ranked only the top 10 that year) and to 14th in the UPI poll, both released just hours before the tip-off with Detroit. Meanwhile, the Titans had started the season 7-2, the losses only to Missouri and Michigan, and the victims including West Virginia, Xavier, and Calvin Murphy-led Niagara.
Trailing 21-20 midway through the first half, Detroit went on a 9-0 run and led the rest of the game. At the half it was 46-42. Forward Bruce Rodwan scored 5 consecutive points as the Titans built their lead to 56-45 in the opening minutes of the second half, and UD gradually upped the lead to 16 points, 83-67, with six minutes to play. At that point, Indiana went into a full court press and chopped steadily into the Detroit lead, but Rodwan hit 4 consecutive free throws down the stretch to keep the Hoosiers at bay.
Rodwan finished the game with a career high 36 points, plus 19 rebounds. Larry Salci added 19 points and center Tom Richardson 14 points and 19 rebounds to the Titan effort. All 5 Titan starters scored in double figures – not unusual that year as the Titans featured a high scoring but balanced attack by Rodwan (15.2 ppg), Jerry Swartzfager (14.6), Salci (14.9 ppg), Ralph Brisker (15.4), and Richardson. Swartzfager had 15 and Brisker 14 in the win over Indiana.
So how could a Titan victory over a #14 Indiana squad not even make the Top 30 Titan wins? Well… Unfortunately, the win was the not the harbinger of good things to come for the Titans. In fact, both clubs soon found themselves on a downhill slide. Indiana rebounded from the Detroit loss to beat Minnesota and Illinois, but the Hoosiers would lose 11 of their last 13 to finish 10-14 overall. The Titans proceeded to lose 7 of their next 9 against a tough slate that included road losses to Notre Dame, Dayton, Xavier, and St. Bonaventure, and home defeats to Duquesne, Marquette, and Villanova. The Titans did beat Notre Dame at the Memorial Building later in the season, but only victories over John Carroll and Canisius in their final two games raised them above .500 at the finish, at 13-12.
This was one victory that looked awfully good at the time, but that lost its luster rather quickly
35. December 30, 1961: Detroit 77, #19 St. Bonaventure 70.
The 1961 Motor City Classic featured one of the Tournament’s best fields. In the opening round, Dave DeBusschere scored 28 points and grabbed 30 rebounds as Detroit ripped a unusually poor Syracuse team 97-70, while 19th ranked, once-beaten St. Bonaventure defeated previously unbeaten DePaul.
In the championship game, DeBusschere scored 30 and covered 16 boards as the Titans dropped St. Bonaventure 77-70 to win the tournament for the third consecutive year. UD broke open a close game early in the second half, then held off a furious St. Bonnie rally for the victory. Frank Chickowsky added 21 points for Detroit.
With the win, Detroit advanced to 9-2 on its way to its first ever NCAA appearance.
34. March 1, 1972: #18 Detroit 79, #20 Duquesne 71.
“The surprise of the opening day’s bids was the selection of two local schools – St. John’s and Fordham – over 18th ranked Detroit and 20th ranked Duquesne. Both teams had been major candidates for NCAA bids but were bypassed, and it was assumed that the NIT would grab them on the first day [of offering bids]. The NIT still has 11 vacant spots.” Such was flashed out on the United Press International wires on Wednesday, March 1, 1972.
The Jim Harding era had not been a happy one for Detroit, with his team staging a walk out before Harding had ever coached a game, and a series of suspensions, walkouts, and declining fan interest over the ensuing three years. But in the spring of 1972, it looked like all that might be forgotten. The 17-5 Titans had just moved into the rankings for the first time since the Spencer Haywood season by blasting second-ranked and previously unbeaten Marquette, 70-49 four days before.
As it so happened, Detroit and Duquesne were scheduled to meet in the Memorial Building the very evening after both were passed over in the first round of bids, giving the game something of a play-in feel for the still prestigious NIT. UD entered the game having won 12 of 14, including wins over Boston College, Dayton, and St. Bonaventure, as well as Marquette, and also owned an early season win over then 15th ranked and eventual MAC co-champ Ohio University. But the Titans had laid an egg in an appearance at Madison Square Garden in mid-February, losing badly to a mediocre St. Peter’s squad, and the defeat was thought to weigh heavily on the NIT selection committee. Duquesne entered the contest at 19-4, fresh off a win over Providence.
The game see-sawed back and forth in the first half, with the Titans gaining a 39-36 edge at the break. After intermission, however, Detroit slowly added to its margin, going up 66-56 with 6:06 to play on a Frank Russell jump shot. Duquesne was unable to close the gap and the Titans wound up winning 79-71. Russell led the Titans with 20 points and Bill Pleas added 18. 7’0” center Gerald Smith and senior forward Daryl Johnson each scored 10 for the Titans.
But the victory was for naught. The Titans squandered the Duquesne win by dropping their season finale, 98-85, to 9-14 Western Michigan. They were passed over by the NIT, “leaving some doubt among coaches as to the wisdom of the seven member selection committee,” according to UPI. In a late turn of events, however, Ohio State and Tennessee turned down an NIT bids, and UPI reported on March 10 that the Titans had been offered one of those slots. The report turned out to be premature. That same day Johnson was determined to have been ineligible for the entire season as a result of having played JC games at Wright JC in Chicago in 1966 (meaning he had used up his collegiate eligibility). The Johnson revelation was almost certainly the final blow to the Titans’ hopes. Davidson and Oral Roberts were given the final bids.
The irony may be that had the Titans gotten the NIT bid, the hated Jim Harding might have kept his job beyond the 1973 season, and the Titans might never have hired Dick Vitale, thus setting the program on a new course. Be careful what you wish for.
33. January 19, 1960: #20 Detroit 68, #17 Notre Dame 61.
This game was one of many landmarks in the Debusschere era.
The Titans and the Irish first squared off in 1912, but not until 1955 did the Titans score a win in the series, when Bill Ebben poured in 32 points and the Titans blew out a sub-par Notre Dame squad in the Memorial Buildling. But Notre Dame won the next four meetings to take a 29-1 lead in the series. Included in those four wins was a 75-63 thrashing of Detroit in South Bend just 10 days before this game in the Memorial Building on January 19, 1960.
Detroit entered the game with a record of 12-2 and #20 ranking in AP poll released earlier that day. The Titans only loss besides the defeat in South Bend was an 89-85 loss at Indiana in December. Notre Dame came in at 11-3, with a #17 ranking from UPI. A then-record 9353 fans packed into Memorial Building for the game.
The clubs see-sawed through the first half, with Notre Dame taking a 26-22 lead late in the half, but the Titans closed the period on a 8-2 run with a pair of buckets by DeBusschere, two Charlie North free throws, and a jumper by Larry Hughes just before the buzzer. Notre Dame rallied behind Emmitt McCarthy in the second half, tying the score on 4 occasions, but DeBusschere knocked in 17 of his game high 30 points in the second half, and after opening a lead midway through the second half, the Titans used a semi-stall to hold off Notre Dame for the final seven minutes. McCarthy led Notre Dame with 22 points. North and Ray Albee supported DeBusschere with 11 and 15 points, respectively.
The victory, followed by an 82-62 rout of Central Michigan in which DeBusschere grabbed 39 rebounds, boosted Detroit to #14 in the next poll. Unfortunately, the Titans lost 4 of their last 9 to finish the regular season at 20-6. The Titans still got an NCAA bid, but had accepted an NIT bid moments before (the two tournaments still competed for teams in those days). There Detroit lost an 88-86 first round heartbreaker to Villanova. Notre Dame also struggled down the stretch to finish 17-9, still good enough for an NCAA bid.
32. February 11, 1962, Detroit 97, @ Dayton 75.
Dave Debusschere set a school scoring record with 44 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as the Titans scored perhaps the biggest win in their long rivalry with Dayton, crushing the Flyers at Dayton, 97-75. DeBusschere hit 16 of 26 shots from the floor.
1961-62 was an up-down year for Detroit. With running mate Charlie North graduated, the Titans, coming off consecutive NIT bids, were clearly going to go only as far as DeBusschere could carry the team. The Titans rolled out to a 9-2 start that included wins over Xavier and, in the finals of the Motor City Classic, 19th ranked St. Bonaventure; but also included an embarrassing 25 point loss at #6 Purdue. After the St. Bonaventure victory, the Titans dropped 4 of 5, including a home loss to Western Michigan, falling to 10-6. But with post-season hopes rapidly fading, the Titans scored wins at Michigan and at home against #10 Villanova before the Dayton game.
The blowout at Dayton was vital to helping the Titans withstand a sluggish loss to a mediocre Marquette team two nights later, and gain their first NCAA bid ever. Meanwhile Dayton, which entered the game at 13-5, did not lose again in 1962, winning its final 11 games and defeating St. John’s in Madison Square Garden to win the NIT.
31. March 6, 2012: Detroit 70, @ Valparaiso 50.
Picked as a top 40 team by many pre-season publications, the 2012 Titans ran into a buzzsaw of misfortune even before the season began. First, star Center Eli Holman was suspended for the team’s first 10 games after breaking another student’s nose in an off-campus fight. A key rotation player, guard Chris Blake, was declared academically ineligible before the season began. Forward John Hoskins, considered a key back up, succumbed to a series of minor injuries and a large dose of indifference, and never saw action before leaving the team. Then, in the season’s fifth game, starting forward Nick Minnerath tore up his knee, putting him out for the season. By the time Holman returned in December, the Titans were 4-6, and continued to struggle through early January. After losing to Valparaiso at Calihan Hall on January 6, the Titans were 7-10, just 1-4 in conference play and already 3 games out of first.
The Titans finally put it together starting in January. Detroit won 14 of 17 to close out the season (although losing again to Valpo). In the conference tournament, the Titans dispatched Youngstown and Cleveland State, setting up a title game with the regular season champion Crusaders. The Titans trailed by 9 early and by three at the half, but took the lead with an 11-0 run early in the second half. On Coach Ray McCallum’s birthday, son Ray McCallum turned in one of the biggest games of his college career, leading UD with 21 points on 10-16 shooting, grabbing six rebounds and claiming four steals, and dominating the game far beyond the raw statistical numbers as the Titans pulled away. Jason Calliste finished with 17 points and LaMarcus Lowe had a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the Titans shot 58% after halftime. The win propelled Detroit to its first NCAA appearance in 13 years.
Unfortunately, the early season losses relegated the Titans to a #15 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Kansas in the first round. It’s never a bad season when you reach the NCAA tournament, but Titan fans have to wonder what this team might have done with Holman, Minnerath, and Blake playing all season, and without all the off-court distractions.