Post by Commissioner on Jun 17, 2014 20:31:44 GMT -5
Into the top 30 in Titan victories...
30. February 13, 1999: UD 62, Butler 52.
The Titans avenged a 13 point loss at Butler and snapped the Bulldogs 11 game win streak behind 19 points from Jermaine Jackson and 17 from Rashad Phillips. Most importantly, the victory put the Titans in the driver’s seat to win its first ever outright MCC (Horizon) regular season title.
The Bulldogs entered the game 9-1 in MCC play, 16-6 overall, while the Titans were 17-5 overall and 9-2 in conference play. Butler took a quick 6-0 lead but that would prove to be the Bulldogs’ largest lead of the game. UD fought back to tie the game 26-26 at the half. Butler scored the first four points of the second half but the Titans then held the Dogs scoreless for four minutes to take the lead for good. The game remained tight, however, and Butler closed to within a point with eight minutes remaining. The Titans then went on a 12-3 run from which Butler never recovered. Butler was forced to resort to fouling in the final minutes, but Jackson, the Horizon League Player of the Year, hit 6 foul shots and Phillips 4 as UD’s final 12 points came from the stripe. Desmond Ferguson added 14 for Detroit.
The game left the Titans in sole possession of first in the Horizon. Butler lost to Cleveland State two days later, allowing UD to clinch its first outright Horizon title by defeating Cleveland St. 78-66 on February 20.
29. January 6, 1971: Detroit 75, #10 St. Bonaventure 73.
Erick Rucker hit a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left to play as Detroit defeated previously unbeaten, #10 ranked St. Bonaventure.
St. Bonaventure led by just 3 at the half, 36-33, but went up by 12 with just 12 minutes left to play. The Titan rally was keyed by a switch from zone to man-to-man defense, which seemed to confuse the Bonnies, and Detroit took its first lead since the opening minutes at 65-64 with 4:14 remaining. After the teams traded buckets for three minutes, the Titans took the lead for good on a Jim Jackson jump shot with 1:23 to play. Rucker’s free throws put the Titans up by 3, providing the winning margin. With 1 second left and Detroit up 3, St. Bonaventure’s Paul Hoffman hit the first of two foul shots, then intentionally missed the second. St. Bonaventure got the rebound by Greg Gary’s buzzer tip missed.
Rucker led Detroit with 21 points, while Jackson added 16 – 15 of them in the second half. Frank Russell scored 15 for Detroit. The win was an important one after a dismal 7-18 season in 1970, and a slow start to the 1971 season that saw the Titans enter the game with just a 5-5 record. The 5 wins had been unimpressive, coming against Hillsdale, Chicago St., Spring Hill, Delaware and San Francisco. The stunning upset of tenth ranked St. Bonnie thus marked a major step in the comeback for Detroit basketball.
28. January 30, 1969: Detroit 76, @ #11 Duquesne 66.
After rising to #7 in the polls, January of 1969 was a disastrous month for the Titans. They headed to Pittsburgh to face #11 Duquesne at the end of the month, reeling from five losses in seven games.
However, against the Dukes, UD took an early lead, held it for most of the first half, and recovered from a Duquesne rally to lead 37-34 at the break. UD came out hot in the second half and ran the margin to 46-36, but the Dukes roared back to tie the game at 52. The two clubs were then tied at 54, 56, and 58, but Duquesne went up 62-58, at which point the Dukes’ Billy Zopf stole the ball and headed in for what looked like an easy layup. But the refs whistled Zopf for the foul, and when he complained, hit him with a technical. Detroit converted one of two on the foul, Spencer Haywood hit the technical, and then the Titans scored on the in-bounds play to tie the game. The clubs traded baskets once more to tie at 64, and then Detroit pulled away as the Dukes went cold from the floor.
As usual, Haywood led Detroit with 31 points and 16 rebounds. Larry Moore added 16, 14 of them coming in the second half.
At least briefly, the victory re-established Detroit as a leading contender for an NCAA bid. But narrow home losses to Marquette and Notre Dame, and a loss at Xavier while Haywood was suspended for two games, finished off the Titan dreams. Duquesne finished the season ranked 9th, and lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tourney.
27. March 8, 1978: #18 Detroit 94, Virginia Commonwealth 86 (NIT).
If the Titans and their fans were dispirited by being relegated to the NIT despite a gaudy 24-3 record and a #18 national ranking, it didn’t show in this first round 1978 NIT game in Calihan Hall. A raucus, partisan crowd of 8665 watched as the Titans set a school record for most points in a season while topping the Rams (coached by future Memphis coach Dana Kirk) 94-86.
The game was not as close as the final score might suggest. The Titans led 50-40 at the half, and went up 74-56 seven minutes into the second half. Terry Tyler led the Titan attack. The senior center hit 9 of 13 shots from the floor to finish with 19 points. He also grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked 7 shots, and had 5 steals in just 29 minutes of play. Terry Duerod added 18 (17 in the first half), John Long 16, and Turono Anderson 14 (most of those early in the second half as UD put the Rams away). Forward Kevin Kaseta had 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting, gathered in 13 boards, and had 5 assists.
The win sent the Titans to North Carolina State for round 2, where they lost 84-77 to the Wolfpack.
26. March 18, 2001: Detroit 67, @ Connecticut 61 (NIT).
The University of Detroit won a second round post-season tournament game for the first (and still only) time in its history by defeating Connecticut in Storrs.
Detroit set the tone early, with Rashad Phillips connecting for three three-pointers in the first five minutes as the Titans took an 18-6 lead. A jumper by future All-American Willie Green three minutes later gave UD a 25-10 margin, its largest of the game. Connecticut closed to 37-30 at the break.
UConn’s rally continued after half-time, and the Huskies finally pulled to within one point at the 11:32 mark, but that was as close as they would get. A second Huskie charge closed the gap to 61-59 with 1:25 left to play, and Connecticut appeared to tie the game when Ed Saunders drove the baseline for a bucket. But the refs whistled the basket off, saying Saunders had stepped on the baseline before the shot. Phillips nailed another three pointer a minute later to boost the Detroit lead to 5 and seal the win.
Phillips led Detroit with 26, while Green added 25. Together, they scored all but 5 of the Titans second half points. Green shot 8 of 10 from the floor and 8 of 8 at the line. Terrell Riggs led UD in both rebounds (7) and assists (4). Saunders led UConn with 19 points and 11 reboundsco.
With the victory, the Titans advanced to the NIT’s third round against Dayton. The Titan win also denied UConn coach Jim Calhoun his 600th career victory. The Huskies finished 20-12.
25. February 6, 1965: Detroit 77, Notre Dame 74.
Notre Dame had thrashed UD in South Bend, 107-86 just a few days earlier, behind 37 points from Larry Sheffield and 25 from Walt Sahm, who had outplayed Detroit star Dorie Murrey. But the Titans turned it around in the rematch. After a see-saw battle, UD went ahead to stay on a Murrey basket with 6:41 to play. The win was keyed by Murrey, who completely shut down Notre Dame star Sahm. Sahm, who entered the game averaging over 18 points per game, did not score a single point. Murrey finished with 14 points and 22 rebounds, dominating Sahm, the nation’s #6 rebounder, underneath.
Notre Dame, which also featured future Detroit Piston guard and Atlanta Braves pitcher Ron Reed, ranked as high as 17th and made the NCAA field. Detroit headed off to the NIT, with this victory a key marker on their record.
24. January 10, 2002: Detroit 63, #23 Butler 54.
Detroit had trouble adjusting to the loss of two-time Horizon Player of the Year Rashad Phillips. Five consecutive losses left UD with a 6-8 record as once-beaten, 23rd ranked Butler came to Calihan in early January, 2002. Before the game 1999 Horizon Player of the Year Jermaine Jackson visited the Titans, and told the players that they had to defend their home court. Whether that played a role is unclear, but what is clear is that Greg Grays scored 10 points in the final four minutes and the Titans extended their nation's longest home court winning streak to 36 games with a 63-54 victory.
The Titans held a narrow lead at the half and then held Butler without a field goal for over seven minutes to open a 39-29 lead with just under ten minutes to play. Butler clawed its way back and tied the game at 47 on a three-point play by Rylan Hainje with 3:55 remaining. At that point, Grays took over the game. He hit a pair of free throws at 3:38 to break the tie, and another pair to put the Titans up 4. After a defensive stop, Grays knocked down a three pointer, and then a bucket by Willie Green boosted the Titan lead to 10 and pretty well wrapped it up. Grays led the Titans with 17 points. Terrell Riggs added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Green added 10 points and 8 rebounds.
The win kept Detroit from opening Conference play 0-3 for the first time since 1992. It also helped to turn the season around – the Titans finished the regular season on a 12-4 run and snagged a surprise birth in the NIT. There they lost to Dayton in the first round. The home court win streak would also be snapped later in the season, in a 65-61 loss to Green Bay. The loss dropped Butler to 14-2. The Dogs would finish the season 26-6, losing to Syracuse in the second round of the NIT.
The win over Butler is Detroit’s last, to date, over a ranked team, and after 4 post-season bids in 5 years, 2002 would be the Titans’ last NCAA/NIT bid for a decade.
23. December 28, 1968: #11 Detroit 87, Temple 76.
The 8-0 Titans enjoyed Christmas Day, 1968 ranked 11th in the country (15th in the UPI poll). After a ten day layoff for finals and the holidays, they resumed play in the Motor City Classic. In the opening round, Spencer Haywood scored 32 points and grabbed 29 rebounds as the Titans trounced Mississippi St. 86-62. In the other game, Temple beat Miami of Ohio 67-62.
A traditional eastern power that had been in post-season play three years running and eight of the last 10, Temple appeared to pose a real threat to UD in the final. But Haywood hit his first 10 shots from the floor and the game was never in doubt. This victory was the Titans’ 12th in a row over two seasons, our third longest winning streak after the 21 game streak in 1977 and 16 in a row over the 1912, 1913, and 1914 seasons.
Temple dropped to 5-4 with the loss, but went on to finish 22-7 and win the NIT. The pair of wins landed Detroit at the #7 spot in the next week’s AP poll, the last time Detroit has been ranked in the top 10. After the vote but before that #7 ranking had even been published, Detroit lost its next game, 85-80 at Minnesota, despite 34 points and 17 rebounds by Haywood. The Titans then lost at Marquette (Haywood scored 35), to Dayton (30 points), and at Notre Dame (23), to fall from the rankings for the remainder of the season. The Titans eventually finishing a rather disappointing 16-10,and were reportedly the last team left out of the NIT.
22. December 13, 1997: Detroit 68, @ Michigan State 65.
Success ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. UD went up to East Lansing and defeated the Spartans for the third year in a row (including an exciting triple OT win in Detroit in 1996-97) in December, 1997. Their reward: Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has never again scheduled UD.
In this game, Jermaine Jackson’s 3-point play with 32 seconds left broke a 65-65 tie and the Titans held on for the win. State’s Mateen Cleves missed a three pointer with 10 seconds left, and Jackson grabbed the rebound. Brian Alexander missed the front end of a 1-and-1 that could have put it away, but a long desperate shot by Cleves was off the mark.
The Spartans had opened the game with a quick 10-3 run, but UD fought back to take the lead at 20-18 midway through the half, and held a 5 point advantage at the half. UD extended the lead to 12 in the first four and half minutes of the second period, but a 12-0 Spartan run tied it at 47, and after that the game was close until the final buzzer.
Jackson led Detroit with 16 points, and Alexander added 13. Desmond Ferguson had 10 for UD, and Derrick Hayes scored 9 and grabbed 8 rebounds. Cleves led MSU with 21.
This was Tom Izzo’s first really good team at Michigan State. The Spartans went on to win the Big 10 and reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA. UD also reached the NCAA tourney, advancing to the second round before losing to Purdue. The 1996-98 seasons mark the only time the Titans have beaten the Spartans 3 straight.
21. Jan. 10, 1938: Detroit 34, Kentucky 26.
The Adolf Ruppe-coached Wildcats were already established as a premier program, including a then-record 23 game winning streak earlier in the decade. This Wildcat squad would go a perfect 6-0 in the SEC regular season. This game was played at the Naval Armory, the Titans frequent home before the construction of Memorial (nee Calihan) Hall, with an announced attendance of 2500. The Titans led 20-12 at the half, and Joe Hagan was the only Wildcat to hit a field goal until the final six minutes. Besides Hagan, still famous in Kentucky for hitting a 48’ shot at the buzzer to beat Marquette later in the 1938 season, this Wildcat team included Bernie Opper, a first team All-American in 1939. Hagan led all scorers with 16 points, but no other Kentucky player scored more than 2. The Titans' best player in the 1938 season was All-American Bob Calihan, but Chet Laske led the Titans in this game with 11, supported by Ernie Kolibar with 9 and Calihan with 7.
This Titan squad, Lloyd Brazil’s best, won a then school-record 16 games, finishing 16-4.
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
30. February 13, 1999: UD 62, Butler 52.
The Titans avenged a 13 point loss at Butler and snapped the Bulldogs 11 game win streak behind 19 points from Jermaine Jackson and 17 from Rashad Phillips. Most importantly, the victory put the Titans in the driver’s seat to win its first ever outright MCC (Horizon) regular season title.
The Bulldogs entered the game 9-1 in MCC play, 16-6 overall, while the Titans were 17-5 overall and 9-2 in conference play. Butler took a quick 6-0 lead but that would prove to be the Bulldogs’ largest lead of the game. UD fought back to tie the game 26-26 at the half. Butler scored the first four points of the second half but the Titans then held the Dogs scoreless for four minutes to take the lead for good. The game remained tight, however, and Butler closed to within a point with eight minutes remaining. The Titans then went on a 12-3 run from which Butler never recovered. Butler was forced to resort to fouling in the final minutes, but Jackson, the Horizon League Player of the Year, hit 6 foul shots and Phillips 4 as UD’s final 12 points came from the stripe. Desmond Ferguson added 14 for Detroit.
The game left the Titans in sole possession of first in the Horizon. Butler lost to Cleveland State two days later, allowing UD to clinch its first outright Horizon title by defeating Cleveland St. 78-66 on February 20.
29. January 6, 1971: Detroit 75, #10 St. Bonaventure 73.
Erick Rucker hit a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left to play as Detroit defeated previously unbeaten, #10 ranked St. Bonaventure.
St. Bonaventure led by just 3 at the half, 36-33, but went up by 12 with just 12 minutes left to play. The Titan rally was keyed by a switch from zone to man-to-man defense, which seemed to confuse the Bonnies, and Detroit took its first lead since the opening minutes at 65-64 with 4:14 remaining. After the teams traded buckets for three minutes, the Titans took the lead for good on a Jim Jackson jump shot with 1:23 to play. Rucker’s free throws put the Titans up by 3, providing the winning margin. With 1 second left and Detroit up 3, St. Bonaventure’s Paul Hoffman hit the first of two foul shots, then intentionally missed the second. St. Bonaventure got the rebound by Greg Gary’s buzzer tip missed.
Rucker led Detroit with 21 points, while Jackson added 16 – 15 of them in the second half. Frank Russell scored 15 for Detroit. The win was an important one after a dismal 7-18 season in 1970, and a slow start to the 1971 season that saw the Titans enter the game with just a 5-5 record. The 5 wins had been unimpressive, coming against Hillsdale, Chicago St., Spring Hill, Delaware and San Francisco. The stunning upset of tenth ranked St. Bonnie thus marked a major step in the comeback for Detroit basketball.
28. January 30, 1969: Detroit 76, @ #11 Duquesne 66.
After rising to #7 in the polls, January of 1969 was a disastrous month for the Titans. They headed to Pittsburgh to face #11 Duquesne at the end of the month, reeling from five losses in seven games.
However, against the Dukes, UD took an early lead, held it for most of the first half, and recovered from a Duquesne rally to lead 37-34 at the break. UD came out hot in the second half and ran the margin to 46-36, but the Dukes roared back to tie the game at 52. The two clubs were then tied at 54, 56, and 58, but Duquesne went up 62-58, at which point the Dukes’ Billy Zopf stole the ball and headed in for what looked like an easy layup. But the refs whistled Zopf for the foul, and when he complained, hit him with a technical. Detroit converted one of two on the foul, Spencer Haywood hit the technical, and then the Titans scored on the in-bounds play to tie the game. The clubs traded baskets once more to tie at 64, and then Detroit pulled away as the Dukes went cold from the floor.
As usual, Haywood led Detroit with 31 points and 16 rebounds. Larry Moore added 16, 14 of them coming in the second half.
At least briefly, the victory re-established Detroit as a leading contender for an NCAA bid. But narrow home losses to Marquette and Notre Dame, and a loss at Xavier while Haywood was suspended for two games, finished off the Titan dreams. Duquesne finished the season ranked 9th, and lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tourney.
27. March 8, 1978: #18 Detroit 94, Virginia Commonwealth 86 (NIT).
If the Titans and their fans were dispirited by being relegated to the NIT despite a gaudy 24-3 record and a #18 national ranking, it didn’t show in this first round 1978 NIT game in Calihan Hall. A raucus, partisan crowd of 8665 watched as the Titans set a school record for most points in a season while topping the Rams (coached by future Memphis coach Dana Kirk) 94-86.
The game was not as close as the final score might suggest. The Titans led 50-40 at the half, and went up 74-56 seven minutes into the second half. Terry Tyler led the Titan attack. The senior center hit 9 of 13 shots from the floor to finish with 19 points. He also grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked 7 shots, and had 5 steals in just 29 minutes of play. Terry Duerod added 18 (17 in the first half), John Long 16, and Turono Anderson 14 (most of those early in the second half as UD put the Rams away). Forward Kevin Kaseta had 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting, gathered in 13 boards, and had 5 assists.
The win sent the Titans to North Carolina State for round 2, where they lost 84-77 to the Wolfpack.
26. March 18, 2001: Detroit 67, @ Connecticut 61 (NIT).
The University of Detroit won a second round post-season tournament game for the first (and still only) time in its history by defeating Connecticut in Storrs.
Detroit set the tone early, with Rashad Phillips connecting for three three-pointers in the first five minutes as the Titans took an 18-6 lead. A jumper by future All-American Willie Green three minutes later gave UD a 25-10 margin, its largest of the game. Connecticut closed to 37-30 at the break.
UConn’s rally continued after half-time, and the Huskies finally pulled to within one point at the 11:32 mark, but that was as close as they would get. A second Huskie charge closed the gap to 61-59 with 1:25 left to play, and Connecticut appeared to tie the game when Ed Saunders drove the baseline for a bucket. But the refs whistled the basket off, saying Saunders had stepped on the baseline before the shot. Phillips nailed another three pointer a minute later to boost the Detroit lead to 5 and seal the win.
Phillips led Detroit with 26, while Green added 25. Together, they scored all but 5 of the Titans second half points. Green shot 8 of 10 from the floor and 8 of 8 at the line. Terrell Riggs led UD in both rebounds (7) and assists (4). Saunders led UConn with 19 points and 11 reboundsco.
With the victory, the Titans advanced to the NIT’s third round against Dayton. The Titan win also denied UConn coach Jim Calhoun his 600th career victory. The Huskies finished 20-12.
25. February 6, 1965: Detroit 77, Notre Dame 74.
Notre Dame had thrashed UD in South Bend, 107-86 just a few days earlier, behind 37 points from Larry Sheffield and 25 from Walt Sahm, who had outplayed Detroit star Dorie Murrey. But the Titans turned it around in the rematch. After a see-saw battle, UD went ahead to stay on a Murrey basket with 6:41 to play. The win was keyed by Murrey, who completely shut down Notre Dame star Sahm. Sahm, who entered the game averaging over 18 points per game, did not score a single point. Murrey finished with 14 points and 22 rebounds, dominating Sahm, the nation’s #6 rebounder, underneath.
Notre Dame, which also featured future Detroit Piston guard and Atlanta Braves pitcher Ron Reed, ranked as high as 17th and made the NCAA field. Detroit headed off to the NIT, with this victory a key marker on their record.
24. January 10, 2002: Detroit 63, #23 Butler 54.
Detroit had trouble adjusting to the loss of two-time Horizon Player of the Year Rashad Phillips. Five consecutive losses left UD with a 6-8 record as once-beaten, 23rd ranked Butler came to Calihan in early January, 2002. Before the game 1999 Horizon Player of the Year Jermaine Jackson visited the Titans, and told the players that they had to defend their home court. Whether that played a role is unclear, but what is clear is that Greg Grays scored 10 points in the final four minutes and the Titans extended their nation's longest home court winning streak to 36 games with a 63-54 victory.
The Titans held a narrow lead at the half and then held Butler without a field goal for over seven minutes to open a 39-29 lead with just under ten minutes to play. Butler clawed its way back and tied the game at 47 on a three-point play by Rylan Hainje with 3:55 remaining. At that point, Grays took over the game. He hit a pair of free throws at 3:38 to break the tie, and another pair to put the Titans up 4. After a defensive stop, Grays knocked down a three pointer, and then a bucket by Willie Green boosted the Titan lead to 10 and pretty well wrapped it up. Grays led the Titans with 17 points. Terrell Riggs added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Green added 10 points and 8 rebounds.
The win kept Detroit from opening Conference play 0-3 for the first time since 1992. It also helped to turn the season around – the Titans finished the regular season on a 12-4 run and snagged a surprise birth in the NIT. There they lost to Dayton in the first round. The home court win streak would also be snapped later in the season, in a 65-61 loss to Green Bay. The loss dropped Butler to 14-2. The Dogs would finish the season 26-6, losing to Syracuse in the second round of the NIT.
The win over Butler is Detroit’s last, to date, over a ranked team, and after 4 post-season bids in 5 years, 2002 would be the Titans’ last NCAA/NIT bid for a decade.
23. December 28, 1968: #11 Detroit 87, Temple 76.
The 8-0 Titans enjoyed Christmas Day, 1968 ranked 11th in the country (15th in the UPI poll). After a ten day layoff for finals and the holidays, they resumed play in the Motor City Classic. In the opening round, Spencer Haywood scored 32 points and grabbed 29 rebounds as the Titans trounced Mississippi St. 86-62. In the other game, Temple beat Miami of Ohio 67-62.
A traditional eastern power that had been in post-season play three years running and eight of the last 10, Temple appeared to pose a real threat to UD in the final. But Haywood hit his first 10 shots from the floor and the game was never in doubt. This victory was the Titans’ 12th in a row over two seasons, our third longest winning streak after the 21 game streak in 1977 and 16 in a row over the 1912, 1913, and 1914 seasons.
Temple dropped to 5-4 with the loss, but went on to finish 22-7 and win the NIT. The pair of wins landed Detroit at the #7 spot in the next week’s AP poll, the last time Detroit has been ranked in the top 10. After the vote but before that #7 ranking had even been published, Detroit lost its next game, 85-80 at Minnesota, despite 34 points and 17 rebounds by Haywood. The Titans then lost at Marquette (Haywood scored 35), to Dayton (30 points), and at Notre Dame (23), to fall from the rankings for the remainder of the season. The Titans eventually finishing a rather disappointing 16-10,and were reportedly the last team left out of the NIT.
22. December 13, 1997: Detroit 68, @ Michigan State 65.
Success ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. UD went up to East Lansing and defeated the Spartans for the third year in a row (including an exciting triple OT win in Detroit in 1996-97) in December, 1997. Their reward: Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has never again scheduled UD.
In this game, Jermaine Jackson’s 3-point play with 32 seconds left broke a 65-65 tie and the Titans held on for the win. State’s Mateen Cleves missed a three pointer with 10 seconds left, and Jackson grabbed the rebound. Brian Alexander missed the front end of a 1-and-1 that could have put it away, but a long desperate shot by Cleves was off the mark.
The Spartans had opened the game with a quick 10-3 run, but UD fought back to take the lead at 20-18 midway through the half, and held a 5 point advantage at the half. UD extended the lead to 12 in the first four and half minutes of the second period, but a 12-0 Spartan run tied it at 47, and after that the game was close until the final buzzer.
Jackson led Detroit with 16 points, and Alexander added 13. Desmond Ferguson had 10 for UD, and Derrick Hayes scored 9 and grabbed 8 rebounds. Cleves led MSU with 21.
This was Tom Izzo’s first really good team at Michigan State. The Spartans went on to win the Big 10 and reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA. UD also reached the NCAA tourney, advancing to the second round before losing to Purdue. The 1996-98 seasons mark the only time the Titans have beaten the Spartans 3 straight.
21. Jan. 10, 1938: Detroit 34, Kentucky 26.
The Adolf Ruppe-coached Wildcats were already established as a premier program, including a then-record 23 game winning streak earlier in the decade. This Wildcat squad would go a perfect 6-0 in the SEC regular season. This game was played at the Naval Armory, the Titans frequent home before the construction of Memorial (nee Calihan) Hall, with an announced attendance of 2500. The Titans led 20-12 at the half, and Joe Hagan was the only Wildcat to hit a field goal until the final six minutes. Besides Hagan, still famous in Kentucky for hitting a 48’ shot at the buzzer to beat Marquette later in the 1938 season, this Wildcat team included Bernie Opper, a first team All-American in 1939. Hagan led all scorers with 16 points, but no other Kentucky player scored more than 2. The Titans' best player in the 1938 season was All-American Bob Calihan, but Chet Laske led the Titans in this game with 11, supported by Ernie Kolibar with 9 and Calihan with 7.
This Titan squad, Lloyd Brazil’s best, won a then school-record 16 games, finishing 16-4.
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