Post by Commissioner on Jun 23, 2014 17:14:46 GMT -5
And finally the top 10 Titan victories:
10. March 5, 1951: Detroit 62, #1 Oklahoma A&M 52.
How often does any school defeat the top-ranked team in the nation twice, or even #1 and #2, in the same year? It can’t happen often, yet the 1951 Titans did just that, stunning top-ranked Bradley in January and then closing the season with this victory over Oklahoma A&M (known today as Oklahoma State), which was ranked #1 in the UPI and #2 in the AP. Making this achievement all the more remarkable is that this Titan club was just 17-14 on the season.
The Aggies had clubbed UD 62-37 in February and entered the game as heavy favorites. But the Titans, playing on their home floor, came out firing, sinking 16 of 20 shots in the first half to lead 38-30 at the break. Detroit stretched the lead into double digits early in the second half and had little trouble holding off the Aggies down the stretch. John Kirwan led the Titan scoring with 17 points and Walter Poff added 14. The Titans held Aggie All-American Gale McArthur to 6 points.
The season-ending loss left Oklahoma A&M at 27-3. The team went on to advance to the NCAA Final 4. It is probably fair to say that the Titans were more an underachieving team on the season than an overachieving team in the games with Bradley and A&M. Besides Kirwan, UD had some serious talent in sophomores Norm Swanson, who would go on to be a two-time All American, and Walter Poff, who would become an all-Missouri Valley Conference selection in the future. Don Berner and Skippy Gleeson were two-year starters, and Jerry Olsen and Jerry Raispis gave the Titans a solid bench. The club lost on the road to both Bradley and Oklahoma A&M, and twice to St. Louis, another conference foe ranked in the top 10 all season. The lost to #7 Villanova. No shame in those defeats. But they also lost to Westminster College, to Wayne State, to Valley cellar dwellers Drake (11-14), Tulsa (10-17), and Wichita State (9-16), and to an 8-14 Marquette club.
This win, over the #2 (AP)/#1 (UPI) team in the country is rated this low because it simply didn’t have much impact on UD basketball as compared to the other games in the top 10 on this list.
9. February 3, 1979: UD 91, #17 Georgetown 71
and
8. February 6, 1979: UD 64, #9 Marquette 63.
The Titans had just missed the NCAA tournament in 1978 despite a glittering 24-3 record, primarily because of their soft schedule. Coach Smokey Gaines had thought a victory at Georgetown in mid-February might clinch the bid, or a win over Marquette in the season’s final game, would clinch a bid, but the Titans lost by one at Georgetown and by 3 to Marquette, and ended up settling for the NIT.
The 1979 season began to shape up much the same way. The Titans were 15-4 and again on the edge, with a nice record but lacking the marquee wins the selection committee would want to see, as they headed into back to back games with 17th ranked Georgetown and at #9 Marquette three days later.
Against Georgetown, this time is was all Titans, start to finish. The Titans broke to an early 10-2 lead and the Hoyas never got closer than 5 points. It was 36-28 at the half, and then Detroit tore up the Hoyas in the second period. UD shot 55% from the floor and 25 of 32 from the line. Wilbert McCormick, the goat of the prior season’s loss to Georgetown, scored 22 to lead the Titans. Terry Duerod added 20 while Earl Cureton and Jerry Davis each chipped in with 12 points and Dave Niles had 10.
The Marquette game opened quite differently, with the 16-3 Warriors charging out to a 10 point lead in the opening minutes. Detroit closed the gap but still trailed 38-35 at the half. UD took the lead midway through the second half and stetched it six points, 56-50, on a Keith Jackson free throw with 8:10 remaining, but Marquette fought back to tie it at 58 on a Bernard Toone basket with less than six minutes to play. The teams traded baskets, and a Sam Worthen foul shot put the Warriors up 61-60 with 2:38 left. A minute later, Cureton hit two free throws to regain the lead for Detroit, but a Toone jumper from the top of the key with 40 seconds left put Marquette back on top, 63-62. Detroit called two time outs trying to set up a final shot. The game winner came when All-American Terry Duerod nailed a 22 footer from above the key with just 2 seconds on the game clock. Freshman forward Jerry Davis led Detroit with 15 – 13 in the first half while Detroit struggled to stay close - while Duerod finished with 14.
From Milwaukee, the Titans went home and celebrated their big week with a 135-77 blowout of outmanned CCNY, and entered the top 20 in the next week’s polls. The Titans finished the regular season at 22-5, and with the road wins over Georgetown and Marquette, there wasn’t much doubt about Detroit’s receiving its 2nd NCAA bid in three years.
7. March 13, 1998: Detroit 66, St. John’s 64 (NCAA).
A lot changed in the 19 years between Detroit’s 1979 and 1998 NCAA appearances. Both the Titans and their first round opponent, St. John’s, were members of conferences that didn’t exist in 1979. College hoops had also completed a sea-change that began in the 1970s, with a clearer division between the haves and have-nots, created by lower travel costs, increased television exposure, the expansion of the NCAA tournament to include multiple teams from any given conference, and the nationalization of recruiting.
It wasn’t clear in the late 1970s which teams would make the cut. On the surface, there was no reason to think that urban schools such as DePaul, Temple, and St. John’s, let alone schools such as Xavier and Seton Hall, would make the big time while schools such as San Francisco and Detroit would not. In the late 70s, UD was one of the top 50 schools in attendance and was growing used to tournament play and national rankings. From the 1977 through 1979 seasons, the Titans were more often ranked than St. John’s. In 1978, UD averaged 3700 attendance more per game than St. John’s and nearly 4000 more than DePaul. Xavier was averaging fewer than 2000. UD was still even with St. John’s in 1980. But short-sightedness in the front office and the disastrous reign of AD Larry Geracioti and coach Willie McCarter had quickly exposed UD’s underlying weaknesses, notably lack of endowment and investment capital, aging facilities, and a declining hometown. Detroit sunk into the realms of what became known as “mid-majors,” as St. John’s rose to new heights, including a Final Four appearance in 1985. It would take another herculean effort by a personality very different from Vitale, Perry Watson, to bring UD back to some level of national prominence. Watson’s fifth season finally yielded fruit, as the Titans won their first MCC regular season title and snared an at-large bid and #10 seed in the NCAAs. There they prepared to face 7th seeded St. John’s in Chicago.
St. John’s drew first blood but the Titans went on a 10-0 run to grab an early 10-3 lead. St. John’s then rallied to lead 34-32 at the half. The early part of the second half saw four ties and three lead changes before Detroit took the lead for good at the 13:40 mark. The Titans’ led 63-56 with 39 seconds to play but St. John’s star Felipe Lopez sandwiched a pair of three pointers around two Derrick Hayes free throws to close to 65-62. Lopez was fouled on the second of his treys, but missed the foul shot. EJ Haralson came down with the rebound but a foot on the line, turning the ball over to St. John’s. Tyrone Grant, who led St. John’s with 14 points, then hit a pair from the line to bring the Johnnies to within one. St. John’s fouled Hayes on the Titans next possession, and Hayes made one of two with 11 seconds to go, setting up St. John’s for a final possession. But Lopez missed a 22 footer with 3 seconds left, and Zendon Hamilton’s tip on the rebound came after the buzzer.
Hayes, a senior and first team All-MCC selection, played perhaps his best game of the season, scoring 27 points on 10 for 14 shooting (including 3 of 3 from beyond the arc), and grabbed a team high 5 rebounds. No other Titan scored in double figures, but Jermaine Jackson tied Hayes for honors in rebounds, led UD with 6 assists, and added 8 points.
You can watch the final seconds of this game here: .
6. March 11, 1999: Detroit 56, #15 UCLA 53 (NCAA).
The Titans finished the 1999 regular season second in the nation in scoring defense, and they showed why in this first round NCAA upset of 15th-ranked UCLA. Detroit’s smothering defense had UCLA confused all night. The Bruins shot just 38% from the field, turned the ball over 16 times, and held star JaRon Rush to just 2 of 11 from the floor. Detroit held the Bruins to just 21 points in the second half, and to just 13 in the final 15:23, to rally from a nine point deficit for the win.
UCLA opened the game with a 9-3 run, but Detroit came back behind MCC Player of the Year Jermaine Jackson and Darius Belin to take a 20-14 lead midway through the half. The tide then swung back to the Bruins, who led 32-30 at the half and opened the second period with an 8-1 run to lead 40-31. At that point, the Titan defense truly went to work, starting by holding UCLA scoreless for the next six minutes. Still, given the low-scoring nature of the game (UD hit just 33% from the field), the Bruins’ 48-42 lead with just over six minutes to play looked safe. But the Titans put the squeeze on again, holding UCLA scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes while taking a 49-48 lead on free throws by Bacari Alexander and Daniel Whye and a trey by Desmond Ferguson. A layup by Baron Davis put UCLA back on top, but Rashad Phillips hit two free throws to give the Titans the lead for good with 1:19 left. Davis fouled out and UCLA turned it over on its next possession, then missed on the possession after that. Finally, with the Titans up 51-50 and the shot clock down to 3 seconds, Whye threw in an awkward desperation shot with 12 seconds left to put the Titans up 3, and free throws by Desmond Ferguson and Bacari Alexander sealed the win. "We knew we were going to win when we were down by nine, and coach (Perry Watston) called timeout and gave us that look," Jackson said. "We had to come out like soldiers. We started taking it to the basket and making free throws."
The key to the Titan win, in addition to defense, was foul shooting, as Detroit outscored UCLA 18-5 from the line and hit 9 of its final 10 foul shots. Jackson led the Titans in scoring and rebounds with 17 points and 7 boards. Phillips added 16 points and 4 assists.
The final seconds of the UCLA game, starting with Whye’s off balance jumper, are here:
5. December 8, 1973: Detroit 70, Michigan 59.
It was Dick Vitale’s rookie season in Detroit, and his first big game. Detroit had been competitive on the floor during Jim Harding’s last years – his last two clubs had gone a combined 34-15 and just missed the NIT each year - but disappointment over the early departure of Spencer Haywood, weariness with the seemingly endless player suspensions and controversies, and Harding’s own nasty personality had led to a steep decline in attendance. UD couldn’t afford to buy out Harding’s contract, but they were happy to see him go when it expired after the 1973 season.
New Coach Dick Vitale brought incredible enthusiasm, but it remained to be seen if that could transfer to on the court victories. Harding had not left the cupboard completely bare. Returning talent included the team’s MVP from 1973, a big forward named Owen Wells, a promising sophomore guard in Riley Dotson, and a good junior forward in Terry Thomas. Still, the Titans were thin and the preseason press predicted a dismal season for the Titans and their enthusiastic new coach.
By the time the University of Michigan came to town in early December, the Titans had won their first three games of the season, but those victories - over Hillsdale, Cleveland St., and St. John’s of Ohio – were hardly unexpected. Whether UD could hang with the big boys… well, let’s just say there were more than a few doubters. Michigan entered the game 2-0, with double digit wins at Toledo and over Southern Illinois.
But before a packed house of 7485 at Memorial Building (nee Calihan Hall), the Titans jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first seven minutes and never let up. By halftime, it was 44-30; four minutes into the second half, it was 53-35, and from there the Titans coasted home.
The Titans couldn’t stop Michigan All-American Campy Russell, who scored 26 points on 11 of 23 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds, but Detroit smothered his teammates, who combined made just 13 of 46 shots from the floor. And Russell was outshone by Titan star Owen Wells, who connected on 15 of 25 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line for 38 points, and had 9 rebounds to boot. Wells left the game with minutes remaining to a thundering ovation from the crowd and a big hug from Vitale.
For the Titan faithful, this win indicated that the Vitale era was not going to be all hype and no substance. The Titans, projected to have a losing season, would go on to start the season 11-1, including wins over Michigan St. and Minnesota, on their way to a 17-9 finish.
Michigan, meanwhile, while not ranked at game time, would go on to end the season ranked 6th in the country, it’s only other regular season losses at Indiana, at UCLA, and to Purdue, before losing to 3rd ranked Marquette by 2 in the NCAA.
This victory made the acrimony of the Harding years a distant memory overnight, reignited fan interest in UD basketball, and set the stage for the Vitale era.
4. January 15, 1951: Detroit 70, #1 Bradley 65.
In the 1950s, the Bradley Braves were one of college basketball’s great powerhouses. They had been ranked in the very first AP poll in January, 1949, and every poll since but one. They had closed the 1950 season ranked first in the country, and were one of the 15 winningest teams in college basketball in the prior decade. Bradley had reached the final four of the still very meaningful NIT in 1949, and were runners-up in both the NCAA and NIT tournaments in 1950. The defending Missouri Valley Conference champs were ranked 2nd in the first poll of the 1950-51 season, and a 15-0 start lifted them to the #1 ranking in January.
The Titans were an upstart, but they were not chopped liver. They had joined the tough Missouri Valley Conference the year before, finishing third, and just missing the NIT tournament with an overall 20-6 record that included a 67-54 victory over the then 4th ranked Braves (Bradley’s only conference defeat). Led by sophomore center Norm Swanson, who averaged over 17 ppg, the 1950-51Titans also featured senior captain Brendan McNamara, who would finish second in the nation in assists, senior forward John Kirwan, who be a second-team all-conference selection, and a talented sophomore swingman in Walter Poff. McNamara, Kirwan, and Swanson had led the team in scoring in 1948, ’49, and ’50, respectively, so the Titans had plenty of offensive punch. But the Titans entered the game a disappointing 6-8, and had lost to Bradley in Detroit two weeks earlier.
Bradley entered the game at 16-1, with its number ranking already in jeopardy after losing at # 11 St. John’s 68-59 4 days prior. But with a 25 game home court win streak, they were solid favorites against the Titans. And loss to St. John’s or not, they entered the game the nation’s #1 ranked team.
The game was close and hard fought all the way. “Detroit was sky-high” said Bradley coach Forddy Anderson after the game. “My boys were pressing.” The lead changed hands 14 times, and there were nine ties. The Titans led by 5 at the half but with three minutes left in the game, Bradley inched out to a 65-62 lead. A hook shot by Swanson and a 20 footer by Kirwan put the Titans ahead for the final time. Detroit didn’t allow another point and went on to the 70-65 win. Swanson led all scorers with 26 points, with Kirwan and Poff each adding eight for the Titans. Bradley was led in scoring by center Elmer Behnke with 17 and All-American Gene Melchiore with 16.
Bradley dropped to third in the next AP poll, yielding the top spot to MVC rival Oklahoma A&M, and eventually finished the season ranked 6th. It would be nice to say that the victory helped the Titans put it all together, but it didn’t – the Titans continued their inconsistent play, going 7-6 over the next 13 games before closing out the season with 3 wins, including a 62-52 season finale over Oklahoma A&M, which was then ranked second in the AP poll and first in the UPI. Swanson would go on to be named All-America in both the 1952 and 1953 seasons; Poff would be a second team all-MVC selection in 1953.
This win is the Titan’s only victory ever over a #1 ranked opponent in the AP Poll, although as noted above, the Titans' defeated UPI #1 Oklahoma A&M later in the 1951 season.
3. February 26, 1972: Detroit 70, #2 Marquette 49.
UD completely dismantled unbeaten, second-ranked Marquette in what could arguably be considered the most impressive performance ever by a Titan team. The Titan victory snapped Marquette’s 56 game regular season win streak, at that time the longest in NCAA history (and still the third longest in NCAA history), and moved the Titans into the national rankings (#18 in UPI) for the first time since the Spencer Haywood year.
The Titans had been playing good ball in Jim Harding’s third season, and entered the game at 16-5, including wins over #15 Ohio U., Boston College, Dayton, and St. Bonaventure. They had played Marquette very close in Milwaukee earlier in the season, losing 68-66. Moreover, Marquette was ripe for the upset. The Warriors had lost star center Jim Chones after it was discovered he had signed a pro contract. Thus this wasn’t really the team that gone undefeated through the season. On the other hand, the Warriors were hardly a one man team. The club still included 4 future NBA draft picks: Bob Lackey, a Helms All-America that season; junior center and future 7 year NBA player Larry McNeill; Marcus Washington; and Allie McGuire, the coach’s son. Even without Chones, Marquette had trashed a solid, Eddie Sutton-coached Creighton team earlier in the week. More to the point, it is simply doubtful that, in this game, Chones would have made a difference in the outcome.
The Titans shot 65% from the floor in the first half, leading by as much as 15 before settling for a 36-24 bulge at the half. A tenacious Titan defense rarely gave Marquette an open shot or a second chance opportunity. Any hopes of a Marquette comeback were quickly quashed in the second half, as Detroit quickly extended its lead, at one point to 28 points, before easing up and coasting home. Detroit’s balanced attack was led by Bill Pleas with 18, Frank Russell with 16, Cookie Marsh with 12, and Daryle Johnson with 11.
The Titans followed up this win with a victory over #20 Duquesne, but a loss to Western Michigan in the season finale, and the discovery that Detroit had unintentionally used an ineligible player (Johnson) for the season, led to the Titans being snubbed not only by the NCAA, but the NIT.
Still, few of the 8011 in attendance tdoubted that on this night, the Titans could have beaten any team in the country.
2. December 10, 1960: #9 Detroit 81, #3 Indiana 79 (2OT).
Tom Villemure sank a 20 footer at the buzzer to defeat third ranked Indiana and gain the the Titans their highest poll ranking in school history. Indiana was also the highest ranked opponent Detroit would beat between their 1951 victory over #1/2 Oklahoma A&M and their 1972 win over #2 Marquette.
The Titans, led by Junior star Dave DeBusschere, entered the game having upset #6 Utah St. earlier in the week. Detroit jumped out to a 41-31 halftime lead, and extended that to lead to 12 points at the start of the second half. But Indiana came roaring back with a 14-2 run to tie the game at 45, and the lead went back and forth for the rest of regulation. With two minutes to go, the Titans led 69-66, but Hoosier forward Tom Bolyard sank 3 foul shots to tie the game at 69 at the end of regulation. Detroit led again late in the first overtime, 75-73, but this time a pair of foul shots by Gary Long tied it up and forced a second extra period. Indiana scored the first bucket in the second OT, and took the lead again at 79-77. A Charlie North tip-in tied it at 79, and Indiana failed to convert on two chances, leading to Villemure’s game winning shot from the corner.
North and DeBusschere (who was hampered by a pulled groin) led the Titans with 23 points apiece, and center John Morgan added 14 and Villemure 10. The Hoosiers were led by Bolyard with 18 and All-American center (and future Detroit Piston) Walt Bellamy with 17.
Detroit entered the game ranked 9th in the UPI poll (the AP had yet to conduct its first poll of the season). The victory boosted the Titans to #5 in the UPI and #3 in the AP the following week, the school’s highest ranking ever in either poll. But the Titans were walloped 83-64 by Purdue in their next game (future Piston Terry Dischinger scored 31 for the Boilermakers), dropping to 8th in the polls. Returning home, DeBusschere, now battling a cold as well as his pulled groin, scored a career low 8 points as the Titans beat Nebraska. Next, with DeBusschere looking, according to the AP, “dead on his feet,” UD defeated Gonzaga before a showdown with #1 ranked Ohio St. at Columbus. The Titans were game but with DeBusschere still ailing lost 84-73 (Charlie North led the club with 25 points), and a loss to Villanova the next week knocked them out of the top 20. Meanwhile, the Titans’ early season conquests lost some luster as the season went on – both Utah St. and Indiana dropped from the top 20 by New Year’s Day, and the teams finished the year 12-14 and 15-9, respectively. The Titans would eventually lose in the first round of the NIT, to Holy Cross.
1. February 16, 1977: #15 Detroit 64, #6 Marquette 63.
Detroit headed to Milwaukee on a 20 game winning streak and a #15 national ranking (UPI, #19 AP). But the Titans felt that only a win over Marquette (#6 UPI, #9 AP) would secure an NCAA bid.
It didn’t look good at the outset for UD. Marquette scored 9 straight to take a 20-10 lead, and from there led most of the way. The Warriors were up 32-26 at the half and 43-36 with 13 minutes to go. The Titans, using an aggressive, trapping defense, hung tough, but it still appeared that Marquette was in control when Jerome Whitehead hit a pair of free throws to give the Warriors a 63-58 lead with three minutes to play. Then Jeff Whitlow hit a quick layup for Detroit, and, with Marquette trying to play keep-away, Whitehead dropped a pass from Bo Ellis and lost the ball out of bounds. Five seconds later Dennis Boyd hit a basket to cut the lead to one. Marquette again decided to hold the ball (pre-shot clock days), but with 35 seconds left John Long and Terry Tyler trapped Ellis, and Tyler swatted the ball away from Ellis and picked it up. “I’m just glad nobody called a foul” said Tyler after the game. “I think I may have hit him, but I know I also got the ball.” The Titans had no time-outs remaining, so the Titans had no opportunity for a set play. Boyd, at the point, looked for the team’s best shooters, Long and Terry Duerod, but when neither were open and he saw the clock at 4 seconds, he decided to let it fly. With two seconds left, Boyd did his patented “shake and bake” move, elevated from the top of the key, and as three Marquette players watched helplessly, the ball swooshed through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
Long led the Titans with 20, Duerod had 16, and Boyd 14. Tyler was held to just 4 points but led the club in rebounds with 9. Dick Vitale kept a promise to his team to dance at center court after the Titan win: .
The game was a near mirror image of the 1976 game between the schools, won by Marquette on a last second jumper after a steal. That loss had probably cost UD a post-season bid. After this game, it was Marquette Coach Al McGuire who thought his Warriors, who had lost to DePaul earlier in the week, might not even make the tourney. In the end, of course, they not only got an invitation, they won it all. The Titans' 21 game win streak would be halted in their next game by Duquesne, but they had done enough to make the tourney, losing a heartbreaker in the Sweet 16 to #1 ranked Michigan. The Titans ended the season ranked 12th in the nation, our highest ever season ending rank. With a young, dynamic coach picking Detroit’s high school talent clean, it looked like the sky could be the limit for UD basketball.
Other games in this series are found 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
Games 31-40: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/294/great-titan-wins-31-40
Games 21-30: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/294/great-titan-wins-21-30
Games 11-20: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/294/great-titan-wins-11-20
10. March 5, 1951: Detroit 62, #1 Oklahoma A&M 52.
How often does any school defeat the top-ranked team in the nation twice, or even #1 and #2, in the same year? It can’t happen often, yet the 1951 Titans did just that, stunning top-ranked Bradley in January and then closing the season with this victory over Oklahoma A&M (known today as Oklahoma State), which was ranked #1 in the UPI and #2 in the AP. Making this achievement all the more remarkable is that this Titan club was just 17-14 on the season.
The Aggies had clubbed UD 62-37 in February and entered the game as heavy favorites. But the Titans, playing on their home floor, came out firing, sinking 16 of 20 shots in the first half to lead 38-30 at the break. Detroit stretched the lead into double digits early in the second half and had little trouble holding off the Aggies down the stretch. John Kirwan led the Titan scoring with 17 points and Walter Poff added 14. The Titans held Aggie All-American Gale McArthur to 6 points.
The season-ending loss left Oklahoma A&M at 27-3. The team went on to advance to the NCAA Final 4. It is probably fair to say that the Titans were more an underachieving team on the season than an overachieving team in the games with Bradley and A&M. Besides Kirwan, UD had some serious talent in sophomores Norm Swanson, who would go on to be a two-time All American, and Walter Poff, who would become an all-Missouri Valley Conference selection in the future. Don Berner and Skippy Gleeson were two-year starters, and Jerry Olsen and Jerry Raispis gave the Titans a solid bench. The club lost on the road to both Bradley and Oklahoma A&M, and twice to St. Louis, another conference foe ranked in the top 10 all season. The lost to #7 Villanova. No shame in those defeats. But they also lost to Westminster College, to Wayne State, to Valley cellar dwellers Drake (11-14), Tulsa (10-17), and Wichita State (9-16), and to an 8-14 Marquette club.
This win, over the #2 (AP)/#1 (UPI) team in the country is rated this low because it simply didn’t have much impact on UD basketball as compared to the other games in the top 10 on this list.
9. February 3, 1979: UD 91, #17 Georgetown 71
and
8. February 6, 1979: UD 64, #9 Marquette 63.
The Titans had just missed the NCAA tournament in 1978 despite a glittering 24-3 record, primarily because of their soft schedule. Coach Smokey Gaines had thought a victory at Georgetown in mid-February might clinch the bid, or a win over Marquette in the season’s final game, would clinch a bid, but the Titans lost by one at Georgetown and by 3 to Marquette, and ended up settling for the NIT.
The 1979 season began to shape up much the same way. The Titans were 15-4 and again on the edge, with a nice record but lacking the marquee wins the selection committee would want to see, as they headed into back to back games with 17th ranked Georgetown and at #9 Marquette three days later.
Against Georgetown, this time is was all Titans, start to finish. The Titans broke to an early 10-2 lead and the Hoyas never got closer than 5 points. It was 36-28 at the half, and then Detroit tore up the Hoyas in the second period. UD shot 55% from the floor and 25 of 32 from the line. Wilbert McCormick, the goat of the prior season’s loss to Georgetown, scored 22 to lead the Titans. Terry Duerod added 20 while Earl Cureton and Jerry Davis each chipped in with 12 points and Dave Niles had 10.
The Marquette game opened quite differently, with the 16-3 Warriors charging out to a 10 point lead in the opening minutes. Detroit closed the gap but still trailed 38-35 at the half. UD took the lead midway through the second half and stetched it six points, 56-50, on a Keith Jackson free throw with 8:10 remaining, but Marquette fought back to tie it at 58 on a Bernard Toone basket with less than six minutes to play. The teams traded baskets, and a Sam Worthen foul shot put the Warriors up 61-60 with 2:38 left. A minute later, Cureton hit two free throws to regain the lead for Detroit, but a Toone jumper from the top of the key with 40 seconds left put Marquette back on top, 63-62. Detroit called two time outs trying to set up a final shot. The game winner came when All-American Terry Duerod nailed a 22 footer from above the key with just 2 seconds on the game clock. Freshman forward Jerry Davis led Detroit with 15 – 13 in the first half while Detroit struggled to stay close - while Duerod finished with 14.
From Milwaukee, the Titans went home and celebrated their big week with a 135-77 blowout of outmanned CCNY, and entered the top 20 in the next week’s polls. The Titans finished the regular season at 22-5, and with the road wins over Georgetown and Marquette, there wasn’t much doubt about Detroit’s receiving its 2nd NCAA bid in three years.
7. March 13, 1998: Detroit 66, St. John’s 64 (NCAA).
A lot changed in the 19 years between Detroit’s 1979 and 1998 NCAA appearances. Both the Titans and their first round opponent, St. John’s, were members of conferences that didn’t exist in 1979. College hoops had also completed a sea-change that began in the 1970s, with a clearer division between the haves and have-nots, created by lower travel costs, increased television exposure, the expansion of the NCAA tournament to include multiple teams from any given conference, and the nationalization of recruiting.
It wasn’t clear in the late 1970s which teams would make the cut. On the surface, there was no reason to think that urban schools such as DePaul, Temple, and St. John’s, let alone schools such as Xavier and Seton Hall, would make the big time while schools such as San Francisco and Detroit would not. In the late 70s, UD was one of the top 50 schools in attendance and was growing used to tournament play and national rankings. From the 1977 through 1979 seasons, the Titans were more often ranked than St. John’s. In 1978, UD averaged 3700 attendance more per game than St. John’s and nearly 4000 more than DePaul. Xavier was averaging fewer than 2000. UD was still even with St. John’s in 1980. But short-sightedness in the front office and the disastrous reign of AD Larry Geracioti and coach Willie McCarter had quickly exposed UD’s underlying weaknesses, notably lack of endowment and investment capital, aging facilities, and a declining hometown. Detroit sunk into the realms of what became known as “mid-majors,” as St. John’s rose to new heights, including a Final Four appearance in 1985. It would take another herculean effort by a personality very different from Vitale, Perry Watson, to bring UD back to some level of national prominence. Watson’s fifth season finally yielded fruit, as the Titans won their first MCC regular season title and snared an at-large bid and #10 seed in the NCAAs. There they prepared to face 7th seeded St. John’s in Chicago.
St. John’s drew first blood but the Titans went on a 10-0 run to grab an early 10-3 lead. St. John’s then rallied to lead 34-32 at the half. The early part of the second half saw four ties and three lead changes before Detroit took the lead for good at the 13:40 mark. The Titans’ led 63-56 with 39 seconds to play but St. John’s star Felipe Lopez sandwiched a pair of three pointers around two Derrick Hayes free throws to close to 65-62. Lopez was fouled on the second of his treys, but missed the foul shot. EJ Haralson came down with the rebound but a foot on the line, turning the ball over to St. John’s. Tyrone Grant, who led St. John’s with 14 points, then hit a pair from the line to bring the Johnnies to within one. St. John’s fouled Hayes on the Titans next possession, and Hayes made one of two with 11 seconds to go, setting up St. John’s for a final possession. But Lopez missed a 22 footer with 3 seconds left, and Zendon Hamilton’s tip on the rebound came after the buzzer.
Hayes, a senior and first team All-MCC selection, played perhaps his best game of the season, scoring 27 points on 10 for 14 shooting (including 3 of 3 from beyond the arc), and grabbed a team high 5 rebounds. No other Titan scored in double figures, but Jermaine Jackson tied Hayes for honors in rebounds, led UD with 6 assists, and added 8 points.
You can watch the final seconds of this game here: .
6. March 11, 1999: Detroit 56, #15 UCLA 53 (NCAA).
The Titans finished the 1999 regular season second in the nation in scoring defense, and they showed why in this first round NCAA upset of 15th-ranked UCLA. Detroit’s smothering defense had UCLA confused all night. The Bruins shot just 38% from the field, turned the ball over 16 times, and held star JaRon Rush to just 2 of 11 from the floor. Detroit held the Bruins to just 21 points in the second half, and to just 13 in the final 15:23, to rally from a nine point deficit for the win.
UCLA opened the game with a 9-3 run, but Detroit came back behind MCC Player of the Year Jermaine Jackson and Darius Belin to take a 20-14 lead midway through the half. The tide then swung back to the Bruins, who led 32-30 at the half and opened the second period with an 8-1 run to lead 40-31. At that point, the Titan defense truly went to work, starting by holding UCLA scoreless for the next six minutes. Still, given the low-scoring nature of the game (UD hit just 33% from the field), the Bruins’ 48-42 lead with just over six minutes to play looked safe. But the Titans put the squeeze on again, holding UCLA scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes while taking a 49-48 lead on free throws by Bacari Alexander and Daniel Whye and a trey by Desmond Ferguson. A layup by Baron Davis put UCLA back on top, but Rashad Phillips hit two free throws to give the Titans the lead for good with 1:19 left. Davis fouled out and UCLA turned it over on its next possession, then missed on the possession after that. Finally, with the Titans up 51-50 and the shot clock down to 3 seconds, Whye threw in an awkward desperation shot with 12 seconds left to put the Titans up 3, and free throws by Desmond Ferguson and Bacari Alexander sealed the win. "We knew we were going to win when we were down by nine, and coach (Perry Watston) called timeout and gave us that look," Jackson said. "We had to come out like soldiers. We started taking it to the basket and making free throws."
The key to the Titan win, in addition to defense, was foul shooting, as Detroit outscored UCLA 18-5 from the line and hit 9 of its final 10 foul shots. Jackson led the Titans in scoring and rebounds with 17 points and 7 boards. Phillips added 16 points and 4 assists.
The final seconds of the UCLA game, starting with Whye’s off balance jumper, are here:
5. December 8, 1973: Detroit 70, Michigan 59.
It was Dick Vitale’s rookie season in Detroit, and his first big game. Detroit had been competitive on the floor during Jim Harding’s last years – his last two clubs had gone a combined 34-15 and just missed the NIT each year - but disappointment over the early departure of Spencer Haywood, weariness with the seemingly endless player suspensions and controversies, and Harding’s own nasty personality had led to a steep decline in attendance. UD couldn’t afford to buy out Harding’s contract, but they were happy to see him go when it expired after the 1973 season.
New Coach Dick Vitale brought incredible enthusiasm, but it remained to be seen if that could transfer to on the court victories. Harding had not left the cupboard completely bare. Returning talent included the team’s MVP from 1973, a big forward named Owen Wells, a promising sophomore guard in Riley Dotson, and a good junior forward in Terry Thomas. Still, the Titans were thin and the preseason press predicted a dismal season for the Titans and their enthusiastic new coach.
By the time the University of Michigan came to town in early December, the Titans had won their first three games of the season, but those victories - over Hillsdale, Cleveland St., and St. John’s of Ohio – were hardly unexpected. Whether UD could hang with the big boys… well, let’s just say there were more than a few doubters. Michigan entered the game 2-0, with double digit wins at Toledo and over Southern Illinois.
But before a packed house of 7485 at Memorial Building (nee Calihan Hall), the Titans jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first seven minutes and never let up. By halftime, it was 44-30; four minutes into the second half, it was 53-35, and from there the Titans coasted home.
The Titans couldn’t stop Michigan All-American Campy Russell, who scored 26 points on 11 of 23 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds, but Detroit smothered his teammates, who combined made just 13 of 46 shots from the floor. And Russell was outshone by Titan star Owen Wells, who connected on 15 of 25 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line for 38 points, and had 9 rebounds to boot. Wells left the game with minutes remaining to a thundering ovation from the crowd and a big hug from Vitale.
For the Titan faithful, this win indicated that the Vitale era was not going to be all hype and no substance. The Titans, projected to have a losing season, would go on to start the season 11-1, including wins over Michigan St. and Minnesota, on their way to a 17-9 finish.
Michigan, meanwhile, while not ranked at game time, would go on to end the season ranked 6th in the country, it’s only other regular season losses at Indiana, at UCLA, and to Purdue, before losing to 3rd ranked Marquette by 2 in the NCAA.
This victory made the acrimony of the Harding years a distant memory overnight, reignited fan interest in UD basketball, and set the stage for the Vitale era.
4. January 15, 1951: Detroit 70, #1 Bradley 65.
In the 1950s, the Bradley Braves were one of college basketball’s great powerhouses. They had been ranked in the very first AP poll in January, 1949, and every poll since but one. They had closed the 1950 season ranked first in the country, and were one of the 15 winningest teams in college basketball in the prior decade. Bradley had reached the final four of the still very meaningful NIT in 1949, and were runners-up in both the NCAA and NIT tournaments in 1950. The defending Missouri Valley Conference champs were ranked 2nd in the first poll of the 1950-51 season, and a 15-0 start lifted them to the #1 ranking in January.
The Titans were an upstart, but they were not chopped liver. They had joined the tough Missouri Valley Conference the year before, finishing third, and just missing the NIT tournament with an overall 20-6 record that included a 67-54 victory over the then 4th ranked Braves (Bradley’s only conference defeat). Led by sophomore center Norm Swanson, who averaged over 17 ppg, the 1950-51Titans also featured senior captain Brendan McNamara, who would finish second in the nation in assists, senior forward John Kirwan, who be a second-team all-conference selection, and a talented sophomore swingman in Walter Poff. McNamara, Kirwan, and Swanson had led the team in scoring in 1948, ’49, and ’50, respectively, so the Titans had plenty of offensive punch. But the Titans entered the game a disappointing 6-8, and had lost to Bradley in Detroit two weeks earlier.
Bradley entered the game at 16-1, with its number ranking already in jeopardy after losing at # 11 St. John’s 68-59 4 days prior. But with a 25 game home court win streak, they were solid favorites against the Titans. And loss to St. John’s or not, they entered the game the nation’s #1 ranked team.
The game was close and hard fought all the way. “Detroit was sky-high” said Bradley coach Forddy Anderson after the game. “My boys were pressing.” The lead changed hands 14 times, and there were nine ties. The Titans led by 5 at the half but with three minutes left in the game, Bradley inched out to a 65-62 lead. A hook shot by Swanson and a 20 footer by Kirwan put the Titans ahead for the final time. Detroit didn’t allow another point and went on to the 70-65 win. Swanson led all scorers with 26 points, with Kirwan and Poff each adding eight for the Titans. Bradley was led in scoring by center Elmer Behnke with 17 and All-American Gene Melchiore with 16.
Bradley dropped to third in the next AP poll, yielding the top spot to MVC rival Oklahoma A&M, and eventually finished the season ranked 6th. It would be nice to say that the victory helped the Titans put it all together, but it didn’t – the Titans continued their inconsistent play, going 7-6 over the next 13 games before closing out the season with 3 wins, including a 62-52 season finale over Oklahoma A&M, which was then ranked second in the AP poll and first in the UPI. Swanson would go on to be named All-America in both the 1952 and 1953 seasons; Poff would be a second team all-MVC selection in 1953.
This win is the Titan’s only victory ever over a #1 ranked opponent in the AP Poll, although as noted above, the Titans' defeated UPI #1 Oklahoma A&M later in the 1951 season.
3. February 26, 1972: Detroit 70, #2 Marquette 49.
UD completely dismantled unbeaten, second-ranked Marquette in what could arguably be considered the most impressive performance ever by a Titan team. The Titan victory snapped Marquette’s 56 game regular season win streak, at that time the longest in NCAA history (and still the third longest in NCAA history), and moved the Titans into the national rankings (#18 in UPI) for the first time since the Spencer Haywood year.
The Titans had been playing good ball in Jim Harding’s third season, and entered the game at 16-5, including wins over #15 Ohio U., Boston College, Dayton, and St. Bonaventure. They had played Marquette very close in Milwaukee earlier in the season, losing 68-66. Moreover, Marquette was ripe for the upset. The Warriors had lost star center Jim Chones after it was discovered he had signed a pro contract. Thus this wasn’t really the team that gone undefeated through the season. On the other hand, the Warriors were hardly a one man team. The club still included 4 future NBA draft picks: Bob Lackey, a Helms All-America that season; junior center and future 7 year NBA player Larry McNeill; Marcus Washington; and Allie McGuire, the coach’s son. Even without Chones, Marquette had trashed a solid, Eddie Sutton-coached Creighton team earlier in the week. More to the point, it is simply doubtful that, in this game, Chones would have made a difference in the outcome.
The Titans shot 65% from the floor in the first half, leading by as much as 15 before settling for a 36-24 bulge at the half. A tenacious Titan defense rarely gave Marquette an open shot or a second chance opportunity. Any hopes of a Marquette comeback were quickly quashed in the second half, as Detroit quickly extended its lead, at one point to 28 points, before easing up and coasting home. Detroit’s balanced attack was led by Bill Pleas with 18, Frank Russell with 16, Cookie Marsh with 12, and Daryle Johnson with 11.
The Titans followed up this win with a victory over #20 Duquesne, but a loss to Western Michigan in the season finale, and the discovery that Detroit had unintentionally used an ineligible player (Johnson) for the season, led to the Titans being snubbed not only by the NCAA, but the NIT.
Still, few of the 8011 in attendance tdoubted that on this night, the Titans could have beaten any team in the country.
2. December 10, 1960: #9 Detroit 81, #3 Indiana 79 (2OT).
Tom Villemure sank a 20 footer at the buzzer to defeat third ranked Indiana and gain the the Titans their highest poll ranking in school history. Indiana was also the highest ranked opponent Detroit would beat between their 1951 victory over #1/2 Oklahoma A&M and their 1972 win over #2 Marquette.
The Titans, led by Junior star Dave DeBusschere, entered the game having upset #6 Utah St. earlier in the week. Detroit jumped out to a 41-31 halftime lead, and extended that to lead to 12 points at the start of the second half. But Indiana came roaring back with a 14-2 run to tie the game at 45, and the lead went back and forth for the rest of regulation. With two minutes to go, the Titans led 69-66, but Hoosier forward Tom Bolyard sank 3 foul shots to tie the game at 69 at the end of regulation. Detroit led again late in the first overtime, 75-73, but this time a pair of foul shots by Gary Long tied it up and forced a second extra period. Indiana scored the first bucket in the second OT, and took the lead again at 79-77. A Charlie North tip-in tied it at 79, and Indiana failed to convert on two chances, leading to Villemure’s game winning shot from the corner.
North and DeBusschere (who was hampered by a pulled groin) led the Titans with 23 points apiece, and center John Morgan added 14 and Villemure 10. The Hoosiers were led by Bolyard with 18 and All-American center (and future Detroit Piston) Walt Bellamy with 17.
Detroit entered the game ranked 9th in the UPI poll (the AP had yet to conduct its first poll of the season). The victory boosted the Titans to #5 in the UPI and #3 in the AP the following week, the school’s highest ranking ever in either poll. But the Titans were walloped 83-64 by Purdue in their next game (future Piston Terry Dischinger scored 31 for the Boilermakers), dropping to 8th in the polls. Returning home, DeBusschere, now battling a cold as well as his pulled groin, scored a career low 8 points as the Titans beat Nebraska. Next, with DeBusschere looking, according to the AP, “dead on his feet,” UD defeated Gonzaga before a showdown with #1 ranked Ohio St. at Columbus. The Titans were game but with DeBusschere still ailing lost 84-73 (Charlie North led the club with 25 points), and a loss to Villanova the next week knocked them out of the top 20. Meanwhile, the Titans’ early season conquests lost some luster as the season went on – both Utah St. and Indiana dropped from the top 20 by New Year’s Day, and the teams finished the year 12-14 and 15-9, respectively. The Titans would eventually lose in the first round of the NIT, to Holy Cross.
1. February 16, 1977: #15 Detroit 64, #6 Marquette 63.
Detroit headed to Milwaukee on a 20 game winning streak and a #15 national ranking (UPI, #19 AP). But the Titans felt that only a win over Marquette (#6 UPI, #9 AP) would secure an NCAA bid.
It didn’t look good at the outset for UD. Marquette scored 9 straight to take a 20-10 lead, and from there led most of the way. The Warriors were up 32-26 at the half and 43-36 with 13 minutes to go. The Titans, using an aggressive, trapping defense, hung tough, but it still appeared that Marquette was in control when Jerome Whitehead hit a pair of free throws to give the Warriors a 63-58 lead with three minutes to play. Then Jeff Whitlow hit a quick layup for Detroit, and, with Marquette trying to play keep-away, Whitehead dropped a pass from Bo Ellis and lost the ball out of bounds. Five seconds later Dennis Boyd hit a basket to cut the lead to one. Marquette again decided to hold the ball (pre-shot clock days), but with 35 seconds left John Long and Terry Tyler trapped Ellis, and Tyler swatted the ball away from Ellis and picked it up. “I’m just glad nobody called a foul” said Tyler after the game. “I think I may have hit him, but I know I also got the ball.” The Titans had no time-outs remaining, so the Titans had no opportunity for a set play. Boyd, at the point, looked for the team’s best shooters, Long and Terry Duerod, but when neither were open and he saw the clock at 4 seconds, he decided to let it fly. With two seconds left, Boyd did his patented “shake and bake” move, elevated from the top of the key, and as three Marquette players watched helplessly, the ball swooshed through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
Long led the Titans with 20, Duerod had 16, and Boyd 14. Tyler was held to just 4 points but led the club in rebounds with 9. Dick Vitale kept a promise to his team to dance at center court after the Titan win: .
The game was a near mirror image of the 1976 game between the schools, won by Marquette on a last second jumper after a steal. That loss had probably cost UD a post-season bid. After this game, it was Marquette Coach Al McGuire who thought his Warriors, who had lost to DePaul earlier in the week, might not even make the tourney. In the end, of course, they not only got an invitation, they won it all. The Titans' 21 game win streak would be halted in their next game by Duquesne, but they had done enough to make the tourney, losing a heartbreaker in the Sweet 16 to #1 ranked Michigan. The Titans ended the season ranked 12th in the nation, our highest ever season ending rank. With a young, dynamic coach picking Detroit’s high school talent clean, it looked like the sky could be the limit for UD basketball.
Other games in this series are found 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
Games 31-40: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/294/great-titan-wins-31-40
Games 21-30: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/294/great-titan-wins-21-30
Games 11-20: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/294/great-titan-wins-11-20
