Post by Commissioner on Dec 26, 2014 18:55:54 GMT -5
Game by Game Through The Streak
In 1976-77, the Titans won 21 games in a row, a school record. The season ended with an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and a #12 ranking in the final AP poll, the Titans' highest season-ending ranking ever. This post recaps the streak, game by game.
The Titans entered the 1976-77 season hoping for big things after a 19-8 season the prior year, but nobody was predicting them to appear in the national rankings or to make the NCAA. An NIT appearance would have been considered a good season, to be sure. To give some sense of the modest expectations, prior to the season Coach Vitale was talking up the Titans old rivalry with Eastern Michigan – Eastern Michigan! UD won its season opener over Eastern, but then dropped a lopsided 104-80 decision at home to Minnesota, and fans had to wonder if the Titans would ever beat really good teams. Few guessed how long it would be before the Titans would lose to anybody again.
Herewith, The Streak:
Game #1, Dec. 6, 1976: Detroit 113, Oakland 45. The streak begain before a small crowd on a Monday night. The game remains the worst defeat in OU history, and the first of seven 100 point games for the Titans in The Streak.
Game #2, Dec. 9, 1976: Detroit 78, @ Cleveland State 66. Terry Tyler scored 18 as the Titans won their first road game of the year.
Game #3, Dec. 11, 1976: Detroit 133, Iowa Wesleyan 79. The Titans shattered the previous school record for points in one game against outmanned Wesleyan.
Game #4, Dec. 15, 1976: Detroit 99, @ Michigan State 94. After three easy wins against overmatched competition, things get serious. The Titans invaded Jenison Fieldhouse and beat MSU for the third time in Vitale’s four years as coach. John Long led the Titans with 28.
Game #5, Dec. 18, 1976: Detroit 70, #8 Arizona 68. Detroit native Fred Snowden brought the eighth ranked, unbeaten Arizona Wildcats to town. Behind seniors Herman Harris, Bob Elliott, and Jerome Gladney, all of whom would be selected in the NBA draft that spring, Arizona was a heavy favorite. To offset the Wildcats' powerful inside game spearheaded by Elliott, Vitale spread the court and set up the Titans to drive to the basket or otherwise create their own shots. Vitale noted that Arizona had “great personnel, but watching films beforehand it was evident that they don’t play good one-on-one defense.” The Titans led throughout the first half and took a 38-31 lead into the locker room, but Arizona tied things early in the second half and the game became a series of lead changes. A jumper by Harris, who scored 25, tied the game at 68 with 12 seconds to play. But senior captain Dennis Boyd hit a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give the Titans the win. Boyd led the Titans with 19 and John Long added 17.
Game #6, Dec. 27, 1976: Detroit 79, Centenary 74. After a week off to enjoy the victory over Arizona – Detroit’s first over a ranked team in five years – the Titans resumed action in the Motor City Classic. The Titans shot out to a 10 point lead, allowed Centenary to close to within 2, then had another run to take a 12 point lead at the half. Late in the second half Centenary closed to within 3 behind the shooting of Bobby White (26 points) and John Pitts (24), but UD scored the next 6 to wrap it up. Long led the Titans with 19; Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod each added 12 before a crowd of 3434.
Game #7, Dec. 28, 1976: Detroit 81, Kent State 79 (OT). The Titans took the title in the 25th Motor City Classic, their 13th, but it wasn’t easy. A three point play by Terry Tyler with 2:13 left ended the scoring in regulation and sent the game into overtime. Jeff Whitlow scored 4 of Detroit’s 6 points in the extra period, and Kent’s Corteze Brown missed a 20 foot jumper at the buzzer as the Titans held on against 4-5 Kent State. Tyler, who blocked six shots in the championship game, was named tournament MVP.
Game #8, Jan. 5, 1977: Detroit 103, @ Buffalo 74. The Titans had fun at Buffalo’s expense. Buffalo was midway through a streak of its own – an 11 game losing streak on the way to a 5-21 season.
Game #9, Jan.8, 1977: Detroit 115, Long Island 77. UD rallied from an early deficit to blast the Blackbirds. John Long paced the Titan barrage with 26 points.
Game #10, Jan. 12, 1977: Detroit 92, Iona 67. Jim Valvano, a young coach not all that unlike Dick Vitale, was in his second season of trying to create a basketball power at Iona. But his Gaels weren’t ready for Detroit yet. After being tied at the half, Detroit led the entire second half and ran away in the final minutes.
Game #11, Jan. 15, 1977: Detroit 65, @ Dayton 63. It was neck and neck the entire game, but in the end Detroit successfully stretched its winning streak to 11 in a row. The game was tied at the half, but the Titans took the lead at the start of the second half and held it the entire remainder, though never by more than a few points. Dayton closed to 64-63 and had the ball but Doug Harris missed a layup with under 10 seconds remaining, Dayton was forced to foul, and the real UD held on for the win. Detroit’s balanced scoring was led by John Long with 16, Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod with 12 apiece, and Dennis Boyd with 11.
Game #12, Jan. 18, 1977: Detroit 70, @ St. Peter’s 68. Once again Dennis Boyd comes through, this time with a desperation 25 footer at the buzzer to keep the Titan streak alive.
Game #13, Jan. 19, 1977: Detroit 85, @ St. Francis (NY) 81. St. Francis gave the Titans all we could handle. After the Terriers missed a jump shot that would have tied the game with under a minute to go, a bucket by – who else – Dennis Boyd gave UD a 4 point lead with 39 seconds to play. The Terriers turned the ball over on their next possession and Detroit held the ball the rest of the way.
Game #14, Jan. 22, 1977: Detroit 110, Canisius 72. Canisius, 1-12 coming into the game, tried to stall, and that kept the score to just 8-2 Titans after 5 minutes of play. But the Titans soon had had enough of that and simply used superior athleticism to overwhelm the Golden Griffiths, building a 52-32 halftime lead that continued to grow even as Vitale substituted freely in the second half. Terry Duerod and Jeff Whitlow each had 15 points by the half.
Game #15, Jan.24 , 1977: Detroit 107, Akron 58. John Long and Terry Tyler outscored Akron 32-6 in one stretch as the Titans won a laugher. Tyler finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks and Long added 18 points. Jeff Whitlow had 14 and Boyd 13. After this win, the 16-1 Titans moved into the AP top 20 – at 20th – for the first time since January 7, 1969.
Game #16,Feb. 2, 1977: #20 Detroit 87, @ Eastern Michigan 82. Long scored 32 and Tyler 25 but the Hurons, as they were then known, wouldn’t go away until the final moments.
Game #17, Feb. 5, 1977: #20 Detroit 85, @ Xavier 76.
Game #18, Feb. 9, 1977: #19 Detroit 78, St. Bonaventure 62. The Titans, now ranked #19, got 21 points from Terry Tyler as they beat the eventual NIT champs, who entered the game with a 13-3 record.
Game #19, Feb. 12, 1977: #19 Detroit 123, Wayne State 77. Turono Anderson scored 31 as the Titans romped.
Game #20, Feb.14, 1977: #19 Detroit 86, Western Michigan 64. John Long had 28 and Terry Duerod 19. The Titans led 48-22 at halftime.
Game #21, Feb. 16, 1977: #15 Detroit 64, @ #6 Marquette 63. Despite the national ranking and the streak, 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,” 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.
The Streak Endeth: Feb. 19, 1977: @ Duquesne 95, #15 Detroit 88 (2OT). Playing his last home game, Duquesne great Norm Nixon scored 29 points, eight in the second overtime period, as the Dukes ended the Titan streak in double overtime in Pittsburgh. The Titans led early but couldn’t break the game open, taking a 41-37 edge into the break. Regulation ended at 76-76 and the first overtime at 81-81. The Dukes finally took control in the second OT, scoring 8 straight points and outscoring UD 14-7 in the period for the win. John Long led the Titans with 32 points. A national power in those days, Duquesne, had had a disappointing season (12-12 after the win over Detroit) but was catching fire at just the right time – they would go on to win the Eastern 8 tournament and appear in the NCAA.
Aftermath:
The Titans rebounded from the loss at Duquesne with a 122-86 thrashing of Marshall and a 91-66 blowout of Xavier, only to be stunned in their regular season finale at Loyola, 79-71. But the loss wasn’t enough to keep them out of the NCAA tournament. There they ran away from OVC Champion Middle Tennessee State in the second half of the opening round, setting up a dream match up with top-rated Michigan, that they would lose ina heartbreaker, 86-81. 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.
The Streak, December 6, 1976 – February 16, 1977
Home: 12-0
Road: 9-0
Overtime Games: 1-0
Games decided by 5 or fewer points: 9-0
Nationally Ranked Opponents: #8 Arizona, @ #9 Marquette.
Average Score: Detroit 92, Opponents 71
In 1976-77, the Titans won 21 games in a row, a school record. The season ended with an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and a #12 ranking in the final AP poll, the Titans' highest season-ending ranking ever. This post recaps the streak, game by game.
The Titans entered the 1976-77 season hoping for big things after a 19-8 season the prior year, but nobody was predicting them to appear in the national rankings or to make the NCAA. An NIT appearance would have been considered a good season, to be sure. To give some sense of the modest expectations, prior to the season Coach Vitale was talking up the Titans old rivalry with Eastern Michigan – Eastern Michigan! UD won its season opener over Eastern, but then dropped a lopsided 104-80 decision at home to Minnesota, and fans had to wonder if the Titans would ever beat really good teams. Few guessed how long it would be before the Titans would lose to anybody again.
Herewith, The Streak:
Game #1, Dec. 6, 1976: Detroit 113, Oakland 45. The streak begain before a small crowd on a Monday night. The game remains the worst defeat in OU history, and the first of seven 100 point games for the Titans in The Streak.
Game #2, Dec. 9, 1976: Detroit 78, @ Cleveland State 66. Terry Tyler scored 18 as the Titans won their first road game of the year.
Game #3, Dec. 11, 1976: Detroit 133, Iowa Wesleyan 79. The Titans shattered the previous school record for points in one game against outmanned Wesleyan.
Game #4, Dec. 15, 1976: Detroit 99, @ Michigan State 94. After three easy wins against overmatched competition, things get serious. The Titans invaded Jenison Fieldhouse and beat MSU for the third time in Vitale’s four years as coach. John Long led the Titans with 28.
Game #5, Dec. 18, 1976: Detroit 70, #8 Arizona 68. Detroit native Fred Snowden brought the eighth ranked, unbeaten Arizona Wildcats to town. Behind seniors Herman Harris, Bob Elliott, and Jerome Gladney, all of whom would be selected in the NBA draft that spring, Arizona was a heavy favorite. To offset the Wildcats' powerful inside game spearheaded by Elliott, Vitale spread the court and set up the Titans to drive to the basket or otherwise create their own shots. Vitale noted that Arizona had “great personnel, but watching films beforehand it was evident that they don’t play good one-on-one defense.” The Titans led throughout the first half and took a 38-31 lead into the locker room, but Arizona tied things early in the second half and the game became a series of lead changes. A jumper by Harris, who scored 25, tied the game at 68 with 12 seconds to play. But senior captain Dennis Boyd hit a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give the Titans the win. Boyd led the Titans with 19 and John Long added 17.
Game #6, Dec. 27, 1976: Detroit 79, Centenary 74. After a week off to enjoy the victory over Arizona – Detroit’s first over a ranked team in five years – the Titans resumed action in the Motor City Classic. The Titans shot out to a 10 point lead, allowed Centenary to close to within 2, then had another run to take a 12 point lead at the half. Late in the second half Centenary closed to within 3 behind the shooting of Bobby White (26 points) and John Pitts (24), but UD scored the next 6 to wrap it up. Long led the Titans with 19; Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod each added 12 before a crowd of 3434.
Game #7, Dec. 28, 1976: Detroit 81, Kent State 79 (OT). The Titans took the title in the 25th Motor City Classic, their 13th, but it wasn’t easy. A three point play by Terry Tyler with 2:13 left ended the scoring in regulation and sent the game into overtime. Jeff Whitlow scored 4 of Detroit’s 6 points in the extra period, and Kent’s Corteze Brown missed a 20 foot jumper at the buzzer as the Titans held on against 4-5 Kent State. Tyler, who blocked six shots in the championship game, was named tournament MVP.
Game #8, Jan. 5, 1977: Detroit 103, @ Buffalo 74. The Titans had fun at Buffalo’s expense. Buffalo was midway through a streak of its own – an 11 game losing streak on the way to a 5-21 season.
Game #9, Jan.8, 1977: Detroit 115, Long Island 77. UD rallied from an early deficit to blast the Blackbirds. John Long paced the Titan barrage with 26 points.
Game #10, Jan. 12, 1977: Detroit 92, Iona 67. Jim Valvano, a young coach not all that unlike Dick Vitale, was in his second season of trying to create a basketball power at Iona. But his Gaels weren’t ready for Detroit yet. After being tied at the half, Detroit led the entire second half and ran away in the final minutes.
Game #11, Jan. 15, 1977: Detroit 65, @ Dayton 63. It was neck and neck the entire game, but in the end Detroit successfully stretched its winning streak to 11 in a row. The game was tied at the half, but the Titans took the lead at the start of the second half and held it the entire remainder, though never by more than a few points. Dayton closed to 64-63 and had the ball but Doug Harris missed a layup with under 10 seconds remaining, Dayton was forced to foul, and the real UD held on for the win. Detroit’s balanced scoring was led by John Long with 16, Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod with 12 apiece, and Dennis Boyd with 11.
Game #12, Jan. 18, 1977: Detroit 70, @ St. Peter’s 68. Once again Dennis Boyd comes through, this time with a desperation 25 footer at the buzzer to keep the Titan streak alive.
Game #13, Jan. 19, 1977: Detroit 85, @ St. Francis (NY) 81. St. Francis gave the Titans all we could handle. After the Terriers missed a jump shot that would have tied the game with under a minute to go, a bucket by – who else – Dennis Boyd gave UD a 4 point lead with 39 seconds to play. The Terriers turned the ball over on their next possession and Detroit held the ball the rest of the way.
Game #14, Jan. 22, 1977: Detroit 110, Canisius 72. Canisius, 1-12 coming into the game, tried to stall, and that kept the score to just 8-2 Titans after 5 minutes of play. But the Titans soon had had enough of that and simply used superior athleticism to overwhelm the Golden Griffiths, building a 52-32 halftime lead that continued to grow even as Vitale substituted freely in the second half. Terry Duerod and Jeff Whitlow each had 15 points by the half.
Game #15, Jan.24 , 1977: Detroit 107, Akron 58. John Long and Terry Tyler outscored Akron 32-6 in one stretch as the Titans won a laugher. Tyler finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks and Long added 18 points. Jeff Whitlow had 14 and Boyd 13. After this win, the 16-1 Titans moved into the AP top 20 – at 20th – for the first time since January 7, 1969.
Game #16,Feb. 2, 1977: #20 Detroit 87, @ Eastern Michigan 82. Long scored 32 and Tyler 25 but the Hurons, as they were then known, wouldn’t go away until the final moments.
Game #17, Feb. 5, 1977: #20 Detroit 85, @ Xavier 76.
Game #18, Feb. 9, 1977: #19 Detroit 78, St. Bonaventure 62. The Titans, now ranked #19, got 21 points from Terry Tyler as they beat the eventual NIT champs, who entered the game with a 13-3 record.
Game #19, Feb. 12, 1977: #19 Detroit 123, Wayne State 77. Turono Anderson scored 31 as the Titans romped.
Game #20, Feb.14, 1977: #19 Detroit 86, Western Michigan 64. John Long had 28 and Terry Duerod 19. The Titans led 48-22 at halftime.
Game #21, Feb. 16, 1977: #15 Detroit 64, @ #6 Marquette 63. Despite the national ranking and the streak, 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,” 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.
The Streak Endeth: Feb. 19, 1977: @ Duquesne 95, #15 Detroit 88 (2OT). Playing his last home game, Duquesne great Norm Nixon scored 29 points, eight in the second overtime period, as the Dukes ended the Titan streak in double overtime in Pittsburgh. The Titans led early but couldn’t break the game open, taking a 41-37 edge into the break. Regulation ended at 76-76 and the first overtime at 81-81. The Dukes finally took control in the second OT, scoring 8 straight points and outscoring UD 14-7 in the period for the win. John Long led the Titans with 32 points. A national power in those days, Duquesne, had had a disappointing season (12-12 after the win over Detroit) but was catching fire at just the right time – they would go on to win the Eastern 8 tournament and appear in the NCAA.
Aftermath:
The Titans rebounded from the loss at Duquesne with a 122-86 thrashing of Marshall and a 91-66 blowout of Xavier, only to be stunned in their regular season finale at Loyola, 79-71. But the loss wasn’t enough to keep them out of the NCAA tournament. There they ran away from OVC Champion Middle Tennessee State in the second half of the opening round, setting up a dream match up with top-rated Michigan, that they would lose ina heartbreaker, 86-81. 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.
The Streak, December 6, 1976 – February 16, 1977
Home: 12-0
Road: 9-0
Overtime Games: 1-0
Games decided by 5 or fewer points: 9-0
Nationally Ranked Opponents: #8 Arizona, @ #9 Marquette.
Average Score: Detroit 92, Opponents 71