Thursday, January 13, 2011

Men's Hoops Prepares for First-Place Showdown with Butler


GAME 18
Date:  Jan. 14, 2011 - 9:00 pm
Location: Detroit, Mich.
Arena: Calihan Hall (8,295)
TV: ESPNU and ESPN3.com
Series:  Butler leads, 43-27
Last year: BU, 2-0
*Butler 64, @Detroit 62 (ot) (1/10/10)
*@Butler 63, Detroit 58 (2/4/10)

ON TAP
The Detroit Titans welcome in rival Butler in a Friday night game on ESPNU.  The Bulldogs went 18-0 in the Horizon League last season, part of their 25-game winning streak en route to the NCAA Championship game.  Butler has already matched its loss total from a season ago (5).

ABOUT BU
The Bulldogs sit in a four-way tie for first place in the Horizon League along with Detroit, Valparaiso and Wright State.  BU went 2-0 last week, smashing Cleveland State (79-56) on Friday before sneaking past Youngstown State Sunday (84-79).  The Dogs are led by Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year senior Shelvin Mack (14.7 ppg) and big man Matt Howard (17.6 ppg).  Butler is just 2-4 in road games this season (3-0 on neutral floor).

WHO’S NEXT?
It’s Homecoming week on UDM’s campus as the Titans welcome face Valparaiso on Sunday in a 1:00 p.m. tip (FOX Sports Detroit).  Valparaiso will be at Wright State on Friday prior to Sunday’s matinee.

LEADERS OF THE PACK
The Titans will have the tall task of facing potentially two first-place teams this week in Butler and Valparaiso.  Those two teams-- along with Detroit and Wright State-- all carry identical 4-1 records into this week’s action. 

GET THAT OUTTA HERE
 With nine team blocks on Saturday, Detroit is the Horizon League leader in the category with 92 rejections through 17 games (5.2 bpg).  That total ranks 27th in NCAA Division I. 

HOW CAN I ASSIST YOU?
Freshman Ray McCallum has moved up the rankings in assists per game and is now tied for the most per game in the Horizon League (4.6 apg).  In league games, he hands out 5.2 dimes per contest.

NEARING THE CENTURY MARK
Junior LaMarcus Lowe threw aside six shots in the win at UIC Saturday to give him 47 on the season.  He needs just one more to tie his career high (set in 2008-09 at Western Michigan).  He is just five blocks shy of 100 for his career going into this week’s action.

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
Several Titans have their names appear among the NCAA Division I leaders in the Jan. 9 report.  As the time of the release, junior Eli Holman had eight double-doubles, which ranked 16th through games of Jan. 9.  He also was 12th in rebounds per game (10.7).  LaMarcus Lowe was 17th in the NCAA with his 2.8 blocks per game clip.

"DIAPER DANDIES"!
Ray McCallum is among the best rookies in all of NCAA Division I, scoring 15.8 points per game through his first 17 games.  That total is 4th among freshmen in the country through Jan. 9.  Listed below are the nine freshmen who are among the top 250 scorers in the country heading into this week.

NCAA D-I Freshman Scoring (through Jan. 9)
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State    17.9 ppg
Brandon Knight, Kentucky    17.7
Terrence Jones, Kentucky    17.6
Ray McCallum, Detroit    15.8
Trey Zeigler, Central Mich.    15.8
Tobias Harris, Tennessee    15.5
DeAndre Kane, Marshall    14.8
Bruce Ellington, So. Carolina    14.8
Eric Ferguson, Ga. Southern    14.8

“D”- TOWN
The Titans lead the Horizon League with a 5.4 blocks per game average.  They are also lead in steals (8.2), are second in rebounding margin (+3.6) and third in field goal percent defense (40.6). 

SCORING IN BUNCHES
Usually known for its defense, Detroit has done nicely on the offensive side of things this year to the tune of 74.6 points per game.  That total is tops in the HL and UDM’s 45.7 field goal percentage ranks second among league schools.

LEADING THE LEAGUE
Eli Holman leads the Horizon League in both offensive (3.7 rpg) and defensive (7.0 rpg) rebounds per game (10.7 total).  He is also easily the top performer in field goal percentage, connecting on 59.1 percent of his shots (75-of-127) and is 5th in blocks (1.4 bpg) and 19th in scoring (11.6 ppg).

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