Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball

The Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball team is the college basketball team that represents University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Michigan, and competes in NCAA Division I men's basketball as a member of the Horizon League. Traditionally, the Titans have been a fair "mid-major" program, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in 1977 and to the Round of 32 in 1998 and 1999. The Titans have appeared in the NCAA Tournament six times, most recently in 2012. The Titans are currently coached by Mark Montgomery, who was hired on April 3, 2024.^[2] The Titans play their home games at Calihan Hall on the school's McNichols Campus.

Detroit Mercy Titans
2024–25 Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball team
University	University of Detroit Mercy
Head coach	Mark Montgomery (1st season)
Conference	Horizon League
Location	Detroit, Michigan
Arena	Calihan Hall (capacity: 8,295)
Nickname	Titans
Colors	Red, white, and blue[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1977
NCAA tournament round of 32
1998, 1999
NCAA tournament appearances
1962, 1977, 1979, 1998, 1999, 2012
Conference tournament champions
1994, 1999, 2012
Conference regular season champions
1998, 1999

Season by season records

• NOTE: The Titans did not field a basketball team in 1907–08 and 1908–09.

Season	Team	Overall record	Pct.	Conf. record	Postseason
Independent
1905–06	Detroit	3–1	.750
1906–07	Detroit	1–3	.250
1909–10	Detroit	2–3	.400
1910–11	Detroit	6–0	1.000
1911–12	Detroit	6–5	.545
1912–13	Detroit	13–0	1.000
1913–14	Detroit	6–3	.667
1914–15	Detroit	3–5	.375
1915–16	Detroit	7–3	.700
1916–17	Detroit	5–4	.556
1917–18	Detroit	13–5	.722
1918–19	Detroit	4–5	.444
1919–20	Detroit	12–7	.632
1920–21	Detroit	10–8	.556
1921–22	Detroit	2–13	.133
1922–23	Detroit	9–7	.563
1923–24	Detroit	9–8	.529
1924–25	Detroit	6–6	.500
1925–26	Detroit	13–6	.684
1926–27	Detroit	8–9	.471
1927–28	Detroit	11–4	.733
1928–29	Detroit	4–11	.267
1929–30	Detroit	10–9	.526
1930–31	Detroit	10–9	.526
1931–32	Detroit	8–8	.500
1932–33	Detroit	12–5	.706
1933–34	Detroit	7–8	.467
1934–35	Detroit	4–10	.286
1935–36	Detroit	12–5	.706
1936–37	Detroit	11–5	.688
1937–38	Detroit	16–4	.800
1938–39	Detroit	15–5	.750
1939–40	Detroit	14–9	.609
1940–41	Detroit	11–10	.524
1941–42	Detroit	13–8	.619
1942–43	Detroit	15–5	.750
1943–44	Detroit	13–7	.650
1944–45	Detroit	8–12	.400
1945–46	Detroit	15–8	.652
1946–47	Detroit	12–13	.480
1947–48	Detroit	7–15	.318
1948–49	Detroit	12–10	.545
Missouri Valley Conference
1949–50	Detroit	20–6	.769	7–5
1950–51	Detroit	17–14	.548	7–7
1951–52	Detroit	14–12	.538	4–6
1952–53	Detroit	12–14	.462	4–6
1953–54	Detroit	11–17	.393	1–9
1954–55	Detroit	15–11	.577	2–8
1955–56	Detroit	13–12	.520	3–9
1956–57	Detroit	11–15	.423	5–9
Independent
1957–58	Detroit	13–12	.520
1958–59	Detroit	11–14	.440
1959–60	Detroit	20–7	.741		NIT 1st Round
1960–61	Detroit	18–9	.667		NIT 1st Round
1961–62	Detroit	15–12	.556		NCAA 1st Round
1962–63	Detroit	14–12	.538
1963–64	Detroit	14–11	.560
1964–65	Detroit	20–8	.714		NIT Quarterfinals
1965–66	Detroit	17–8	.680
1966–67	Detroit	10–15	.400
1967–68	Detroit	13–12	.520
1968–69	Detroit	16–10	.615
1969–70	Detroit	7–18	.280
1970–71	Detroit	14–12	.538
1971–72	Detroit	18–6	.750
1972–73	Detroit	16–9	.640
1973–74	Detroit	17–9	.654
1974–75	Detroit	17–9	.654
1975–76	Detroit	19–8	.704
1976–77	Detroit	26–3	.897		NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1977–78	Detroit	25–4	.862		NIT Quarterfinals
1978–79	Detroit	22–6	.786		NCAA 1st Round
1979–80	Detroit	14–13	.519
Midwestern City Conference
1980–81	Detroit	9–18	.333	1–5
1981–82	Detroit	10–17	.370	6–6
1982–83	Detroit	12–17	.414	6–8
1983–84	Detroit	8–20	.286	4–10
Midwestern Collegiate Conference
1984–85	Detroit	16–12	.571	8–6
1985–86	Detroit	14–15	.483	7–5
1986–87	Detroit	7–21	.250	2–10
1987–88	Detroit	7–23	.233	2–8
1988–89	Detroit	7–21	.250	4–8
1989–90	Detroit	10–18	.357	3–11
1990–91	Detroit	9–19	.321	2–12
1991–92	Detroit	12–17	.414	1–9
1992–93	Detroit	15–12	.556	7–7
1993–94	Detroit	16–13	.552	5–5
1994–95	Detroit	13–15	.464	9–5
1995–96	Detroit	18–11	.621	8–8
1996–97	Detroit	16–13	.552	11–5
1997–98	Detroit	25–6	.802	12–2	NCAA 2nd Round
1998–99	Detroit	25–6	.802	12–2	NCAA 2nd Round
1999–2000	Detroit	20–12	.625	8–6
2000–01	Detroit	25–12	.676	10–4	NIT 4th place
Horizon League
2001–02	Detroit	18–13	.581	11–5	NIT Opening Round
2002–03	Detroit	18–12	.600	9–7
2003–04	Detroit	19–11	.633	10–6
2004–05	Detroit	14–16	.467	9–7
2005–06	Detroit	16–16	.500	8–8
2006–07	Detroit	11–19	.367	6–10
2007–08	Detroit	7–23	.233	3–15
2008–09	Detroit	7–23	.233	2–16
2009–10	Detroit	20–14	.588	9–9
2010–11	Detroit	17–16	.515	10–8
2011–12	Detroit	22–13	.629	11–7	NCAA 1st Round
2012–13	Detroit	20–13	.606	12–4	NIT 1st Round
2013–14	Detroit	13–19	.406	6–10
2014–15	Detroit	15–18	.455	7–9
2015–16	Detroit	16–15	.516	9–9
2016–17	Detroit	8–23	.258	5–12
2017–18	Detroit	8–24	.250	4–14
2018–19	Detroit	11–20	.355	8–10
2019–20	Detroit	8–23	.258	6–12
2020–21	Detroit	12–10	.545	10–6
2021–22	Detroit	14–16	.467	10–7	TBC 1st Round
2022–23	Detroit	14–19	.424	9–11
2023–24	Detroit	1–31	.031	1–19
Totals		1,440–1,247	.536

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Titans have appeared in six NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 3–6.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1962	–	First Round	Western Kentucky	L 90–81
1977	–	First Round Sweet Sixteen	Middle Tennessee State Michigan	W 93–76 L 86–81
1979	#7	First Round	#10 Lamar	L 95–87
1998	#10	First Round Second Round	#7 St. John's #2 Purdue	W 66–64 L 80–65
1999	#12	First Round Second Round	#5 UCLA #4 Ohio State	W 56–53 L 75–44
2012	#15	First Round	#2 Kansas	L 65–50

NIT Results

The Titans have appeared in seven National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 5–8.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1960	First Round	Villanova	L 88–86
1961	First Round	Holy Cross	L 86–82
1965	First Round Quarterfinals	La Salle NYU	W 93–86 L 87–76
1978	First Round Quarterfinals	VCU North Carolina State	W 94–86 L 84–77
2001	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Bradley Connecticut Dayton Alabama Memphis	W 68–49 W 67–61 W 59–42 L 74–63 L 86–71
2002	Opening Round	Dayton	L 80–69
2013	First Round	Arizona State	L 83–68

The Basketball Classic results

The Titans have appeared in The Basketball Classic one time. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2022	First Round	Florida Gulf Coast	L 79–95

Players

Retired numbers

Main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers

Detroit Mercy has retired 11 jerseys in program history.

Detroit Mercy Titans retired jerseys
No.	Player	Career	Ref.
0	Antoine Davis	2018–2023	[3]
3	Rashad Phillips	1997–2001	[4]
17	Bob Calihan	1937–1940	[4]
22	Dave DeBusschere	1959–1962	[4]
24	Earl Cureton	1978–1980	[4]
32	Eli Holman	2009–2012	[5]
34	Willie Green	1999–2003	[4]
42	Terry Duerod	1975–1979	[4]
44	Terry Tyler	1974–1978	[4]
45	Spencer Haywood	1968–1969	[4]
50	John Long	1974–1978	[4]

Titans in the NBA

23 Detroit alumni have gone on to play in the NBA. They include:

• Paris Bass
• Dennis Boyd
• Earl Cureton
• Dave DeBusschere
• Terry Duerod
• Bill Ebben
• Desmond Ferguson
• Willie Green
• Spencer Haywood
• Jermaine Jackson
• Lee Knorek
• Joe Kopicki
• John Long
• Ray McCallum, Jr.
• Dorie Murrey
• Gino Sovran
• Guy Sparrow
• Art Stolkey
• Norm Swanson
• Terry Tyler
• Owen Wells
• Frank Russell
• Terry Thomas

In the late seventies, Coach Dick Vitale led the Titans to two NCAA tournament appearances before heading the Detroit Pistons and later embarking on a broadcasting career that would put him in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Alumni who played in the NBA G League:

• Rashad Phillips
• Marc Mazur

References

1. "University of Detroit Mercy Brand Standards Guide" (PDF). September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
2. "Detroit Mercy Hires Mark Montgomery to Lead Titans Men's Basketball Back to Prominence" (Press release). Detroit Mercy Titans. April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
3. "Titans open Horizon tourney with win, Davis (38 points) on brink of record". detroitnews.com. February 28, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2023. Davis, the fifth-year senior guard whose No. 0 was hanging in the rafters at Calihan Hall for the first time for all to see Tuesday – it was retired by Detroit Mercy following the final regular-season game – made back-to-back 3's about 12 minutes into the game, opening up a 24-16 lead. He had 15 points at that point.
4. "University of Detroit retires jersey of Earl 'The Twirl' Cureton". spinalcolumnonline.com. January 26, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
5. Men's Basketball To Retire Eli Holman's Jersey On Jan. 25 at detroittitans.com, 14 Jan 2020

External links

• Official website