1997–98 Detroit Titans men's basketball team

1997–98 Detroit Titans men's basketball
1997–98 Detroit Titans men's basketball
Midwestern Collegiate Conference Regular season champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Midwestern Collegiate Conference
Record	25–6 (12–2 MCC)
Head coach	Perry Watson (5th season);
Home arena	Calihan Hall
	Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 Detroit Titans men's basketball team represented the University of Detroit Mercy in the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by coach Perry Watson, the Titans played their home games at Calihan Hall as members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. They finished the season 25–6 overall, 12–2 in MCC play to win the regular season league title.

1997–98 Midwestern Collegiate Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Detroit	12	–	2	.857	25	–	6	.806
UIC	12	–	2	.857	22	–	6	.786
Butler †	8	–	6	.571	22	–	11	.667
Green Bay	7	–	7	.500	17	–	12	.586
Cleveland State	6	–	8	.429	12	–	15	.444
Loyola Chicago	6	–	8	.429	15	–	15	.500
Wright State	3	–	11	.214	10	–	18	.357
Milwaukee	2	–	12	.143	3	–	24	.111

† 1998 MCC tournament winner

Playing in the MCC tournament as the No. 1 seed, they defeated UW-Milwaukee in the quarterfinals before losing to Green Bay in the semifinals. Despite the early exit, Detroit received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 10 seed in the Midwest region. The Titans beat No. 7 seed St. John's in the opening round^[1] before losing to No. 2 seed Purdue in the second round.^[2]

This 1997–98 team, which tied the school record with 25 wins and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1979, was honored 20 years later.^[3]

Roster

1997–98 Detroit Titans men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	Jermaine Jackson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr	Detroit, MI
G	Rashad Phillips	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Fr	Detroit, MI
G	Desmond Ferguson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Lansing, MI

Head coach

Perry Watson

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 17, 1997*		at Cincinnati	L 66–76	0–1	Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 25, 1997*		Wayne State	W 95–59	1–1	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Nov 30, 1997*		Michigan	L 53–54	1–2	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Dec 3, 1997*		Bowling Green	W 73–52	2–2	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Dec 6, 1997* 2:00 pm		Western Michigan	W 77–59	3–2	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Dec 13, 1997* 7:00 pm, ESPN Plus		at Michigan State	W 68–65	4–2	Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, Michigan
Dec 16, 1997*		Central Michigan	W 77–53	5–2	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Dec 18, 1997*		at Georgia State	W 74–64	6–2	GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia
Dec 20, 1997*		vs. Grambling State ISU Holiday Challenge	W 74–52	7–2	Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa
Dec 21, 1997* 9:00 pm, CTN		at Iowa State ISU Holiday Challenge	W 67–56	8–2	Hilton Coliseum (8,026) Ames, Iowa
Dec 27, 1997*		at Texas Southern	W 90–75	9–2	Health and Physical Education Arena Houston, Texas
Dec 31, 1997*		at Bethune–Cookman	W 79–65	10–2	Moore Gymnasium Daytona Beach, Florida
Jan 3, 1998		UW-Milwaukee	W 83–56	11–2 (1–0)	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Jan 5, 1998		Green Bay	W 58–41	12–2 (2–0)	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Jan 11, 1998		at Illinois-Chicago	L 83–88	12–3 (2–1)	UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois
Jan 15, 1998		Wright State	W 80–75	13–3 (3–1)	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Jan 17, 1998		Butler	W 78–67	14–3 (4–1)	Cobo Arena (4,076) Detroit, Michigan
Jan 19, 1998		at Loyola (IL)	W 76–71	15–3 (5–1)	Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, Illinois
Jan 24, 1998		Cleveland State	W 84–70	16–3 (6–1)	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Jan 29, 1998		at UW-Milwaukee	W 83–68	17–3 (7–1)	Wisconsin Center Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jan 31, 1998		at Green Bay	W 67–64 ^OT	18–3 (8–1)	Brown County Arena Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
Feb 5, 1998		Loyola (IL)	W 94–65	19–3 (9–1)	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Feb 7, 1998		Illinois-Chicago	W 76–58	20–3 (10–1)	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Feb 12, 1998		at Butler	W 54–51	21–3 (11–1)	Hinkle Fieldhouse (4,213) Indianapolis, Indiana
Feb 14, 1998		at Wright State	W 68–60	22–3 (12–1)	Ervin J. Nutter Center Fairborn, Ohio
Feb 18, 1998* 7:05 pm		Oakland	W 110–61	23–3	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan
Feb 21, 1998		at Cleveland State	L 57–60	23–4 (12–2)	Henry J. Goodman Arena Cleveland, Ohio
MCC tournament
Feb 28, 1998	(1)	vs. (8) UW-Milwaukee Quarterfinals	W 74–60	24–4	Brown County Arena Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
Mar 1, 1998	(1)	at (4) Green Bay Semifinals	L 65–68	24–5	Brown County Arena Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1998*	(10 MW)	vs. (7 MW) St. John's First Round	W 66–64	25–5	United Center Chicago, Illinois
Mar 15, 1998*	(10 MW)	vs. (2 MW) No. 11 Purdue Second Round	L 65–80	25–6	United Center Chicago, Illinois
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

^ "St. John's Falls to Detroit". The New York Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
^ "Purdue Blasts Detroit and Rolls Into St. Louis". The New York Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
^ "No Longer A Dream, The 1997-98 Titans Made It A Reality". University of Detroit Mercy. January 22, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2022.

[1] "St. John's Falls to Detroit". The New York Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.

[2] "Purdue Blasts Detroit and Rolls Into St. Louis". The New York Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.

[3] "No Longer A Dream, The 1997-98 Titans Made It A Reality". University of Detroit Mercy. January 22, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2022.

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