Berkeley, CA (My Sportsbook) - Trying to win their first true season-opening road game since 1977, the Detroit Titans make their way to Haas Pavilion in Berkeley tonight where they will contend against 13th-ranked California in the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Under the direction of head coach Ray McCallum, now in his second season with the Titans, the team is trying to bounce back from a very difficult 2008-09 campaign in which they won a grand total of just seven games. The Titans were a mere 2-16 versus the rest of the Horizon League and failed to win back-to- back games at any point during the season. Detroit comes into 2009-10 suffering from a seven-game slide.
As for the Golden Bears, this is their second game in three nights after opening the season with a narrow 75-70 win against Murray State at home. Last season, this team opened with five straight wins and lost only twice before the second week of January, so the group has a track record of winning early. Head coach Mike Montgomery became the third straight Cal head coach to tally at least 20 wins in his first season in Berkeley, returning the Bears to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005-06 in the process.
With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, Cal won the only previous meeting with a rousing 32-28 decision back during the 1937-38 campaign.
This version of the Titans figures to be guided by both Eli Holman and Thomas Kennedy, a couple of preseason all-conference picks who have a lot to prove. Kennedy is second on this team in double-figure scoring games for his career with 16, trailing only Eulis Stephens who is one of the top returning scorer for the program after putting up a meager 8.1 ppg a year ago. Unfortunately, even though Stephens put up some points, he did so at the expense of 39.5 percent shooting from the field and a miserable 26.3 percent behind the three- point line. As a unit, the Titans ranked second-to-last among 330 Division I programs in scoring a year ago, producing a meager 56.5 ppg. Although the team failed to qualify for the category, Detroit made a paltry 27.6 percent from three-point range, averaging just over three made baskets per outing. Xavier Keeling (12.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg) figures to be another important piece to the Detroit puzzle while Holman, a transfer from Indiana, should pay dividends at some point.
Cal played an up-and-down game versus the Racers two nights ago, managing to get to the free-throw line 17 more times than the visitors, but missing 10 of its 32 opportunities. The Bears forced 17 Murray State turnovers in 40 minutes of action, but at the same time also allowed the Racers to convert an even 50 percent from the field. Except for Markhuri Sanders-Frison who was limited to six points and seven rebounds in just 19 minutes of action, every starter for the team finished with double digits, beginning with Jerome Randle with his 18 points. Theo Robertson tallied 14 points, Patrick Christopher had 13 and Jamal Boykin another dozen in the close call. The good news for this team is that the three top scorers from last season are all back as Randle (18.3 ppg), Christopher (14.5 ppg) and Robertson (13.1 ppg) all return to make another run that will hopefully be more successful and more fulfilling. In addition to being a point producer, Randle also finished last season ranked 39th in the nation in assists with an even five per contest. Three-point shooting was critical for this group in 2008-09 when it ranked first in the nation at 42.7 percent.
