1998–99 Detroit Titans men's basketball team

1998–99 Detroit Titans men's basketball
1998–99 Detroit Titans men's basketball
Midwestern Collegiate Conference Regular season champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Horizon League
Record	25–6 (12–2 Horizon)
Head coach	Perry Watson (6th season);
Home arena	Calihan Hall
	Seasons ← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

1998–99 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
Butler	11	–	3	.786	22	–	10	.688
Green Bay	9	–	5	.643	20	–	11	.645
Loyola Chicago	7	–	7	.500	9	–	18	.333
Cleveland State	6	–	8	.429	14	–	14	.500
Milwaukee	5	–	9	.357	8	–	19	.296
Wright State	4	–	10	.286	9	–	18	.333
UIC	2	–	12	.143	7	–	21	.250

† 1999 MCC tournament winner

The 1998–99 Detroit Titans men's basketball team represented the University of Detroit Mercy in the 1998–99 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 Horizon League play to win the regular season league title.

Playing in the MCC tournament as the No. 1 seed, they defeated UIC, Cleveland State, and Butler to win the conference tournament title and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 12 seed in the South region. The Titans beat No. 5 seed UCLA in the opening round^[1] before losing to No. 4 seed Ohio State in the second round.^[2]

This 1998–99 team, which tied the school record with 25 wins, reached the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first, and only, time in school history.

Roster[edit]

1998–99 Detroit Titans men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G		Jermaine Jackson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	162 lb (73 kg)	Sr	Detroit, Michigan
G	3	Rashad Phillips	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	So	Detroit, Michigan
G		Desmond Ferguson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	Jr	Lansing, Michigan
F		Bacari Alexander	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr	Detroit, Michigan
F		Daniel Whye	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Jr
C		Walter Craft	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	264 lb (120 kg)	So	Detroit, Michigan
G		Darius Belin	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	Fr	Detroit, Michigan
F		Julian Van Dyke	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Jr
G		Brandon Gray	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So
F		Michael Jordan	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	So
F		Russell Howard	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	So
G		Kareem Maine	—	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Detroit, Michigan
G		Cliff Austin	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	162 lb (73 kg)	So	Detroit, Michigan
F		Paul Whiting	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr

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[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 17, 1998*		Bethune–Cookman	W 84–50	1–0	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Nov 19, 1998*		at Michigan	L 55–62	1–1	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan
Nov 24, 1998*		at Bowling Green	W 72–70	2–1	Anderson Arena Bowling Green, Ohio
Nov 28, 1998*		Texas Southern	W 72–51	3–1	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Dec 1, 1998*		at Western Michigan	W 63–51	4–1	University Arena Kalamazoo, Michigan
Dec 4, 1998*		vs. Gonzaga Hawkeye Invitational	W 49–48	5–1	Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 5, 1998*		at Iowa Hawkeye Invitational	L 60–61	5–2	Carver-Hawkeye Arena (10,978) Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 9, 1998*		Central Michigan	W 60–51	6–2	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Dec 12, 1998*		Wayne State	W 68–62	7–2	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Dec 19, 1998*		at UMass	L 46–59	7–3	Mullins Center Amherst, Massachusetts
Dec 28, 1998*		vs. Grambling State Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational	W 67–56	8–3	Don Haskins Center El Paso, Texas
Dec 29, 1998*		at UTEP Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational	W 47–44	9–3	Don Haskins Center El Paso, Texas
Jan 2, 1999		at Milwaukee	W 71–54	10–3 (1–0)	Klotsche Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jan 4, 1999		at Green Bay	W 43–37	11–3 (2–0)	Brown County Arena Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
Jan 7, 1999		Loyola	W 58–39	12–3 (3–0)	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Jan 9, 1999		Illinois–Chicago	W 70–42	13–3 (4–0)	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Jan 16, 1999		at Butler	L 46–59	13–4 (4–1)	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
Jan 19, 1999		at Wright State	W 68–56	14–4 (5–1)	Ervin J. Nutter Center Fairborn, Ohio
Jan 23, 1999		at Cleveland State	W 73–58	15–4 (6–1)	Henry J. Goodman Arena Cleveland, Ohio
Jan 28, 1999		Milwaukee	W 78–53	16–4 (7–1)	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Jan 30, 1999		Green Bay	W 67–54	17–4 (8–1)	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Feb 4, 1999		at Loyola	L 69–72	17–5 (8–2)	Joseph J. Gentile Center Chicago, Illinois
Feb 6, 1999		at Illinois-Chicago	W 69–50	18–5 (9–2)	UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois
Feb 11, 1999		Butler	W 62–52	19–5 (10–2)	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Feb 13, 1999		Wright State	W 64–46	20–5 (11–2)	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Feb 20, 1999		Cleveland State	W 78–66	21–5 (12–2)	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
MWCC Tournament
Feb 27, 1999*		at Illinois-Chicago Quarterfinals	W 55–51	22–5	UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois
Feb 28, 1999*		vs. Cleveland State Semifinals	W 80–65	23–5	UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois
Mar 2, 1999*		vs. Butler Championship game	W 72–65	24–5	UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1999*	(12 S)	vs. (5 S) No. 15 UCLA First Round	W 56–53	25–5	RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana
Mar 13, 1999*		vs. (4 S) No. 14 Ohio State Second Round	L 44–75	25–6	RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South.

References[edit]

^ "Titans Reign Over Bruins, 56-53". The Washington Post. March 12, 1999. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
^ "Buckeyes show no mercy for Detroit". Tampa Bay Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved August 13, 2022.

[1] "Titans Reign Over Bruins, 56-53". The Washington Post. March 12, 1999. Retrieved August 13, 2022.

[2] "Buckeyes show no mercy for Detroit". Tampa Bay Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved August 13, 2022.

[1]

[2]

v t e Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball
Venues	Calihan Hall (1952–1989, 1994–present) Cobo Arena (1989–1994)
Rivalries	Oakland
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25