Detroit Given No. 15 Seed; Will Meet Kansas in NCAA Second Round

2012 NCAA Men's Tournament Bracket

INDIANAPOLIS – The Detroit Titans, Horizon League men’s basketball champions, were slotted as a No. 15 seed for the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The Titans will face No. 2 seed Kansas on Friday, 16, at the Century Link Center in Omaha, Neb.

Tip times and television coverage for the game will be announced later tonight.

Detroit (22-13) will be returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999, when the No. 12-seeded Titans knocked off UCLA, 56-53, before falling to No. 2 seed Ohio State in the second round.

The Titans will carry the Horizon League’s seven-year winning streak in the NCAA Tournament into Thursday’s/Friday’s game; Milwaukee (2005, 2006), Cleveland State (2009) and Butler (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011) all have won games during the streak, culminating in the Bulldogs’ back-to-back runs to the national championship game.

The last time the Horizon League received a No. 15 seed, UIC fell to Oklahoma, 71-63, in 2002.

Detroit hit its stride down the stretch, going 13-2 since Jan. 21.

Boasting the top offense in the Horizon League, Detroit has four players averaging double figures, led by Horizon League Tournament Most Valuable Player Ray McCallum’s 15.5 ppg. The sophomore averaged 23.0 ppg as Detroit won four straight games to capture the conference’s automatic bid.

Kansas boasts the Big 12 regular season conference championship and has Thomas Robinson, one of the contenders for national player of the year. Both LaMarcus Lowe and Eli Holman will be tasked with slowing Robinson.