Detroit Headed to Arizona State in NIT

INDIANAPOLIS – After finishing the Horizon League men’s basketball regular season in second place, Detroit will continue its basketball season in the National Invitational Tournament. Seeded sixth, the Titans will take on No. 3 Arizona State on Wednesday, March 20, at 10 p.m. ET.

The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Detroit (20-12) earned its best finish in the Horizon League in head coach Ray McCallum’s five seasons with the Titans.

In a game that figures to be a battle of tempo, the Titans will turn to Ray McCallum, who was tabbed the Horizon League Player of the Year in voting by the League's coaches, sports information directors and media. McCallum is the first player to earn both preseason and postseason honors since 2001.

Picked as the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year in both 2011 and 2012, McCallum led the Horizon League in scoring with 19.2 ppg, ranking 22nd nationally. Running the point for the No. 2-seeded Titans, McCallum handed out 4.7 assists per game while grabbing 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals. The junior was the first player since fellow Titan Rashad Phillips in 2000-01 to earn both preseason and postseason Player of the Year.

Detroit will be appearing in the NIT for the seventh time in school history and are in the postseason for the second consecutive season and 13^th time overall.

The Titans and Arizona State (22-12) will be meeting for the fourth time on the hardwood, with the Sun Devils leading the all-time series 2-1. Detroit is 8-13 all-time in 12 postseason appearances overall, including a 5-7 record in six NIT appearances. The Titans advanced to the NIT Final Four in 2001.

Detroit’s adjusted tempo of 70.3 possessions per game ranks 22^nd in the nation; that pace will be tested against Arizona State’s deliberate pace, which checks in at 196^th nationally with 65.4 possessions per contest.