Horizon League Goes 2-0 Against Big East on Monday Night

Horizon League teams went 2-0 against opposition from the Big East on Monday night, with Detroit collecting a memorable home win over St. John's, while Milwaukee leveled DePaul in Chicago.

Detroit 69, St. John's 63
Dedicating "Dick Vitale Court" before a spirited crowd, Detroit channeled some of Vitale's famous energy in holding off St. John's 69-63.

Hampered by injuries and absences in the early part of the season, Detroit (4-6) dug deep throughout, racing out to an 8-0 lead and withstanding several surges from St. John's. Ray McCallum led the way with 21 points, taking over down the stretch to clinch the victory.

With the Titans ahead by five points with just over two minutes to play, McCallum curled off a pick and roll and drained a three from the right wing, pushing the Titans' advantage to 60-52. St. John's would counter with a three of its own, but McCallum knocked down a pair of free throws and then got behind the defense for a transition layup to give Detroit a 64-55 lead with 73 second remaining, setting the stage for Section 313 to rush the court.

Detroit got out to a quick start on the back of Chase Simon, who hit two early threes to bolster the Titans' confidence and get the crowd of 5,377 on its feet before St. John's would use a decisive rebounding advantage to take its lone lead of the day at 19-18. The Titans would close the first half on a 14-2 run, taking an 11-point lead into the half and never relinquishing it over the game's final 20 minutes.

Simon finished with 20 points, while Doug Anderson chipped in 10.

Prior to the game, Detroit honored Vitale, who coached the Titans from 1973-77, going 78-30 in four years, leading Detroit to the NCAA Tournament in 1977 and a program-record 21 straight wins prior to reaching a national audience with ESPN beginning in 1979.

Milwaukee 87, DePaul 76
Milwaukee never trailed at DePaul, racing out to a 22-point first half lead and never looking back in an 87-76 victory over the Blue Demons at Allstate Arena.

Continuing its strong start to the year, Milwaukee (8-1) shot a blistering 61.7 percent from the floor, including an 11-of-20 mark from three-point range. Paris Gulley and Tony Meier did the yeoman's work for the Panthers from outside, each going a perfect 5-for-5 from long distance. For Gulley, the result was a career-best 19 points, while Meier, who came back from injury last week, had a season-best 20.

Kaylon Williams avenged a rough outing against the Blue Demons last year with 21 points and five assists, helping Milwaukee handle DePaul's trademark full court pressure.

Gulley, making the start in place of the injured Ja'Rob McCallum, scored 13 of his points in the first half as Milwaukee built a 35-13 lead 10:33 into the game.  DePaul would close within single digits on two occasions in the second half, but each time the Panthers would answer, using free throws to push the lead back into the teens. Milwaukee led by as many as 16 points in the final 10 minutes of play.

At 8-1, Milwaukee has matched the start of the 1992-93 squad, which won its first eight games of the year before dropping the ninth.