Seven-year NCAA Streak Comes to End with Detroit's 65-50 Loss to Kansas

Detroit vs. Kansas Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. -- Oh, there was inspiration to be had. A 15-seed hadn’t beaten a 2 in 11 years and now, shockingly on Madness Friday in the NCAA men‘s basketball tournament, it had happened twice.

First, on this very CenturyLink Center court, Norfolk State had taken out Missouri. Then came word from Greensboro, N.C., that Lehigh had done likewise to Duke.

Could Detroit make it 15 trifecta day?

Alas, the answer was no. Kansas wasn’t having any of that.

The Horizon League champion Titans hung with sixth-ranked Kansas for 15 minutes before succumbing to the Jayhawks’ overwhelming defensive pressure and the inside offensive presence of all-American Thomas Robinson.

The final before a highly partisan Jayhawks crowd of 17,501 was 65-50.

The loss marked the first time in eight tournaments a Horizon League team had failed to win at least one game. Ironically, the last to do so, UIC, also lost to Kansas.

The Big 12 regular-season champion, one of the country’s top teams in field goal defense, allowing opponents just 38 percent shooting, held Detroit to 31.7 percent. And the 50 points were the fewest the Titans scored in a game this year.

“We played one of the truly great teams in the country and that tells the story,” said Coach Ray McCallum. “Kansas is a great defensive team and their ability to lock us up on the perimeter was key. We just couldn’t score.”

The Titans came out and battled Kansas for the first 10 minutes, building a 21-19 lead. But over the next 15:55, the Jayhawks outscored Detroit 34-7 to  build an insurmountable 53-28 lead.

During that span, Detroit made only 2 of 22 shots.

Titan guards Ray McCallum, Jason Calliste and Chase Simon really struggled, going a combined 7 for 32. McCallum accepted blame for the loss but while he had a tough night shooting (4 for 15) he had five rebounds, five assists and three steals to go with his eight points. The latter gave the sophomore 1,001 points for this career.

Doug Anderson had 15 points to lead Detroit and four of his five field goals were rim-shaking dunks. However, he fouled out with 11 minutes to play and logged but 13 minutes.

Senior Eli Holman closed his career with a solid game that showed 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Thus, Detroit bowed out with 22-14 record and saw its five-game winning streak come to an end.

Robinson led Kansas with 16 points and 13 rebounds. It was his 24^th double-double of the year. And he said the Jayhawks were alerted to the possibility of peril by the day’s earlier upsets.

“It did kind of wake us up a little bit,” he said.

“It was a good win, especially on a crazy day in the tournament,” said Kansas Coach Bill Self, whose team now meets Purdue.

Despite the loss, Detroit was ready to look ahead. “We’re on the right track,” said Coach McCallum. “We’re moving in the right direction.”