Titans draw Jayhawks in Midwest region
DETROIT — Three regions had been announced for the 2012 NCAA tournament field, and still no matchup had been revealed for the Detroit Titans, the Horizon League Champions.
The team leaned so far forward in their chairs, it looked like gravity was winning a game of tug-of-war. And then, finally, CBS announced the Midwest region.
"I knew it was going to be Kansas," sophomore point guard Ray McCallum Jr. said. "Once Missouri and Ohio State went, I just knew it had to be Kansas because I was pretty sure we'd play a two seed."
Five days after the Titans (22-13) earned their first NCAA tournament berth since 1999, they have been slotted into the bracket.
The 15th-seeded Titans are set to play Friday (9:57 p.m. ET on truTV) in Omaha, Neb., against a second-seeded Kansas program that was given serious top-seed consideration. Kansas (27-6) has won eight straight Big 12 regular-season championships.
"You know, we're going against one of the best programs in the country," head coach Ray McCallum said. "They're coached by one of the best coaches in the country, and they were almost a No. 1 seed.
"It’s going to be a real challenge. And on top of that, they have the (potential) player of the year in Thomas Robinson."
Kansas is one of the most-storied college basketball programs around and has played in 23 straight tournaments.
The Jayhawks tradition starts with the award that star forward Thomas Robinson hopes to win, the Naismith award. Basketball's inventor, Dr. James Naismith, brought the game to Lawrence in 1898.
Since that time, the Jayhawks have racked up 2,065 victories, three national titles and 13 Final Four appearances.
The Titans have won 1,330 games in the history of the school and don't have the impressive banners hanging from the rafters at Calihan Hall, but that doesn't scare them.
“We know they’re a good team,” coach McCallum said. “But we are too. We’ve been practicing well, and we have been playing well too.”
The man who will likely be tasked with slowing down Robinson is Eli Holman, and he isn’t shaking either.
“I’m not scared of him,” said Holman, the only Titans player on the roster with NCAA tournament experience (while at Indiana). “I don’t think he is scared of me either.
"But he is a very, very talented player, and he deserves all the respect he gets.”
Robinson averages 17.9 points, on 53-percent shooting, and 11.8 rebounds.
If Robinson is Kansas’ Batman, then Tyshawn Taylor is a supremely over-qualified Robin. He averages 17.3 points, on 49-percent shooting and 4.8 assists.
To compound matters on the defensive end for the Titans, both he and Robinson shoot over 40 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Possibly the biggest problem for the Titans is they will be the smaller team on the floor. For most of the season, and all of conference play, Detroit had a size advantage.
Holman and Lowe, both 6-foot-10, won’t shrink, but the Titans have had difficulty keeping those two on the floor together because of foul trouble, continuity issues or other pressing problems. They must figure out a way to work them in at the same time to have a chance against Kansas.
Robinson is 6-foot-10, and Kansas’ starting center, Jeff Withey, is a true 7-footer who is comfortable around the basket.
Even McCallum Jr. will be dealing with athleticism that he hasn’t seen this season, but he says the game plan shouldn’t change.
“We are a lockdown defensive team when we have tried to be one,” McCallum Jr. said. “And guys like Chase (Simon), Donovan (Foster) and Evan (Bruinsma) can make all the difference in games like this as shutdown guys.”
A bench presence might be a key for the Titans.
Kansas uses essentially a six-man rotation. They sometimes work in a seventh (forward Kevin Young, averaging 10.8 minutes), but if the tournament has proven one thing, it's that benches can be shortened with machete-like efficiency.
If Kansas ends up using a six-man rotation, look for the Titans to see an exposed jawline at some point during the game. They use nine players more than 10 minutes a game, and all nine make major contributions.
“You know, we made it here, but that isn’t good enough for us,” said Simon, a senior who grew up in Detroit. “We want to win a few while we're here, you know?”
The last time these two teams met, in December 2006, Kansas won 63-43.