etroit, Mich. - Good Start With a 4-2 record after six games this season the Minutemen are in a much better situation than they were last year at this time of the year. After six games UMass was 2-4 and wouldn’t win its fourth game until January 2nd. UMass started the conference season with a 3-6 nonconference record last year. the 4-2 start equals the best start in the four years Bruiser Flint has been the UMass head coach. The 1997-98 squad also started 4-2 and would open its conference season with a 5-6 nonconference record. With a win tonight the Minutemen would register the best start in Flint’s head coaching career.

Today’s Game Both teams come into this game with identical records of 4-2...last year, UMass was 2-5 going into the Detroit game...the Minutmen are riding a three-game winning streak with wins over Boston University, Boston College and Villanova...under head coach Bruiser Flint the Minutemen are 28-11 in day games and 20-9 on Saturday...the only day game this season was last Saturday’s 74-67 win at Boston College.

Shooting Well After six games the Minutemen are shooting 40.5 percent from the field while averaging 66.8 points a game. Both marks are better than last years 34.4 percent and 64.3 ppg averages at the end of the season. In fact, UMass has shot better from the field than its opponent in all but one game in this young season. Only defending national champion UConn on its home court could outshoot the Minutemen. UMass is 4-1 on the year when it shoots better from the floor than its opponent.

vs. Detroit This will be the third meeting between UMass and Detroit with the Titans and Minutemen splitting both games in the series. Last season the Minutemen won at the Mullins Center in a classic showcase of UMass’ defensive shutdown style of play (SEE BOX). Detroit’s win came nearly 27 years ago in Detroit on Dec. 30, 1972 in the championship game of the Motor City Tournament. The Titans won handily, 59-75. Coach Jack Leaman was the Minuteman head coach in his seventh season at the helm. Al Skinner was a skinny sophomore and Rick Pitino was a heady junior guard. Overall Series 1-1 Bruiser Flint vs. Detroit 1-0 Last Meeting UMass (59-46) on 12/19/98 at Mullins Last Five Meetings 1-1 Most UMass Points 59, (59-46) on 12/19/98 at Mullins 59, (59-75) on 12/30/72 in Detroit Fewest UMass Points 59, (59-46) on 12/19/98 at Mullins 59, (59-75) on 12/30/72 in Detroit Largest UMass Margin 13, (59-46) on 12/19/98 at Mullins Most Detroit Points 75, (75-59) on 12/30/72 in Detroit Fewest Detroit Points 46, (46-59) on 12/19/98 at Mullins Largest Detroit Margin 16, (75-59) on 12/30/72 in Detroit In Overtime: n/a

Kit is No Pussy Cat Starting center Kitwana Rhymer has taken on the starting role in the middle and flourished so far in this young season. Rhymer is replacing Lari Ketner who is now playing for the Chicago Bulls. He had 11 rebounds while hitting six of six free throws from the charity stripe against Boston University on December 2. Rhymer registered his first double-double November 29th against Marshall with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also established a career high with six blocked shots, five coming in the first half. The last time a Minuteman had six or more blocked shots in a game was in the Rock ‘N’ Roll Shootout in Cleveland against Cincinnati when Ajmal Basit had six at Gund Arena on Dec. 12, 1997. The last time a Minuteman had six or more blocked shots at the Mullins Center was January 27, 1996 when Marcus Camby had nine against St. Bonaventure. Only six games into the season and Rhymer has already eclipsed most of Ketner’s single game highs from a year ago. Ketner had season highs of four blocked shots, 15 rebounds and 21 points. Rhymer has a season high of six blocked shots (vs. Marshall), 17 rebounds (at UConn) and 12 points (at Iona). Rhymer currently leads the Atlantic 10 in rebounding and 21st in the country with 10.2 rebounds per game.

A Visit with Detroit Detroit is 4-2 this season and is the home of the one of the most prolific scorers in the country today. Rashad Phillips is averaging 26.3 points a game, good enough for first in the nation. Last season the Titans were 25-6 and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the MCC. Detroit would advance to the second round of the tournament with a 56-53 first round victory over UCLA.

Nice History Mr. Subtle, Dick Vitale, might be the best known coach/athlete to come out of Detroit but he is far from being alone. NBA legend Dave DeBusschere was a first round pick by the Detroit Pistons and went on to a very successful NBA career. DeBusschere still holds the Detroit single game record for rebounds with 39 against Central Michigan in 1960. Spencer Haywood was also a first round pick by Denver in the ABA in 1970. Haywood led the nation in rebounding in 1969 with 22.1 boards a game as a sophomore. Vitale has nothing to be embarrassed by in his four years as the Titans head coach. He posted a record of 78-30 (.772) from 1973 to 1977.

Against the MCC Head coach Bruiser Flint has little experience against the Midwestern Conference. In fact, the only time he has faced a school from the MCC was last year’s victory over Detroit in the Mullins Center. The Minutemen may have another opportunity in a couple of weeks to face another MCC school in Puerto Rico. Illinois-Chicago is one of the school participating in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic in 10 days down in San Juan. UMass and the Flames could meet in the championship game on Thursday, Dec. 23.

Coaching Debut Associate head coach Geoff Arnold made his UMass head coaching debut Thursday night in the 70-51 victory over Boston University. Head coach Bruiser Flint served a self-imposed one game suspension following the use of an expletive on his post-game radio show in the aftermath of UMass’ 65-55 loss to Marshall Monday night. “I always tell my players that when they do something wrong, there is a price to pay,” said Flint. “Obviously, my language on the radio the other night was inappropriate. I caught it right away and apologized on the air, but after thinking about it and talking it over with Bob Marcum, sitting out for a game is the right thing to do.”

Love Those Cameras ESPN and UMass have gotten to know each other pretty well over the years. The upcoming Rhode Island game will be the 55th time ESPN has televised a UMass basketball game since the ‘90s began. UMass posts a 34-20 (.630) record on ESPN and 73-39 (.652) record overall in the 1990’s on the national networks. The Villanova game was UMass’ 21st appearance on ESPN 2 where the Minutemen have posted a record of 13-8 (.619).

The Stopper Senior Mike Babul is known nationally as one of the best defensive players in the country. In the season opener he picked up right where he left off with a lock-down on MAAC preseason player of the year, Tarik Kirksay. Babul, who had been nursing a lower back strain the previous three weeks, did not draw the assignment at the beginning of the game and Kirksay would score 15 first half points. The high scoring Gael would fail to register a field goal in the second half after Babul took over on the coverage. Kirksay wouldn’t score until 19 seconds left in the game with the final verdict already decided. Babul then clamped down on No. 7 UConn’s Kevin Freeman. Freeman was 1-8 from the field and scored two points in 37 minutes of action. Last year against the Huskies Babul held All-America Richard Hamilton to 11 points on 3-11 shooting from the field.

Player(school) fg-fga 3fg-3fga Pts Avg. Tarik Kirksay (Iona)* 0-2 0-0 5 13.8 Kevin Freeman (UConn) 1-8 0-0 2 13.3 *second half only Climbing the Charts Senior Monty Mack is attacking the UMass career leader boards for three-point shooting. His 86 three-pointers made last season was the third best single season performance in UMass history. He has 19 three-pointers on the season and currently sits fourth all-time for three-pointers made at UMass. At his current pace he will pass Carmelo Travieso as the all-time leader in three-pointers made.

3-point Field Goals Made Player 3FG 3FGA Pct. Years 1. Carmelo Travieso ’97 245 666 .368 1993-97 2. Rafer Giles ’91 221 592 .373 1987-91 3. Lorenzo Sutton ’88 178 424 .420 1984-88 4. Monty Mack ‘00 159 439 .362 1997- 5. Derek Kellogg ’95 138 362 .381 1991-95 6. Edgar Padilla ’97 136 431 .316 1993-97 7. Mike Williams ’95 123 406 .303 1991-95 8. Tony Barbee ’93 116 341 .340 1989-93 9. Charlton Clarke ‘99 113 339 .333 1995-99 10. Anton Brown ’92 92 218 .422 1988-92

3-point Field Goal Attempts Player 3FG 3FGA Pct. Years 1. Carmelo Travieso ’97 245 666 .368 1993-97 2. Rafer Giles ’91 221 592 .373 1987-91 3. Monty Mack ‘00 159 439 .362 1997- 4. Edgar Padilla ’97 136 431 .316 1993-97 5. Lorenzo Sutton ’88 178 424 .420 1984-88 6. Mike Williams ’95 123 406 .303 1991-95 7. Derek Kellogg ’95 138 362 .381 1991-95 8. Tony Barbee ’93 116 341 .340 1989-93 9. Charlton Clarke ‘99 113 339 .333 1995-99 10. Anton Brown ’92 92 218 .422 1988-92

3-point Field Goal Percentage (min. 45 made) Player 3FG 3FGA Pct. Years 1. Carl Smith ’87 54 122 .443 1983-87 2. Anton Brown ’92 92 218 .422 1988-92 3. Lorenzo Sutton ’88 178 424 .420 1984-88 4. Jerome Malloy ’95 86 215 .400 1991-93 5. Derek Kellogg ’95 138 362 .381 1991-95 6. Rafer Giles ’91 221 592 .373 1987-91 7. Carmelo Travieso ’97 245 666 .368 1993-97 8. Monty Mack ‘00 159 439 .362 1997- 9. Tony Barbee ’93 116 341 .340 1989-93 10. Charlton Clarke ’99 113 339 .333 1995-99

Last Game A three-point basket by Shannon Crooks with 14.7 seconds left helped UMass defeat Villanova Monday night, 52-51, in a nonconference game. Crooks' shot gave the Minutemen (4-2) a 52-49 lead. Villanova's Gary Buchanan hit a shot from just inside the three-point line to make the score 52-51 as time expired. Chris Kirkland led Massachusetts with 22 points. Malik Allen scored 19 points and Brian Lynch had 15 for Villanova (2-1). Brooks Sales led the Wildcats with 12 rebounds. Villanova led 31-21 at halftime, but after scoring the first basket of the second half, went 10 minutes without a basket. It was the second consecutive game for UMass where it came back from a double digit deficit to win the game. UMass evened the score at 36-36 and went ahead for the first time at 38-36 on a basket by Monty Mack. Villanova last led at 48-47 on a free throw by Allen with 1:17 to play. Kirkland then made two free throws to put UMass up 49-48. A free throw by Lynch brought Villanova into a tie at 49, before Crooks' three-pointer. Crooks was 1-for 12 from the field before his gamewinning shot.

Center(s) of Attention It is still very early in the season BUT, while Lari Ketner plays for the Chicago Bulls the 1999-2000 UMass big men did look good in their season debut. In fact, senior Anthony Oates, junior Kitwana Rhymer and freshman Micah Brand combined for a total of 39 minutes of playing time at Iona. In that span they scored 18 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked a shot. Rhymer, who fouled out with only 11 minutes of action under his belt, was 6 of 8 from the field for a career-high 12 points to go along with seven rebounds. Brand also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and five fouls in 22 minutes of action. Oates provided much needed depth while scoring two points, grabbing a couple of boards and a critical steal late in the game. Rhymer followed his performance against the Gaels with 17 rebounds and seven points against No. 7 UConn in Storrs, Conn. The 17 boards is the most by a Minuteman since Ajmal Basit grabbed 19 at Rhode Island in the 1997-98 season.

Keep it Going, Little Man With All-America candidate, Monty Mack, out for most of the preseason, head coach Bruiser Flint has had to go down his bench and look for someone to step up. At 5-9 you may not have noticed it but junior Jonathan DePina has stepped up his game and more. After six games he is averaging 4.8 points with five three-pointers in nine tries. Last season DePina had five three-pointers in 26 games. A more confident player in UMass’ uptempo game, DePina is making the smart plays this season and should continue to get minutes even now that Mack is back at 100 percent after a stress fracture in his left foot sustained in the preseason.

Any Time, Any Place, Any Team This season, UMass will have 10 teams on their schedule which appeared in the 1999 NCAA Tournament and two teams that competed in last year’s NIT. This schedule includes a game against defending national champion UConn, and games against perennial national powers Texas and Villanova, 1999 NCAA Tourney participants Detroit, Rhode Island, Temple and George Washington, and NIT participants, Xavier and Providence. The Minutemen will appear on television at least 20 times this year, including seven national telecasts.

Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Cup UMass sits atop the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Cup standings through the completion of the fall sports season. UMass earned 49.5 points during the fall season, six points better than second place Rhode Island. Massachusetts relied on a strong showing from its women’s programs, grabbing 32 of its points on that side of the ledger. The Minutewomen earned first-place finishes in field hockey and women’s cross country to catapult to the lead. Overall Men Women 1. UMass 49.5 17.5 32.0 2. Rhode Island 43.5 19.0 24.5 3. Virginia Tech 38.0 18.0 20.0 4. Dayton 35.5 11.0 24.5 5. Duquesne 32.0 17.0 15.0 6. La Salle 30.5 16.5 14.0 7. St. Joseph’s 28.0 13.0 15.0 8. Xavier 27.0 5.0 22.0 9. Temple 23.0 5.5 17.5 10. St. Bonaventure 20.5 10.5 10.0 11. George Washington 17.5 5.0 12.5 12. Fordham 13.0 6.0 7.0

Exhibition Season The Minutemen wrapped up a challenging exhibition season with an overtime victory, downing the Converse All-Stars 97-88 at the Mullins Center. Senior forward Chris Kirkland (Timmonsville, S.C.) led the Minutemen with 23 points and eight rebounds, while junior center Kitwana Rhymer (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) added 15 points and 17 rebounds. UMass trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half before cutting the defecit to seven at the half. The Minutemen registered their first lead with 3:59 left in regulation when junior JoVann Johnson (Johnson City, Tenn.) hit both of his free throws to put UMass up 71-70. After 40 minutes of play the game was knotted at 78 a piece. In overtime UMass jumped out to an early lead but fell behind by two after five consecutive points by Converse. The Minutemen put the game away with a 12-2 run in the final 2:16 of play for the nine point victory. Junior Jonathan DePina (Boston, Mass.) posted one of the best games of his UMass career with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Also scoring in double figures was sophomore Shannon Crooks (Everett, Mass.) with 17 points while Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds. UMass opened the exhibition season with an impressive offensive showing, downing the California All-Stars 103-97 at the Mullins Center. Crooks led the Minutemen with 24 points and seven assists, while Kirkland added 26 points and six rebounds. UMass opened the game with a 17-8 run and never trailed in the contest, behind its potent fast-break offense. The Minutemen saw their lead grow as large as 14 points with just under five minutes remaining in the game, before a late spurt by the All-Stars made the final score look close. UMass scored 30 fast break points on the evening, while also totaling 72 points in the paint. Freshman forward Micah Brand (Middletown, N.Y.), playing his first game in a UMass uniform, totaled 16 points and eight rebounds, including an impressive 10 for 10 performance at the free throw line. DePina had 13 points and six assists, while Rhymer added 10 points and nine boards.

Did You Know? The 85-77 win at Iona was the first time UMass has opened a season in an opponent’s home gym with a victory in 22 years. Not since the Minutemen defeated Harvard in Cambridge by a score of 73-66 to open the 1977-78 season under coach Jack Leaman had they accomplished it.

Debut Three UMass players made their collegiate debuts as a Minuteman in a regular season game at Iona...Junior JoVann Johnson, sophomore Shannon Crooks and freshman Micah Brand all saw gametime in their first opportunity in the maroon & white...Crooks started at shooting guard and finished the game with 11 points on 50 percent shooting from the field... for Crooks it was his first regular season game after sitting out a year last season after transferring from St. John’s University...Brand is the only freshman on the squad...he had a team high seven rebounds coming off the bench in 22 minutes of action...Johnson is a junior college transfer from Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel, Ill. who failed to score in only two minutes of play.

Captain(s) of the Ship Senior leadership has always played an important part of UMass basketball and this year should be a banner year in that department. Seniors Mike Babul and Chris Kirkland were named co-captains this year not only because of their improved play but because of their leadership skills and poise under fire.

Welcome to the Team Senior Dwayne Early is the latest addition to the UMass basketball family. Early is a 6-4, 205-pound walk-on guard from Springfield Central High School. Early will be wearing No. 24 this season. Joining him is C.W. Post transfer, Dale Menendez. Menendez is 5-8, 180 pound point guard who will not be eligible to play this season due to NCAA transfer rules. At Westhampton Beach high school, Menendez led his team to the New York State Class B Championship after posting a perfect 28-0 record. He pulled double duty for Westhampton scoring 1,000 points while also rushing for 1,000 yards in his career as a tailback.

Player Updates #0 Anthony Oates — Played perhaps the best game of his UMass career at Iona in season opener...in only six minutes of play he scored two points, grabbed a pair of rebounds, garnered his first career steal and played solid defense...missed the Marshall game with a contusion in his left foot.

#1 Jonathan DePina — Hit a career-best three for three from three-point land and finished with 10 points against No. 7 UConn. Scored 11 points in the season-opener at Iona. Currently third on the team with a 10.5 ppg scoring average...grabbed a season-high four rebounds against Boston University.

#3 Ronell Blizzard — Equalled his career-high with six points and three rebounds in one-point victory over Villanova...played well in the first two games with five points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in 20 minutes. He hit his first career three-pointer at No. 7 UConn to cut the Huskies lead to three with 8:46 left to go in the game.

#4 JoVann Johnson — A junior college transfer who has seen only 10 minutes of playing time in the first three games...registered his first career steal against Marshall.

#5 Monty Mack — Came off the bench and scored a season-high 26 points at No. 7 UConn...knocked down another 26 points in front of friends and family in victory at Boston College...equalled his career-high with six three-pointers at BC...scored 21 points off the bench in the season-opener at Iona. Scored 22 against Marshall to give hime three consecutive 20 point games for the first time in his career. Passed the 1,000 career points total in the Iona game achieving the feat in only 63 contests. He has been the leading scorer for UMass in all but one game this season. In his career Mack has scored 25 points or more in a game six times, 20 points or more in a game 20 times and has scored in double figures 59 times out of 67 games.

#11 Darryl Denson — Played in the final minute of the win over Boston University.

#20 Winston Smith — Played a season-high 26 minutes at Boston College scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds...dished out a season-high three assists against Boston University...had another three assist game against Villanova.

#22 Chris Kirkland — Nailed a career-high 10 field goals in 15 attempts posting a game-high 23 points against Boston University...followed that game with 16 points, 12 in the second half, in victory at Big East foe Boston College...he followed that with 22 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists in one point victory over Villanova in front of a national TV audience on ESPN2...in the second half of the Nova game he had 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals...registered nine points and five rebounds against the defending national champion UConn Huskies...scored 15 points and grabbed another five boards in the season-opener at Iona. Registered 10 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots against Marshall.

#23 Mike Babul — Shut down UConn’s Kevin Freeman holding him to two points on 1-8 shooting from the field. Shut down first team All-MAAC selection Tarik Kirksay, in the second half holding him to five points, all on free throws. Babul did not have the defensive coverage on Kirksay in the first half when the Gaels’ leading scorer dropped in 15 points in the opening stanza.

#24 Dwayne Early — Played in the final minute of the victory over Boston University registering his first career steal.

#30 Shannon Crooks — Hit the game-winning three pointer from 25-feet with 14.7 seconds left in the game to give the Minutemen a one-point victory over Villanova...he posted a career-high 6 assists against the Wildcats...scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out three assists in his first game as a Minuteman in the season-opener at Iona...connected on his first career three-pointers as a Minuteman scoring 10 points, grabbing four rebounds and handing out four assists in 21 minutes in a 70-51 win over Boston University...team leader in assists for the second consecutive game with four in the Commonwealth Classic victory at Boston College.

#33 Kitwana Rhymer — Scored a career-high 12 points in the season-opener at Iona along with a team-high seven rebounds in only 11 minutes of play. Grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds at No. 7 UConn in Gampel Pavilion. The last UMass player to grab 17 or more rebounds was Ajmal Basit against Rhode Island in the 1997-98 season. Swatted away a career-high 6 blocked shots and registered his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Marshall...was six for six from the free throw line while grabbing 11 rebounds against Boston University...grabbed eight rebounds and scored six points in 25 minutes before fouling out at Boston College...grabbed another eight rebounds and blocked four shots in victory over Villanova.

#40 Micah Brand — In his collegiate debut he grabbed a team-high seven boards in the season-opener at Iona. He also registered four points and a blocked shot against the Gaels...posted a career-high 9 points at Boston College including a free throw with 24 seconds left in the game to give the Minutemen a four point lead.

MHERST - Detroit was a virtual unknown when the Titans lost to UMass at the Mullins Center last year.

The 59-46 final would not only go down as one of the Minutemen's better regular season wins, but also serve as an early glimpse of one of the nation's hot young teams. Detroit went on to upset UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament, before losing to Final Four-bound Ohio State in the second round.

Surprises aren't quite as possible when the 4-2 Titans venture outside the Midwestern Collegiate Conference this season.

Teams like UMass know what to expect. And in the case of the Minutemen, which have had a somewhat uneven climb to their early 4-2 record, last year's win is a hazy memory at best as they prepare to face the Titans today in Detroit (3 p.m.).

Rashad Phillips, the spry Titans guard who hit 20 points from all over the floor in last year's game, is now leading the nation in scoring with a 26.3 scoring average.

UMass coach Bruiser Flint isn't going to waste much time telling Shannon Crooks and Jonathan DePina how to defend Phillips.

As he demonstrated last season, Phillips doesn't have a particular sweet spot. Any location on the floor will generally do.

``The kid can just score - that's the main thing about him,'' Flint said yesterday.

``We just have to concentrate on making him take tough shots.''

The same approach will apply to Detroit guard Desmond Ferguson, a 15.3-points-per-game scorer this season who was the victim of one of forward Mike Babul's better defensive jobs last season.

Ferguson finished the game with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

Plus, Phillips is shooting 47.6 percent (20-of-42) from 3-point land this year to go along with Ferguson's 31.8 long-range percentage (14-of-44).

But there is good news here. The smallish, foul-prone Minutemen won't have to scale the trees for a win this time - a mandatory condition during their narrow 51-50 win over a big Villanova team Monday. Detroit is not particularly big or physical up front.

On the other hand, this is not the time for the Minutemen to start thinking small again.

``I consider this to be the second toughest team we'll have played to this point,'' said Flint, placing the Titans second only to UConn in terms of effectiveness, though the teams couldn't be more different.

Not that it matters to a coach who is busy trying to iron consistency into his team's wrinkled fabric.

But in this regard, Flint has chosen to take the best possible outlook from Crooks' 25-foot game-winner against the Wildcats.

In his mind, the Minutemen would not have won that kind of game last season.

``We lost a lot of games like that last year,'' he said. ``The thing right now is to play hard. If we play hard, no matter how we shoot the ball, then we know we have a chance to win. And Monday we proved it.

``This much we know - if we play hard, good things will continue to happen.''

ETROIT - Make a list of the toughest gyms in America to win at and Calihan Hall doesn't exactly spring to mind.

In fact, most avid college hoops junkies don't know which school plays in Calihan Hall.

But the University of Detroit has won 30 of its last 31 games in its home building, a streak it will try to make 31-of-32 Saturday against the University of Massachusetts.

"We're, like, the biggest people that have come in there. They're going to be looking for us. I'm the only fool that goes and plays in these places," said UMass coach Bruiser Flint, who jokingly added, "I'm trying to get myself fired."

The game tips off at 3 p.m., not 4 p.m., which is how it is listed on some earlier UMass schedules. The time was changed to accommodate FoxSports, which will carry the game on its New England and Detroit cable affiliates.

A year ago, UMass' 59-46 win over the NCAA Tournament-bound Titans was one of the best of the team's early-season victories, but it went largely unnoticed because around 900 miles to the south, the Minuteman football team was in the process of winning the Division I-AA national championship.

Unlike last year's Minutemen, who entered their clash with the Titans reeling at 2-6, the 1999-2000 squad is on a mini-roll, having won three straight. UMass accomplished that only once last year. The team hasn't won four in a row since it won 10 straight in early 1998.

Detroit goes as senior point guard Rashad Phillips goes. Second in the nation in scoring at 26.3 points per game, Phillips also leads the Titans in assists with 5.5 per game. With 20 points last year, Phillips had nearly half of Detroit's 46-point total.

"The kid is second in the nation in scoring," Flint said. "Last year we did a good job switching off on him, so I think we'll try to do that again. Make him work to get the ball. The kid is going to get his points, though, because he gets his shots off and is clever with the ball."

"Their point guard is good," said UMass junior center Kitwana Rhymer. "That's basically all I'm worrying about. If we shut down their point guard, the rest of the team is over."

Fellow senior Desmond Ferguson has been the second weapon, averaging 15.3 points from his swingman spot. Leading rebounder Daniel Whye is sidelined with a knee injury.

Sizewise, the teams match up pretty well. Sophomore center Marc Mazur and Rhymer are both 6-foot-10. Bookend forwards Mike Babul and Chris Kirkland will match their 6-6 frames against Detroit forwards Terrell Riggs and Desmond Ferguson, who are both 6-7.

After their comeback win against Villanova Monday, the Minutemen feel confident that their early inconsistency is behind them.

"Guys see that we can play like that," Kirkland said. "We can play pretty good defense ... and guys realize we can play like that every night. We were down, but guys were saying to each other, we're going to come back, we're going to win this. We started believing that and that's where the energy started coming from."

Kirkland added that Monday's success had the team excited to play again.

"Guys are anxious to get back on the floor and see how that goes. (They're) practicing hard just trying to get ready."

Rhymer agreed.

"We had been lacking a little bit of emotion," Rhymer said. "We basically turned the corner with that. When we bring emotion, our game increases. Defense increases. Offense increases. Everything is better."

he University of Massachusetts men's basketball team is back in its element, which means the Minutemen are somewhere other than Amherst.

"We're the road warriors," said UMass coach Bruiser Flint, whose team visits Detroit in today's game (3:05 p.m.) at Calihan Hall. "It seems we're always on the road. If it's a road game at some crazy place like Marshall or Detroit, here we come."

Today's game is the first of six straight on the road for UMass (4-2), which has been idle since Monday's 52-51 comeback win over Villanova at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen have won three straight, the last two of which required rallies from double-digit deficits.

"I don't have any gray hairs yet," Flint said. "But I'm getting there."

Detroit (4-2) is capable of giving him some grays today. The Titans, off since Wednesday night's 83-80 win at Central Michigan, have won the last two Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular-season titles and last year's MCC tournament crown.

They have finished 25-6 in each of the past two seasons and in both seasons earned first-round NCAA tournament upsets over St. John's and UCLA, respectively.

They also feature a contender for the nation's scoring title in 5-foot-10, 160-pound Rashad Phillips, a senior guard who is averaging 26.3 points per game and had 31 at Central Michigan.

Phillips is also averaging 5.5 assists per game, is shooting 56 percent from the field and has missed only one of 37 free throws.

Detroit has also been almost unbeatable at home, winning 30 of its last 31 at 8,837-seat Calihan Hall, including all three this season.

After today, UMass is off until playing Florida State (which lost by one at Auburn, was ranked seventh at the time and is now eighth) at the Orange Bowl Classic a week from today.

Then come three games at the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic, and a Dec. 30 contest at Providence, before the Minutemen return home Jan. 6 against St. Bonaventure.

It's the most far-flung road swing of the season, a throwback to the "any team, any time, any place" philosophy that began under John Calipari. Flint sometimes sounds envious of teams that stock up with home games against easy opponents, but he also knows his team doesn't always make the most of Mullins, either.

UMass is 71 for 176 (40.3 percent) in three home games, and 78 for 192 (40.6) on the road, even though one of the road opponents was Connecticut, the nation's defending champion.

UMass, which is 2-1 both home and away, also isn't leaving big crowds behind. The Minutemen are averaging 6,057 fans per game after three home dates.

But playing on the road still poses problems. Today's problem is Detroit, which lost a 59-46 meeting at the Mullins Center last year.

"I thought that was our best defensive game of the season," Flint said. "We did a lot of switching off. We'll probably do some again."

Detroit lost 6-8 senior Daniel Whye, its leading rebounder with 5.6 per game, to a knee injury last week. But that doesn't make today's test an easy one.

"They played a lot of zone against us, and they play great defense," said Flint, who respects 6-6 swingman Desmond Ferguson (15.3 ppg) and the other Titans, but is especially wary of Phillips.