Earlier this season the Detroit Pistons lost a record 28 games in a row.
Many assumed that would be the longest losing streak this city would see for a long, long time. It was a safe assumption. At the time, at least.
But that streak saw some stiff competition in recent weeks, as the University of Detroit Mercy started their season 0-26.
The Titans found a way to get off the schneid Wednesday night, however, snapping that streak with an 81-66 win over IUPUI at Calihan Hall.
While many heads were turning on social media this week as the winless Titans entered the game as 5.5-point favorites, Vegas got it right.
The Titans raced out to an 11-0 lead early on and never looked back. Detroit led by as many as 19 points Wednesday, the team’s biggest lead of the season.
The first win of the season comes a week and a half after Detroit basketball legend Earl Cureton died unexpectedly at the age of 66. Cureton’s No. 24 hangs in the rafters at Calihan Hall, where he served as a color analyst on the Titans’ broadcasts.
“That win was for you, 24,” play-by-play announcer Jeremy Otto said at the end of the ESPN+ broadcast.
The Titans were able to pounce on what was likely their best shot to win a game the remainder of the season, as IUPUI entered Wednesday at just 6-20, with three wins over non-Division I teams and one over the Titans earlier this year in Indianapolis.
Jaden Stone led Detroit with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor for his 12th game of the season over 20 points.
Detroit’s win means Mississippi Valley State is the only winless team left in all of D-I men’s college basketball.