The set-up: It's first round Horizon League tournament action on Friday evening from Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, as the #7 seed, the 8-22 Detroit Mercy Titans (6-12 in league games) will take on the #10 seed, the 8-23 Milwaukee Panthers (4-14 in league play).

Milwaukee: The Panthers come into the tourney on a nine-game losing streak (3-6 ATS), including a 81-74 home loss to these Titans. Milwaukee is a guard-oriented team, led by Stull (13.3 & 6.5), Wichmann (13.1) and PG Haas (5.3 & 3.8 APG). The team's most effective frontcourt player is the 6-7 Nze (7.0 & 5.1), who comes off the bench.

Detroit: The Titans easily own the best frontcourt player in the 6-7 Hogan (15.4 & 6.0) plus three guards score in double digits. That trio includes Allen (14.3), McFolley (14.3) and Jenkins (11.1). What holds Detroit back is the team's awful defense. The Titans allow 84.8 PPG (348th) and opponents shoot 49.8% from the floor (350th).

The pick: Two bad team here but series history favors Milwaukee, which won earlier this year at Detroit, 73-69 in OT. Milwaukee is 11-5 ATS in the last 16 meetings between these two teams and considering Detroit is 0 -5 ATS in its last five neutral site games, the Panthers are a 10* play.