3-0 Titans To Battle NKU On Saturday

DETROIT (1/4/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team has had a hot start to the season and the Titans will look to keep it going as the red, white and blue welcome NKU into Calihan Hall on Saturday.

Game time is set for 1 p.m. will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and locally on WADL-38 with Jeremy Otto and Earl Cureton on the call as well as over the airwaves on 910 AM Superstation as the Voice of the Titans Dan Hasty has the play-by-play.

Detroit Mercy moved to 6-9 on the season and 3-0 in the Horizon League with a 79-58 victory over defending Horizon League champion Wright State. Freshman Antoine Davis nearly set the school record finishing with 48 points, while the Titan defense held the Raiders to 37.7 percent shooting overall and 18.2 percent from behind the arc.

The Titans are looking for their first 4-0 start in league play since 1998-99, while the last time they won four in a row overall was in the 2015-16 campaign.

NKU is 12-4 on the season and 2-1 in the Horizon League after dropping a 76-74 decision at Oakland.

Tickets start at just $10 and can be purchased at Detroittitans.com/tix.

ALL-TIME SERIES

This is just the seventh career meeting between the two schools as NKU leads the all-time series, 5-1.
NKU has won four in a row and all three previous meetings at Calihan Hall.

FAMILY FUN

Nothing new for the Titans to have a family connection in the program and this season, Detroit Mercy will feature three Davis' in head coach Mike Davis, assistant coach Mike Davis Jr. and freshman guard Antoine Davis.
From 2010-13, the Titans had head coach Ray McCallum and star guard Ray McCallum winning the Horizon League Championship in 2012 and earning a trip to the NIT in 2013.

3-GAME WINNING STREAK

The Titans have now posted their second, three-game winning streak of the season with their 3-0 start in league play.
The 3-0 conference start is the best since going 3-0 in 2015-16, while the last 4-0 start was in 1998-99, when Detroit Mercy won the MCC at 12-2.
The last time the Titans posted three-straight double-digit wins was in 2009 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic as Detroit Mercy beat Robert Morris (71-59), Albany (66-54) and Alcorn State (79-59), all held in Albany
The last time Detroit Mercy won three-straight conference games by double digits was in 2004-05 when they won four in a row over Cleveland State (67-52), Youngstown State (62-47), Wright State (61-48) and Green Bay (68-56), the last two in the HL tournament

AD GETTING BUCKETS

Freshman Antoine Davis led the team for the 15th-straight game - every game this season - finishing with an explosive 48 points against defending HL champions Wright State.
The 48 points was the fourth most in league play in Horizon League history and the most since LaSalle's Kareem Townes had 52 against Loyola (Ill) in 1995.
He now has 10, 20-point games, six 30+ performances and a pair of 40-point efforts in his first 15 collegiate games, the only freshman in school history with two 40-point outings.
He is one of just nine freshmen in NCAA Division I to score in double figures in every game this season.
To start the year, he posted eight-straight 20-point games, the first Titan to have eight-straight games with 20 or more since Willie Green's 10 in a row in 2002-03.
His six 30-point games on the season are the most since Tony Tolbert's six in 1993-94.

DAVIS AMONG NATION'S LEADERS

Freshman Antoine Davis - the four-time HL Freshman of the Week - comes into the contest leading the nation in two national categories and among the leaders in a few others.
Davis is second in the nation in scoring at 26.9 points per game.
His 78 triples and 5.2, 3-pointers per game lead the country, while he is tied for first with 141 total field goals.
He is also third in total points (404).
Davis is second in the Horizon League and 65th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (41.9%), seventh in the HL and 88th in DI in free throw percentage (84.6%) and leading the conference and ninth in the country in minutes per game (37:22).

SHOOTING HIS WAY TO RECORDS

Freshman Antoine Davis already has 78 triples on the season, ninth in school history and one behind the Detroit Mercy rookie record of 79 by Corey Allen in 2016-17.
If he keeps up his prolific outside shooting, he could find himself holding the NCAA record for most 3-pointers by a freshman, currently held by Stephen Curry as he hit 122 at Davidson in 2006-07.

LET IT FLY

Detroit Mercy is second in the Horizon League with 9.9 triples per game, 25th in the country, while ranking second in the HL and 65th in DI in three-point field goal percentage (37.3).
The Titans have nailed 148 treys on the year, tying a school record with 17 against Loyola Maryland and then connecting on 15 versus Bowling Green and at Eastern Michigan.
The 148, 3-pointers are 18th in the nation.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL

Detroit Mercy has seen its offense struggle at times, but not because it is turning it over.
The Titans lead the conference and are 18th in Division I committing just 10.9 per game.
Detroit Mercy had just five turnovers on the road at Cleveland State and now has five games on the season with less than 10 turnovers.

OH LORDY HE WENT FOR 40, AGAIN

Antoine Davis set the Titan freshman mark with 42 points in the win over Loyola Maryland and nearly just set the school record with 48 against Wright State.
Davis shot a season-best 15-of-24 from the field and tied his own school record nailing 10-of-15 from three-point land.
The 48 points is also the third-highest scoring outburst in NCAA Division I this year, and the most against a Division I opponent.
Earlier in the season, he registered a Titan freshman record 42 points against Loyola Maryland going 14-of-21 from the field and 10-of-14 from the outside with five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
The 10 treys tied him with Desmond Ferguson for the school record, who had 10 against Milwaukee in 2000, and both games are tied for the fourth most in the country.
The Titan freshman record was 33 points by Corey Allen against Fort Wayne in 2016.

ZONE PRINCIPLES

The Titans have frustrated teams at times trying to shoot the three ball as they are holding teams to 31.4 percent from behind the arc, including just 25.0 percent to the first three conference foes.
Last year, the Titans ended the season ranked 333rd in three-point field goal percentage defense (39.7%).
Overall, the defense has held teams to shooting 44.0 percent or less in 10 games on the year and under 40.0 percent on six occasions, including YSU to just 37.5 percent, CSU to 38.6 percent and WSU to 37.7 percent.

TAKE IT AWAY

Detroit Mercy is second in the Horizon League and 49th in the country with 8.1 steals per game.
The Titans posted a season-high 12 steals against Ohio and had 11 versus Kent State and at Youngstown State.
Detroit Mercy is third in the HL forcing 15.1 turnovers per game, including 19 at Youngstown State and 18 versus Wright State.

KING ME

Graduate senior Derrien King has tallied double digits in scoring in four-straight games and eight times on the year.
In the last three games, he is averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds.
He had back-to-back 13-point outings at Xavier and at Youngstown State and scored 15 at Cleveland State and 11 versus Wright State.
He also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds at Xavier and had six boards at CSU.
He scored 13 points with six rebounds against Kent State, hitting a big three with just over six minutes to go as the Titans took the lead and built an eight-point advantage against the Golden Flashes.
He was named to the Legends Classic Subregional All-Tournament Team after recording 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while nailing eight triples in wins over Loyola Maryland and Bowling Green.
He had 14 points and a career-tying seven rebounds in the title game versus BGSU and that was after scoring a season-high 17 points - hitting four 3-pointers - with four rebounds, two assists a steal and a block.
The 17 points was the second most in his career behind the 22 he registered as a junior at Washington State vs. Montana State in 2016.

JOSH SAVING HIS BEST FOR LAST

Senior Josh McFolley scored a season-high 20 points - his 12th career 20-point game - hitting 6-of-12 from three and registered six rebounds and six assists at Eastern Michigan.
He is averaging 12.0 points - 17th in the HL - 3.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds.
He had 19 points with a season-high seven rebounds off the bench at Akron and tallied nine points and tied his season high for the third time this year with six assists at Xavier.
In the HL opener at Youngstown State, McFolley ended with 14 points, while tallying 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals at Cleveland State.

HAMRICK TIME

Junior Lamar Hamrick started off Horizon League play with some all-around performances off the bench, including much-needed rebounding as he is tallying 8.3 boards in conference play.
He posted a season and game-high 11 rebounds with six points, three steals and two assists at Cleveland State and that was after recording 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds along with four assists and two steals at Youngstown State.
He just had six rebounds, four points, two assists, a block and a steal against Wright State.
He started the season with 13 points - 10 in the second half - to go with a team-high four steals at WMU.
He pulled down a team-high nine boards with four assists against Kent State.
He hit three from distance and finished with nine points at Akron and had a season-high 16 points at Dayton with three steals.

1,218 & COUNTING

With his six points against Wright State, senior Josh McFolley now has 1,218 points, 25th in school history and nine shy of Jon Goode for 24th.

PICKING YOUR POCKET

Senior Josh McFolley has been a thief for all of his Titan career and came away with four steals at Xavier, matching his season high that he had at Temple and against Kent State.
He now has 31 steals on the year and leads the Horizon League and is 52nd in the nation with 2.07 steals per game.
The 177 thefts are fourth in school history and just 18 away from the school record.
He led the team and was tied for second in the HL with 1.5 steals per game last year as his 49 steals was the second most in the league.
In his career, he has recorded a steal in 82 of his 108 career games, including 40 multi-steal contests and 26 with at least three takeaways.
G CRASHING THE GLASS
Senior Gerald Blackshear Jr. had some early foul trouble against Western Michigan, but he showed just how important he is registering eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds in just 23 minutes of court time.
The 10 rebounds are the most since he pulled down a career-best 11 boards at Cleveland State as a sophomore.
He is coming off a game-high eight rebounds against Wright State, doing a good job of helping the Titans contain the Raiders big guys.
He compiled six points, a team-high seven rebounds and two steals at Butler, a team-high nine boards in the win against Loyola Maryland and eight points with six boards at Xavier and five more rebounds at YSU and at CSU.
He is now leading the team with 4.7 rebounds per game.

WHAT A DEBUT

Freshman Antoine Davis had a collegiate debut to remember as he netted a team-high 32 points at Western Michigan.
He scored the team's first points and ended the contest 12-of-26 from the field and 6-of-14 from behind the arc.
The 32-point outing was the most ever by a Titan true freshman in his debut game - and one off the Titan freshman record of 33 points that he would eventually break - and the second most ever by a Titan in their collegiate debut behind only junior college transfer Spencer Haywood's 36 he tallied against Aquinas in 1968, a game that was called with 6 1/2 minutes left after he broke the backboard with a dunk and the Titans up 105-40.

MCFOLLEY FOR 3

Senior Josh McFolley has continued his three-point shooting and has nine games with at least two 3-pointers, including a 6-of-10 performance at Eastern Michigan.
He now has 195 career 3-pointers, sixth in school history, seven away from the fifth spot.

BRANDON SHOWING OFF

Freshman Chris Brandon had five points and four rebounds in the season opener, but he earned his first collegiate start at Temple and had a stellar game
Brandon finished 7-of-9 from the floor with a team-high nine rebounds and had some nice buckets off his four offensive caroms and came away with two blocks.
The nine rebounds are the most by a true freshman since teammate Gerald Blackshear Jr. had 10 at Cleveland State in 2016.
He tied his season high with nine boards and scored six points against Ohio and grabbed six more caroms on the road at Xavier and at Youngstown State.
He also put together a12-point, six-rebound game against Kent State, where he was 6-for-6 from the field. At one point in the first half, he scored eight-straight points for the Titans, using his athleticism to corral two offensive boards for tip-ins during the spurt.
On the season, he is averaging 4.5 boards and 0.9 blocks per game.

WE GOT OUR CURRY

It was a long road for junior Harrison Curry to get back on the court, but he has added a scoring punch for the Titans.
He scored 16 points with three rebounds and two blocks in 27 minutes of action, getting a start in just his second collegiate game - first as a Titan at Toledo.
He then had 12 points with four rebounds, a block and a steal against Ohio, 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks at Youngstown State and 10 points at CSU.
After playing just one game at Louisiana Tech last year before an injury in the season opener forced him to miss the year, he transferred to Detroit Mercy and applied for a waiver to play immediately.
He missed the first nine games this year before it was approved by the NCAA.

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