DETROIT (1/5/2019) -- Freshman Antoine Davis scored a game-high 33 points but it wasn't enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell to Northern Kentucky, 95-73, in Horizon League action Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall.

Two nights removed from his historic 48-point outburst, Davis chipped in his seventh career game with at least 30 points on 13-of-24 shooting (3-of-9 on 3-pointers).

Graduate student Derrien King chipped in 14 points and a team-high six boards for the Titans (6-10, 3-1 Horizon League). He led all players in minutes with 37:05.

The Titans looked strong early against the preseason Horizon League favorites, racing out to a 6-2 lead. But it didn't take long for Northern Kentucky (13-4, 3-1 HL) to respond, as both teams traded buckets in a high-scoring first half.

The visiting Norse entered halftime with a 43-36 advantage. That, paired with a 16-4 run to open the second half, was just too much for the red, white and blue, who dropped their first Horizon League game of the season.

Freshman Willy Isiani, making his collegiate debut, scored nine points, all on 3-pointers. Fellow rookie Boe Nguidjol tied King with a team-high six rebounds, as the Titans out-rebounded Northern Kentucky 34-30.

The Norse were fueled by a pair of 20-point games by Drew McDonald and Tyler Sharpe. McDonald led the team with 23 points, while Sharpe had 20.

Detroit Mercy returns to action Thursday, Jan. 10 as Green Bay visits Calihan Hall for a 7 p.m. matchup. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ or listened to on-air on Radio 910 AM.

First Half

• The Titans started out hot, as Davis drilled a fade-away jumper for the game's first points, hit another jump shot and King followed suit, as the red, white and blue held a 6-2 edge
• But Northern Kentucky responded with a 13-5 run, taking its first lead of the ball game at 12:41 left in the first
• Isiani ended the skid for the Titans, draining a 3-pointer for the first points of his collegiate career soon thereafter
• The Norse pushed back ahead with a 10-3 run, leading 27-22 with 6:48 till the half, as big man Drew McDonald collected five points
• Detroit Mercy knotted the score at 31-31, after jumper by junior Lamar Hamrick and Davis, a pair of Davis free throws and another triple by Isani, but Northern Kentucky ended the half on an 8-2 run to take a 43-36 edge into the break 

Second Half

• The Norse opened the second half with a pair of triples, kick-starting a 16-4 run which saw the visitors take a 59-40 lead four minutes out of the break
• Davis snapped the run with a layup, and added another bucket 40 seconds later to cut Northern Kentucky's lead to 18 points
• Both teams continued to trade baskets as the Titans tried to keep pace, but the hot-shooting Norse found success from behind the 3-point line en route to an 82-55 edge with 7:35 to go
• The Titans pieced together a pair of 7-0 runs late in the game, the first fueled by a triple by senior Josh McFolley and the latter a King 3-pointer

• NKU has won six in a row and leads the all-time series, 6-1, including winning all four match-ups in Calihan Hall
• The Titans held their last three opponents to under 40.0 percent
• The Titans came into the game leading the conference and 18th in Division I committing just 10.9 turnovers per game
• Davis now has 11, 20-point games, six 30+ performances and a pair of 40-point efforts in his first 16 collegiate games
• Davis came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 26.9 points per game, made 3-pointers and 3-pointers per game lead the country
• Davis is now seventh in school history with 81 triples on the season, just five away from moving into the top four
• The last Titan with at least six 30-point games in a season was Archie Tullos, who had 10 in 1987-88, which included three 40-point outings
• King has now been in double figures on scoring in five-straight games
• Brandon registered multiple blocks for the third time this season