DETROIT (11/7/2019) -- The 114th season of Titan basketball will tip-off on Sunday as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will hit the road for the first of seven-straight away from the Motor City when they visit North Carolina State on Sunday.

Game time is set for 4 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast on a number of cable outlets in the FOX Sports Regional cable channels, including FOX Sports Detroit Plus, YES Network and the Sun Network.

Fans can also catch all the action on 910 AM Superstation with the Voice of the Titans Dan Hasty calling all the action.

This will be the third career meeting between the two schools as NC State has won both match-ups at home in the 2013 regular-season contest and in the second round of the 1978 NIT.

The Wolfpack opened the year on Tuesday with a heartbreaking 82-81 home setback to ACC-rival Georgia Tech. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• This will be just the third career meeting between Detroit Mercy and North Carolina State with the Wolfpack claiming both games so far on their home court. 
• The first meeting was in the postseason in the second round of the NIT in 1978, an 84-77 NC State victory, as Terry Tyler scored 19 points and John Long added 17, but the Wolfpack used a 64-33 rebounding margin to surge ahead.
• The last meeting in 2013 saw Juwan Howard Jr. - the son of current Michigan head coach Juwan Howard - lead the way with 24 points as the Titans outscored NC State 30-16 in the final 7:15 to cut a 17-point lead down to the final margin of 82-79 with Jarod Williams' last-second 3-pointer rattling in and out at the buzzer.

TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

• Get your frequent flyer miles ready as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team has a number of power five schools on the non-conference schedule.
• In total, the red, white and blue will play 13 games in the non-conference with nine away from the Motor City, including trips to North Carolina State, Clemson, Wyoming, Notre Dame, Gonzaga and a two-game tournament in Las Vegas against UC Irvine and Louisiana Lafayette. 
• The first seven games on the road will see the Titans travel just under 10,000 miles round trip (9,980). 
• The home non-conference slate gets underway in December after seven road games in a row to start the season when the Titans host in-state rival Eastern Michigan on Dec. 7. 
• The opponents were a combined 258-176 (.594) a year ago with six teams earning postseason bids. 

114 YEARS OF TITAN BASKETBALL

• This season is the 114th year of collegiate basketball at the University of Detroit Mercy - the oldest Division I program in the state - as the Tigers – yes, Tigers as they were called back then - beat Collegiate, 18-7, in the first official Detroit basketball game in 1905. 
• Until 1919, the U-D teams were known as the Tigers. In the fall of 1919, Detroit Free Press' sportswriter Stan Brink, who was covering football for the paper, thought that a good nickname for the team would be the Titans.
• In its 114 years (two years records are missing in 1907-08 and 1908-09), Detroit Mercy is 1,420-1243 (.541) with two regular-season HL Championships (1998, 1999) and three tournament titles (1994, 1999, 2012). 
• Detroit Mercy has also made six NCAA tournaments (1962, 1977, 1979, 1998, 1999, 2012) and seven NIT appearances (1960, 1961, 1965, 1978, 2001, 2002, 2013). 

YEAR ONE FOR DAVIS

• The first year of the Mike Davis era saw the Titans post double-digit wins for the first time since going 16-15 in 2015-16.
• The eight conference wins were also the most since the team went 9-9 in 2015-16 and that was with a team that returned just four players - three who actually saw time in a game - coming into the year. 
• This season, coach Davis has six returners, including four sophomores who saw plenty of action as freshmen. 

OPENING DAY SUCCESS

• Detroit Mercy has had a great history of starting off with a win as the Titans are 81-31 all-time on opening day, with two years in the early 1900's unknown due to record keeping.

ROAD OPENERS

• The first game on the road has not been so kind to the Titans as Detroit Mercy has dropped 18-straight true road openers.
• The last time Detroit Mercy won a true road opener was at Chicago State, 87-65, in 2000-01.  
• Overall, Detroit Mercy is 16-62 in road openers since 1932.

AGAINST THE ACC

• Detroit Mercy is 20-69 all-time against current teams in the ACC, although most of that is the 12-41 record versus Notre Dame. 
• The Titans last win against a current ACC school was the Fighting Irish as Detroit Mercy won, 83-59, in the Motor City in 1992. 
• It is also the fourth time in the last five years that the Titans have faced an ACC program as they were at Virginia Tech to start the 2017-18 campaign, at Florida State in 2016 and at Florida State in 2015. 

FOND MEMORIES OF NC STATE FOR MIKE DAVIS

• The last time head coach Mike Davis led his team to battle North Carolina State, it was in the postseason as his 2009-10 UAB squad defeated the Wolfpack, 72-52, in the second round of the NIT in a contest played in Birmingham, Alabama. 

MOVE OVER STEPHEN CURRY

• Antoine Davis nailed 132, 3-pointers last season to break the NCAA record for most 3-pointers by a freshman, passing Stephen Curry's 122 at Davidson in 2006-07.
• His record-breaking triple came at home against IUPUI early in the second half last season and his 132 treys on the year was a Titan freshman record and second in school history, trailing only legendary scorer Rashad Phillips' 136 in 2000-01. 

CAN HE UP DEBUSSCHERE

• Sophomore Antoine Davis scored a Titan and Horizon League-freshman record 784 points last season in 30 games.
• He is trying to catch the great Dave DeBusschere - a NBA Hall-Of-Famer who was named one of the top 50 players in NBA history - as the fastest Titan to 1,000 points.
• DeBusschere accomplished the feat in his 43rd collegiate game and he did so in a big way with a then career-best 32 points in a 69-65 win over Toledo in 1961.
• By that count, Davis would need to average 18.0 points in his first 12 games to reach 1,000 in his 42nd game.  
• If he reaches that feat, he will become the 43rd player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career points. 

ANTOINE DAVIS EARNS JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD NOMINATION 

• The sophomore year of Antoine Davis has already been filled with accolades - and the games have not even started yet - as the University of Detroit Mercy high-scoring guard was named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list.
• The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's® is chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts and the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team™ and Most Outstanding Player Award. 
• Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. 

DAVIS NAMED TO THIRD NATIONAL WATCH LIST IN THE LUTE OLSON AWARD

• The 2019-20 Lute Olson Award preseason Watch List was announced and once again, sophomore Antoine Davis saw his name among the contenders.
• The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player.

BASKETBALL BLOODLINES

• Not only do you have the family connections on the staff, but there are a few other family connections between Titans and college coaches, NBA players and former NBA stars:
• Graduate student Brad Calipari is the son of Kentucky head coach John Calipari
• Junior Dwayne Rose Jr. is the nephew of current Pistons' guard and 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose
• Sophomore Chris Brandon is the nephew of former NBA player and head coach John Lucas and cousin to former NBA player John Lucas and former Texas standout Jai Lucas
• Freshman Jamail Pink's uncle is NBA Hall-Of-Famer Clyde Drexler

MOORE BOARDS

• Sophomore Marquis Moore really starting to come on last season, becoming a tough rebounder and hitting some shots from the outside.
• He grabbed at least five rebounds in eight games, including two in double figures with a season-best 11 rebounds at Milwaukee and 10 against IUPUI
• Moore also started the year 2-of-16 from three, but then hit 6-of-11 in his last three games
• He had his first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against IUPUI, a team-high on the boards, and posted a season-best 12 points and eight rebounds in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals at NKU. 

BIG WILLY STYLE

• Willy Isiani made his long-awaited debut midway through his freshman season and against NKU, he scored nine points, hitting three 3-pointers in just 11 minutes of action, until he suffered a head injury that kept him out for a few games. 
• He came back with four more 3-pointers at Oakland, finishing with 12 points. 
• He tallied a season-high 20 points nailing six more from downtown at IUPUI and finished the year with 14 in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals at NKU.
• As a European, Isiani likes to showcase his long-range shooting as 20 of his 25 field goals last year were from behind the arc. 
• A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, Isiani, was at ASI Prep in California as a senior in high school and averaged 8.4 points and 4.0 rebounds, while shooting 40.0 percent from three. 
• He is believed to be the first Titan from the country of Georgia.

FROM KENTUCKY BLUE TO TITAN RED

• Graduate student Brad Calipari transferred to Detroit Mercy and will have the rare two years of eligibility as a graduate student as he graduated from Kentucky in just three year with a degree in Business and is enrolled in the Liberal Studies masters program. 
• He spent three seasons at Kentucky and played in 27 games with the Wildcats, under the direction of his dad head coach John Calipari, and was part of 88 wins as the Wildcats advanced to the Elite 8 in 2017 and 2019 and the Sweet 16 in 2018. 
• According to stories in the Detroit Free Press, Kentucky has said they would be open to playing the Titans next season and that meeting could occur in Calihan Hall.

ROSE BACK AT DI

• Junior Dwayne Rose Jr. is back playing at the Division I level after suiting up for Southwestern Illinois College last season, where he averaged 7.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
• The Chicago native played in 14 games off the bench at Toledo as a freshman in 2017-18 and scored a season-high seven points at Kansas. 

ALL IN THE FAMILY

• Nothing new for the Titans to have a family connection in the program and this season, Detroit Mercy will once again feature three Davis' in head coach Mike Davis, assistant coach Mike Davis Jr. and sophomore 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.

WHO WILL START?

• Detroit Mercy saw 13 players start a game last season, the most in the country. 
• Detroit Mercy also used 15 different starting line-ups on the year. 

 
#REACHTHEHORIZON

• The Horizon League has unveiled its logo and official hashtag - #ReachTheHorizon - for the 2020 Horizon League Basketball Championships. The 2020 championships will mark the first year that the Horizon League Basketball Championships will take place in Indianapolis at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum located at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center.
• The men's and women's championship games will take place on Tuesday, March 10, and the semifinals will be played on Monday, March 9. Early round games will be played on campus with the bracket announced at a later date.
• For complete information on the 2020 Horizon League Basketball Championships go to HorizonLeague.com/Indy or follow @HorizonLeague on social media.