DETROIT (12/26/2019) -- It will be a quick turnaround after Christmas and quite a way to begin the Horizon League campaign as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will make the short trip to Rochester to face #MetroSeries rival Oakland on Saturday, Dec. 28. 

Game time is set for 3 p.m. at the 0'Rena and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and locally on TV20 as well as over the air on 910 AM Superstation with Dan Hasty calling the contest. 

This is the 41st year of the Horizon League (1979-80) and the 40th with Detroit Mercy as a member as the Titans are the eldest program in the league, while Oakland joined the conference in 2013-14. 

Detroit Mercy and Oakland also branded the annual rivalry called the #MetroSeries in 2014 as all the sports which compete in the Horizon League battle for points towards the end of the year standings. 

A limited number of tickets to sit in the Titan fan section are now on sale for just $10. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Director of Ticket Operations & Sales Justin Hairston at 313-320-8873 or at hairstjj1@udmercy.edu. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• This is the 25th career meeting between the two schools, located roughly 26 miles apart.
• Detroit Mercy leads the overall series, 13-11, but Oakland has won 10 of the last 12 since joining the Horizon League in 2013-14. 
• The Titans are also 1-6 on the road with their lone win in 2017, 93-88. 

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE ONE OF THE TOUGHEST IN THE HL

• The non-conference opponents were a combined 258-176 (.594) a year ago, with six teams earning postseason bids.
• So far on the season, the non-HL foes have combined for an 82-64 (56.1%) mark with one more left, a road match-up with #1 Gonzaga on Dec. 30. 
• In total, the red, white and blue will play 13 games in the non-conference with nine away from the Motor City.
• The first seven games of the year were on the road and saw the Titans travel just under 10,000 miles round trip (9,980). 
• The seven-games away from home was the longest stretch since the Titans played 10 in a row away from the Motor City at the end of the 2000-01 season, which included two regular-season games, the HL Tournament and a run to the NIT Final Four.

DAVIS THIRD IN NATION IN SCORING

• After finishing third in the nation in scoring last season, sophomore Antoine Davis has his name right back on top of the nation's leaders as he ranks third in the country and leading the Horizon League in scoring at 25.3 points.
• Last year, he topped the HL at 26.1 ppg. and he is the current active leader in scoring average at 25.9 ppg. 

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

ANTOINE EARNS JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD NOMINATION 

• Sophomore Antoine Davis 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. 

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. 

GETTING THE FREE ONES

• Detroit Mercy has done a good job at the line this year as the Titans are leading the HL and eighth in the country in free-throw percentage at 79.3 percent. 
• The Titans have connected on at least 20 free throws three times this season and are 142 of their last 175 (81.1%). 
• It helps to have two of the best at the line as sophomore Antoine Davis leads the league and is 19th in the nation (91.5%), while senior Justin Miller is second in the HL and 37th in the nation at 88.6 percent.

BACK IN THE 20'S

• Sophomore Antoine Davis now has 32 career 20-point games and 12 career 30-point outings in just 41 career collegiate contests after dropping a season-high 35 against SIUE. 
• He has now scored in double figures in all 41 games - reaching at least 17 points in 38 of them - and he also nailed seven, 3-pointers against the Cougars to extend his three-point shooting streak to 41-straight games, the fifth-longest streak in the country.
• 1. Mack Smith (Eastern Illinois) – 61    
• 2. Justin Jaworski (Lafayette) – 57
• 3. Jaylen Minnett (IUPUI) – 49
• 4. Cameron Healy (Albany) - 45
• 5. Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy) - 41

DAVIS PASSES DEBUSSCHERE FOR QUICKEST TO 1,000 POINTS 

• Sophomore Antoine Davis scored a team-high 27 points at Notre Dame, but it was his free throw for 26 that made history giving him 1,000 career points in just 39 games, passing 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 reach 1,000.
• DeBusschere accomplished the feat in his 43rd collegiate on his way to 1,985. 
• Davis is the 43rd player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career points and just the third second-year player joining DeBusschere (who did it as a junior as freshmen could not play) and sophomore Ray McCallum in 2010-11.
• With his 35 points against SIUE, Davis is now 37th in school history with 1,062 points, just 13 shy of 36 and 20 behind 35th place. 

BRADLEY BUCKETS GOES FOR 20

• Graduate student Brad Calipari was back in double figures for the fourth time this season as he posted a team and career-high 20 points, hitting a career-best five 3-pointers against Toledo.
• That was after draining four triples and ending with 12 points at Notre Dame. 
• After starting the season 0-for-7 from the field and 0-of-5 from three, Calipari is 27-of-54 overall (50.0%) and 24-of-48 (50.0%) from three in his last 10 games from behind the arc and is averaging 8.5 points in that span. 
• He has also hit at least two 3-pointers in seven of the first 12 games and connected on four or more in four contests. 
• He had 13 points hitting 4-of-6 from long range at Wyoming and came back with a then career-high 16 points with four more triples in the win over UC Irvine. 
• 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 years 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. 

MILLER TIME

• Senior transfer Justin Miller is approaching 1,000 career points as he has 988 and is averaging 9.1 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds. 
• He just posted his fifth double-digit scoring effort of the year with 12 points in the win over SIUE and that was after 13 points and six boards against Northeastern.
• Miller had 11 points and six rebounds at Notre Dame, recorded six points and nine boards at Kent State and 12 points with five caroms at Ohio.
• At Clemson, he really made his presence felt posting 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds before tallying a season-high 14 knocking down a pair of triples in the win over UC Irvine. 
• He played the last three seasons for Louisiana Lafayette, seeing action in 97 games with 59 starts and averaging 9.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists, shooting 44.9 percent.  
• In his career, he has scored in double figures in 47 games - including 20 or more four times - with a career-high 22 points on the road at Kansas. 

GOING AFTER YOU DAD

• Head coach Mike Davis is quick to point out that Antoine Davis is not the defender that he was in college, but in terms of offense, the son is winning that battle.
• Coach Davis starred at Alabama from 1979 to 1983 and totaled 1,211 points in 121 career games, going 478-of- 1003 (47.7%) from the field with 238 assists.
• Antoine now has 1,062 career points, 154 assists and 51 steals.  
• For Brad Calipari, he has already surpassed his dad's, John Calipari, point totals at Division I as he has 96 at DI.  
• Coach Cal played three seasons of college ball, one at UNC Wilmington and two at Clarion. At UNC Wilmington in 1978-79, he posted 29 points hitting 4-of-17 from the field and 21-of-25 at the line. 
• At Clarion, Calipari scored 202 points, but ran the offense with 193 assists. 

WATCH YOUR BACK

• Sophomore Antoine Davis tallied 28 steals as a freshman, but he already has 24 so far and is leading the conference and 37th in the nation at 2.1 per game.
• He has a steal in every game and a career-high four at Clemson. 

BRANDON SHOWING OFF

• Sophomore Chris Brandon has come alive recently, showing off his high energy and athleticism.
• He pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds and had a highlight-reel dunk against SIUE. Against Toledo, he tied his then career-high with nine rebounds and posted a career-best four blocks, two of which were coming down the court and breaking up a Rockets' fast-break attempt. 
• One of the most athletic players in the Horizon League, in the season opener at NC State, he had a couple of dunks finishing with eight points, three rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
• He came back with another athletic performance, finishing with 12 points and eight rebounds at Clemson. 
• He is averaging 4.1 points and 4.0 rebounds and shooting 67.9 percent (19-of-28) on the season. 
• Last year, he shot 60.8 percent from the field, mostly on getting to the rim and putting back offensive rebounds. 

MOORE, MOORE FOR MARQUIS

• Sophomore Marquis Moore just tied his career-high with 12 points - hitting four 3-pointers - with four rebounds versus SIUE. 
• He tallied his second career double-double by tying his career-best with 12 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds against Eastern Michigan two weeks ago. 
• He posted eight points and nine rebounds at Wyoming and has grabbed at least four rebounds in six of the first 12 games
• Last season, he had at least five rebounds in eight games, including two in double figures with a season-best 11 rebounds at Milwaukee and 10 against IUPUI
• He had his first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against IUPUI, a team-high on the boards, and posted 12 points and eight rebounds in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals at NKU. 

A GID-JEWELL PERFORMANCE

• Sophomore Boe Nguidjol was one player that head coach Mike Davis has seen a marked improvement and the season opener at NC State showed just that.
• Nguidjol finished with a career-best and game-high nine rebounds along with two blocks and six points, hitting his first 3-pointer in the process at NC State. He was a big reason the Titans outrebounded the Wolfpack, 40-33.
• He just scored a career-high with eight points and five rebounds against SIUE. He tied his career-high with six points and pulled down seven rebounds in the win over UC Irvine and had a then career-high seven points with five rebounds, two blocks and a steal at Ohio.
• He played in 20 games last year and pulled down at least five rebounds in three games with season-highs of six at Akron, at Wright State and against NKU. 
• He gets his athleticism and footwork from his dad, who played professional soccer in England and China. 

BIG WILLY STYLE

• Sophomore Willy Isiani had his best game of the season scoring 13 points and grabbing a career-high seven rebounds in the win over UC Irvine and nailed five treys en route to 15 points at Ohio. 
• He had 11 points and tied his career-best with seven rebounds against Northeastern and that was after 11 points, four rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals against Toledo. At Notre Dame, he scored 11 points with a couple of 3-pointers.
• He continues to show his prowess from three as 22 of his 27 field goals this season and 42 of 52 in his career have been from behind the arc. 
• 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.
• A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, he is believed to be the first Titan from the country of Georgia.

ALL-AROUND LEGRAND

• Sophomore Alonde LeGrand has shown that he can do a little of everything on the court.
• He just had a team-high five assists and four rebounds against SIUE and was all-over the court against Toledo, ending with six points, tying his season-high with six rebounds and a season-best seven assists. 
• He grabbed six rebounds, while adding four points, three steals and a block at Kent State and also pulled down a team-high six boards at Ohio.
• LeGrand transferred to the Titans from State Fair Community College in Vermont and will have three years of eligibility. 
• Originally from Harlem, New York, he enrolled at Fairfield as a freshman, but did not appear in any games, therefore, allowing him three years of college basketball.