<strong>DETROIT (1/23/2020) --</strong> The energy was in the air all-game long as the Titans honored one of their all-time greats and the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team responded going up by 21 in the first half en route to 76-64 victory over IUPUI on Thursday night at Calihan Hall.<br /> <br /> At halftime, Detroit Mercy retired the #24 jersey of the great Earl The Twirl Cureton.<br /> <br /> Antoine Davis led the Titans with a game-high 27 points, hitting five 3-pointers with a career-tying seven rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Chris Brandon finished with his third career double-double with a career-best 18 points and six blocks along with 12 rebounds.<br /> <br /> Detroit Mercy (5-16, 3-5 HL) never trailed and scored the game's first seven points and eventually led by as many as 21, 34-13, in the first half. In the second, IUPUI (5-16, 1-7 HL) made a run and cut the lead to 10 on a number of occasions, but the Titans responded down the stretch for the win.<br /> <br /> Graduate senior Brad Calipari had nine points, two rebounds and two steals and sophomore Marquis Moore added eight points, four rebounds and a career-high four assists.<br /> <br /> The Titans shot 42.4 percent from the field with nine triples and outrebounded the Jaguars, 44-37. The defense forced 13 IUPUI turnovers and just 20.0 percent shooting in the first half. <br /> <br /> The Titans will be right back in action on Saturday as Detroit Mercy looks for a weekend sweep when UIC visits Calihan Hall in a 1 p.m. tip. The game will include jersey retirements for Eli Holman pregame and Willie Green at halftime. <br /> <br /> <strong>First Period:</strong> <ul> <li>The Titans started the game on a 7-0 run</li> <li>Two-straight layups by Moore made it 11-2</li> <li>Two free throws by Miller followed by a triple by Davis gave the Titans a 22-12 lead midway through the period</li> <li>Davis then fed Calipari and he buried a three for a 25-12 advantage</li> <li>The Titans then went on a 9-0 run with Isiani, Davis and Calipari for a 34-13 lead with 4:32 left</li> <li>The Titans held IUPUI to just 5-of-20 from the field and took a 41-22 lead at the break</li> </ul> <br /> <strong>Second Period:</strong> <ul> <li>Senior Justin Miller's layup gave the team an 18-point lead and then Brandon's basket had the Titans up 45-27 with under 18 minutes left</li> <li>A pair of free throws by Davis also had the team up by 19, 49-32, with just over 15 minutes to go</li> <li>A triple by Davis had the red, white and blue up 61-46 with 9:06 remaining</li> <li>IUPUI had the lead at 10, but Brandon's dunk pushed the score to 11, 67-55, with 5:21 on the clock</li> <li>The Jaguars cut it to 10 a couple of other times, but freshman Sam Hofman hit a jumper to make it 65-53 at 6:41 and back-to-back baskets by Brandon and Moore pushed the advantage back to 14, 69-55, with 4:50 left</li> </ul> <br /> <strong>Game Notes:</strong> <ul> <li>Despite being just about a four and a half-hour drive, the Titans and Jaguars had never faced each other before IUPUI joined the Horizon League two years ago and the Titans now lead the all-time series, 3-2, with all three wins at home</li> <li>Detroit Mercy came into the game leading the HL and fifth in the country in free-throw percentage at 78.7 percent</li> <li>Davis now has 14 games on the year with 20 or more points and 37 in his career</li> <li>Davis now has 27 games with four or more triples in his career as he came into the game averaging 3.98 per game, the highest among all active DI players</li> <li>Davis also had seven rebounds at Green Bay his last time out</li> <li>Davis is now 23rd all-time in scoring with 1,260 points, passing Tony Tolbert (1,235) and Mike Lovelace (1,258)</li> <li>Brandon has now pulled down at least 10 rebounds in seven contests in the last 10 games and is averaging 12.1 in that span with three double-doubles</li> <li>Brandon came into the game second in the Horizon League with 1.25 blocks per game and 25 total swats on the year</li> <li>Brandon's previous high in blocks was four on three occasions, the last against Wright State</li> <li>Calipari has now hit at least two 3-pointers in 11 games on the season</li> </ul> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /> <strong>Follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam:  <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UDMTitans/?ref=bookmarks">Facebook</a>  |  <a href="https://twitter.com/detroittitans">Twitter</a>  |  <a href="https://www.instagram.com/detroittitans/">Instagram</a>  |  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/UDMTitanAthletics/videos">YouTube</a></strong><br /> <br />  </div> <br />