DETROIT (12/18/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will be back in action this week with the start of conference play as the Wright State Raiders visit Calihan Hall this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 19-20.

Game times are set for 2:00 p.m. both days and both contests will be streamed online on ESPN3 and the ESPN App. Fans can also listen to the action on the radio on the new home of the Titans WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM FaithTalk Detroit with the Voice of Detroit Mercy basketball Dan Hasty.

The Titans (1-3) are coming off their first win of the season as Detroit Mercy showcased some great defense in a 67-57 win on the road at Western Michigan. Five Titans scored in double figures led by junior Antoine Davis' 14 points as he leads the team with 18.3 per game.

Wright State - the HL preseason favorite and the reigning regular-season champion - is 2-1 on the year with a loss to Marshall and wins over Miami Ohio and Bowling Green. The Raiders also have the preseason Player of the Year in senior Loudon Love, who is averaging 12.7 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. 

This is the 42nd year of the Horizon League (1979-80) and the 41st with Detroit Mercy as a member as the Titans are the eldest program in the league, while Wright State joined the conference in the 1994-95 season

ALL-TIME SERIES

• The Titans split the season series two years ago with Wright State, but the Raiders won both match-ups last year and now lead the all-time series, 34-27. 
• Two years ago, the Titans won at home, 79-58, as Antoine Davis set a Titan freshman record with 48 points, while last season at home, Detroit Mercy led 69-63 but was stunned as WSU ended the game on a 7-0 run in the last 2:20 which included a 3-pointer by Jaylon Hall with 16 seconds left, to earn the win, 70-69. 
• Wright State has won 14 of the last 18 and Detroit Mercy is 15-12 all-time at home. 

GET OFF TO A QUICK START

• The Titans are 22-18 all-time in HL home openers and have won two straight, beating NKU last season and Wright State the year before.
• Overall, Detroit Mercy is 16-24 all-time in Horizon League openers. 

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 junior 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.
• Also, the legendary Bob Calihan coached his son, Bob Calihan Jr., for one season as he transferred to U-D from Loyola in his senior season in 1968-69.

TOPS IN THE NATION

• Detroit Mercy led the HL and was ninth in the NCAA in free-throw percentage at 78.2 percent last season and are currently leading the nation in that category hitting 88.3% on the year (53-of-60) 
• The Titans hit all 11 at the charity stripe at Michigan State and were 8-of-10 at Notre Dame, 18-of-20 against Kent State and 16-of-19 at Western Michigan.

DAVIS 2ND LEADING RETURNING SCORER IN D1

• After finishing third in the nation in scoring as a freshman (26.1), Antoine Davis was right back on top of the nation's leaders as a sophomore finishing fourth in the country at 24.3 points per game, trailing only Marquette's Markus Howard (27.8), UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson (26.8) and Hampton's Jermaine Marrow (24.8).
• He entered the season as the second leading returning scoring behind Jackson as Howard and Marrow both graduated. 
• Davis' career 24.8 points per game is tops among all active players and his 1,586 career points is 15th most among active players and the highest by any junior in DI.

JERRY WEST AWARD WATCH LIST

• Antoine Davis is no stranger to national recognition and he added to his collection of awards by being named to the Jerry West Award watch list by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. 
• Davis was named a top-10 finalist for the award last season. 
• Previous winners include Myles Powell, Seton Hall (2020), RJ Barrett, Duke (2019), Carsen Edwards, Purdue (2018), Malik Monk, Kentucky (2017), Buddy Hield, Oklahoma (2016) and D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State (2015). 

ONE LETHAL SHOT

• Antoine Davis hit a season-high seven 3-pointers against SIUE last season en route to 14 games with four or more triples. 
• He now has 31 games with four or more triples, 11 with six or more and has twice connected on 10 in his young career.
• Davis currently has 237 career 3-pointers, second in school history, while his career 3.78 triples per game is the second-highest among all active players in DI trailing only Dru Kuxhausen of McNeese State. 
• The 3.70 mark is also currently tied for eighth all-time in NCAA history. 
• His uncharacteristic 0-of-9 effort at Michigan State and 0-of-6 game at Western Michigan marked just the second and third time in 64 collegiate games that he failed to hit a three. The other was an 0-of-5 mark against Cleveland State last season.

RACKING UP THE POINTS

• Junior Antoine Davis now has 46 career 20-point games, 15 career 30-point outings and three 40-point contests in just 64 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 64 games - reaching at least 17 points in 51 of them.

ENDING 2019-20 IN STYLE

• Junior Antoine Davis did not want the 2019-20 season to end as he was on fire when the Titans played their last game.
• In his final four games of the year, he averaged 31.2 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 3.6 apg., and 2.0 spg., shooting 47.4% (42-of-88), 38.3% from three (14-of-36) and 87.0% from the line (27-of-31). 
• Davis' final game of the year saw him go for 43 points at IUPUI - tied for the ninth highest in the nation - and that followed games of 29 against Green Bay, 27 versus Milwaukee and 26 at UIC. 
• The Titans were not eligible for the Horizon League Tournament due to APR, but a hot Davis could have carried the Titans deep in the event as the HL was one conference to complete its tournament before the pandemic stopped all athletics. 
• He started the year with 24 at Michigan State and had 21 versus Kent State, putting him at 20 or more in six of his last eight games and 12 in his last 17 games dating back to last year. 

AD THE QUICKEST TO 1,000, NOW LOOKING AT 2,000

• Antoine Davis scored 27 points at Notre Dame last season, 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 - as the fastest Titan to reach 1,000.
• DeBusschere accomplished the feat in his 43rd collegiate on his way to 1,985. 
• Davis became 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.
• He now has 1,586 career points, 12th in school history, and is 414 points shy of 2000 - something only two Titans have done (John Long and Rashad Phillips).

PLAYING 40

• Antoine Davis led the HL with 36:45 minutes per game, 25th in the NCAA.
• After playing all 40 at Western Michigan, he has now played 40 or more minutes 15 times in his career, including three of the four games this season. 
• He started the year playing 38 at Michigan State. 

DAVIS DISHING IT OUT

• Junior Antoine Davis does not just score, but he also does a good job of helping his team and he handed out 4.5 assists per game, fourth in the HL and 89th in the nation, last season. 
• He has 254 career assists, good for 4.0 per game. 

SOMETHING TO PROVE

• A transfer from St. Bonaventure with one year of eligibility, Matt Johnson certainly made a name for himself in his first game as a Titan.
• Johnson tallied a career-high 20 points going 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from three with five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal at No. 8 Michigan State.
• He came right back to score 15 at Notre Dame with five rebounds and an assist at Notre Dame, pulled down a career-high seven rebounds with a career-best five steals against Kent State and scored 11 points at Western Michigan. 
• His previous career-high in scoring was just 12 points at George Washington last season as a member of St. Bonaventure. 
• He scored just 37 points all of last season, which included just four total 3-pointers, but through four games, he already has 51 points and has knocked down 10 triples. 
• Johnson played in 22 games with one start last year with the Bonnies, averaging 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds. 
• Prior to that, he played at two JUCO's spending his freshman year at Pensacola State and sophomore at Howard College
• With Pensacola State, he averaged 7.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and shot nearly 40 percent from the floor
• At Howard College, he was named All-Conference after averaging 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, scoring in double figures in 20 of 26 games, including five 20-point efforts
• As a prep, he played on two Maryland state championship squads at New Town High.

FRASER DID WHAT?

• Graduate senior Marquell Fraser accomplished something no Titan has done in 24 years and that was post a double-double in his Titan debut.
• Fraser had 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at nationally-ranked Michigan State, the first Titan to record a double-double in their first game since Derrick Hayes notched 14 points and 10 boards against Wayne State on Nov. 23, 1996. 
• It was the third career double-double for Fraser, who came back with an all-around game of 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals at Notre Dame and 12 points with three caroms at WMU.  
• He chose to play his final season a bit closer to home as he hails from Hamilton, Ontario, a three-hour drive from Detroit.
• As a prep, he was the No. 2 overall prospect out of Canada as a senior and a three-star recruit and played his freshman year at VCU before transferring to Idaho. 

BRADLEY BUCKETS

• Graduate Brad Calipari was in double figures six times last season as he saw action in 27 games, earning six starts, and posted 6.1 points and 1.1 rebounds per game along with nine steals. 
• He led the team shooting 38.0 percent from three. Calipari was also second on the team with 46 triples as 46 of his 51 total field goals were from behind the line and his 1.7, 3-pointers per game was second on the team and 11th in the Horizon League.
• He also shot 70.8 percent at the free-throw line (17-of-24).  
• Calipari hit at least two 3-pointers in 14 games - seven times in HL play - and connected on four or more in four contests. 
• He had a 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.
• 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 has the rare two years of eligibility as a graduate student as he graduated from Kentucky in just three years.
• 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. 

A LONG JOURNEY FOR KUOL

• Detroit Mercy's graduate senior transfer Bul Kuol is looking to make an impact.
• Kuol netted a career-high 18 points with six rebounds at Notre Dame, going a career-best 7-of-17 with three 3-pointers in 40 minutes of action. 
• He was very active in the season opener on defense and ended the game with 12 points and four rebounds at MSU. 
• A native of the Sudan, he moved to Canberra, Australia, as a kid and starred at Lake Ginninderra College as a prep.
• He then went to Cap Baptist and played in 91 games with 39 starts in his four years, averaging 5.2 points and 3.0 rebounds. Last season, he played in 16 games and posted 5.6 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game, connecting on 19-of-40 from long range, as well as being one of the team's top defenders.

ROSE RAISING HIS GAME

• Senior Dwayne Rose Jr. had a strong game at Notre Dame finishing with six points, six rebounds and three assists.
• He came back with 15 points and four boards against Kent State and netted 10 points with a key 3-pointer late in the game in a win at Western Michigan. 
• He played in 28 games with eight starts last year and averaged 7.3 points and 2.4 rebounds, shooting 39.5% overall, 44.8% from behind the arc and 71.1% at the line. 
• He really started to find his stride in the second half of last season, netting double figures in scoring in seven of the last 13 games, including back-to-back games of 20 or more and a career-high 22 against UIC.
• He had a then career-high of 20 points and eight rebounds at Wright State and followed that up with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists at NKU. 
• In his first 15 games, he scored in double figures just once and averaged 4.2 points and 1.5 rebounds, shooting 35.0% (21-of-60) from the field and 3-of-10 from three. 
• In his last 17 games, he averaged 10.1 points and 3.6 rebounds, shooting 45.5% (56-of-123), including 13-of-24 (54.1%) from three. 

BIG WILLY STYLE

• Junior Willy Isiani is back and looking to improve on his skill as a big man who can hit from the outside. A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, he is believed to be the first Titan from the country of Georgia.
• While he is known as a shooter, he is starting to learn the post position grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds with eight points at Western Michigan, posting a career-high five assists with six rebounds and two steals at Michigan State and 10 boards with two blocks at Notre Dame. 
• He showed his offense versus Kent State scoring 15 points with seven boards and three assists. 
• He connected on the three ball on 37 of his 51 field goals last season and 63 of 86 in his career have been from distance.

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