DETROIT (12/20/2020) -- Graduate senior Bul Kuol scored a career-high 21 points and senior Matt Johnson tied his career-best with 20, but the Titans were not able to complete the comeback falling 85-72 to visiting Wright State on Sunday at Calihan Hall.

Kuol was 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-8 from behind the arc with four rebounds, a career-high four steals and two blocks. Johnson was 8-of-14 with three 3-pointers and six boards, while junior Antoine Davis netted 10 points and had a team-high six assists. 

The Titans (1-5, 0-2 HL) erased a first-half double-digit deficit to take the lead in the second half, 56-55, off a triple from Johnson on a nice feed from Davis. The game was also knotted at 60-60 as Johnson nailed a three and was fouled, hitting a free throw for the four-point play with 7:28 left, but the Raiders (4-1, 2-0 HL) were able to jump back in front and the red, white and blue could not recover. 

Graduate senior Marquell Fraser ended with 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals and junior Chris Brandon posted six points and six rebounds with a pair of blocks. 

Detroit Mercy shot 38.5% for the game with seven 3-pointers and were 15-of-18 (83.3%) at the free-throw line, while forcing 14 turnovers and coming away with nine steals and six blocks. 

The Titans were set to host IUPUI next weekend, but those games were canceled due to Horizon League Covid-19 protocols within the Jaguars program so Detroit Mercy's next action is set for Jan. 1-2 at UIC. 

First Half:

• Wright State scored the first five points, but back came the Titans as Kuol connected on a 3-pointer and Fraser was fouled, hitting two free throw throws to knot it up at 5-5
• Later on, the Raiders opened a double-digit lead, 20-9, on the strength of a 9-0 run
• Kuol ended that with a three and then he stole the ball and went down on the other end for a slam for five quick points
• The Titans then extended their run to 9-0 as Fraser and Johnson had layups and they were down just 20-18 with 8:35 left
• After four-straight points by WSU, Rose Jr. drove the rim for a layup and hit the free throw for a three-point play and then Kuol was fouled and his two free throws tied it at 24-24 with 7:01 remaining
• The Raiders went up by four again, but the defense helped Detroit Mercy tie it yet again as Fraser hustled back on defense and forced a miss off an easy layup by WSU and that led to a bucket for Brandon
• Off a miss, Johnson scored and it was 28-28 with 3:34 left
• Kuol also tied the game at 30-30 with free throws and 32-32 with a jumper as he ended with 15 points in the first 20 minutes, but the Raiders had a 35-32 lead at the break

Second Half:

• Wright State got off to another fast start with seven points to open the frame
• Kuol ended that with a triple and that was followed up with a Fraser layup and it was 44-37 with 17:13 on the clock
• Davis hit a jumper and then off a steal, he found Johnson and his three got the team within five, 49-44, with 14:03 left
• Back-to-back baskets by Johnson and then a trifecta from Kuol tied it at 51-51 with 11 minutes to go
• A steal by Brandon and he was fouled, hitting two free throws, tied it at 53-53 and then Johnson gave the Titans a 56-55 lead as he drilled a 3-pointer with 9:30 remaining
• Detroit Mercy knotted it again at 60-60 with 7:30 left as Johnson was fouled hitting a three and he made the free throw for the four-point play
• A dunk by Brandon got the team back to one, 63-62, with just under seven minutes to go 
• The Raiders pushed the lead back to five, but Davis twice got the Titans within three, first with a jumper at 5:42 to make it 67-64 and then again with two free throws at 4:37 to cut it to 71-68
• That was as close as the Titans would get the rest of the way

Game Notes:

• The Raiders now lead the all-time series, 36-27, and have won 16 of the last 20
• The last time the Titans played the same opponent in back-to-back games was the end of the 2017-18 season when Detroit Mercy finished the year at Green Bay and then played Green Bay in the first round of the HL Tournament at LCA
• The last time the Titans faced the same opponent in back-to-back days was Dec. 16-17, 1955. when the Titans played at Houston as both schools were members of the Missouri Valley Conference
• The last time the Titans had two players with 20 or more was in the season opener at Michigan State as Davis had 24 and Johnson had 20
• The Titans came into the game top-10 in the nation in free throw percentage at 84.3% and were 15-of-18 in the game
• Kuol's previous career-high was 18 at Notre Dame
• Johnson's previous career high was 20 points at MSU
• Davis moved into ninth place in school history with 1,611 points, passing Jerry Davis, Dwayne Kelley and Guy Sparrow and just seven behind Ray McCallum Jr.'s 1,618 for eighth place
• Davis' career-high in assists was nine at Wright State last season