DETROIT (12/5/2020) -- After battling the nationally-ranked Michigan State Spartans, the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will be right back on the court on Sunday, Dec. 6, as the Titans head to South Bend, Indiana, to face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network. 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 Jeremy Otto on the call.

The Titans started the season with a near upset as they led MSU by five points, 59-54, midway through the second half before falling 83-76 to the No. 8 team in the country. Junior Antoine Davis tallied a game-high 24 points. Senior Matt Johnson had a career-high 20 in his Titan debut, while graduate senior Marquell Fraser recorded a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

ALL-TIME SERIES

• This is a battle of two old Catholic rivals, which started in 1912 as Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 42-12, including 20-4 at home.
• The Titans have actually won two of the last four, but last year, Notre Dame posted a 110-71 victory.
• The last Detroit Mercy wins came in back-to-back seasons with a 72-70 triumph on the road in 1992 and an 83-59 tally at home in 1993. 

LOOKING BACK TO 1912

• Here are a few things that were going on in 1912 when the Titans first played Notre Dame.
• 1. Woodrow Wilson was elected as the 28th president
• 2. New Mexico was admitted as 47th state and Arizona as the 48th
• 3. Fenway Park opened with a game between the Boston Red Sox and NY Yankees (who were known at that time as the "Highlanders")
• 4. The Titanic sinks
• 5. Nabisco debuted its new cookie, the Oreos
• 6. First year toy surprises were put into every Cracker Jack box

FINALLY ABLE TO START

• Detroit Mercy opened its season on Friday at Michigan State.
• Its first action was supposed to be in the Bluegrass Classic from Nov. 25-29, but had to cancel the games due to a positive COVID-19 test in the program. 
• The positive test came about from a member of the support staff and no other players or coaches tested positive or have since, although a few members of the team are in isolation due to contact tracing.
• The team was not put on pause and was able to continue to practice outside of those players and staff member.  

KEEP CHECKING

• You really have to keep checking the schedule if you are a college basketball fan this year due to the additions, subtractions and date changes.
• In the last week, the Titans added this game at Notre Dame, rescheduled their game at Kentucky to Dec. 15 and moved their home game against Kent State to Dec. 8.
• What else could happen, don't even ask. 

BASKETBALL BLOODLINES

• 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
• * Senior Dwayne Rose Jr. is the nephew of current Pistons' guard and 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose
• * Junior 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 and current Kentucky assistant coach Jai Lucas
• * Sophomore Jamail Pink's uncle is NBA Hall-Of-Famer Clyde Drexler

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.

GETTING THE FREE ONES

• Detroit Mercy led the HL and was ninth in the NCAA in free-throw percentage at 78.2 percent last season, connecting on at least 20 or more seven times last year.
• The Titans were back at it in the season opener hitting all 11 at the charity stripe.

TWO FOR 20

• The Titans had two players reach 20 points in the season opener at Michigan State as Antoine Davis led the team with 24 and Matt Johnson had 20.

COMPETING FOR EVERYTHING

• Detroit Mercy gave No. 8 Michigan State all it could handle in the season opener.
• The Titans outshot the Spartans, 70-63, and were just outrebounded by the Big Ten foe, 40-36, but claimed more offensive rebounds by a 14-12 margin.
• They also forced 17 MSU turnovers and took four charges, while being outscored in the paint by just two, 36-34. 

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 25.2 points per game is tops among all active players and his 1,537 career points is 11th most among active players and the highest by any junior in DI. 

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 putting him at 20 or more for the five-straight game dating back to last season and 10 in his last 14 games.  

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 233 career 3-pointers and is already tied for third in school history, while his career 3.88 triples per game is the second-highest among all active players in DI trailing only Dru Kuxhausen of McNeese State. 
• The 3.72 mark is also currently eighth all-time in NCAA history. 
• His 0-of-9 effort at Michigan State marked just the second time in 61 collegiate games that he failed to hit a three. The other was an 0-of-5 mark against Cleveland State last season. 

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 245 career assists, good for 4.0 per game. 

RACKING UP THE POINTS

• Junior Antoine Davis now has 45 career 20-point games, 15 career 30-point outings and three 40-point contests in just 61 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 61 games - reaching at least 17 points in 50 of them.
• In two seasons, Davis has scored 1,537 career points, 13th in school history and his 233, 3-pointers is tied for third in the school record book

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. 
• A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list, named after Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player Jerry West. 
• 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). 

AD THE QUICKEST TO 1,000, NOW LOOKING AT SCHOOL RECORD 

• 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 1,537 career points, 13th in school history, and is 463 points shy of 2000 - something only two Titans have done (John Long and Rashad Phillips)
• In fact, it was not out of the realm of possibility that in a normal year of 30+ games, he could have broken the all-time record this season as he sits just 806 behind Phillips' 2,319. 

WATCH YOUR BACK

• Antoine Davis tallied a career-high 51 steals last season, ending the year third in the Horizon League and 87th in the nation with 1.73 steals per game. 
• He started the campaign with three at Michigan State. 

A BIT CLOSER TO HOME

• Detroit Mercy's graduate senior transfer Marquell Fraser had a great game to start his Titan career at nationally-ranked Michigan State.
• He posted his third career double-double ending with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to go with two assists and two steals in 39 minutes of action. 
• 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. 
• A proven-ball handler, as a Vandel, he played in just eight games as a junior due to injury and appeared in 26 games with 13 starts last year, averaging 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists 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.
• His previous career-high was just 12 points at George Washington last season as a member of St. Bonaventure, and he scored just 37 points all of last season, which included just four total 3-pointers. 
• 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.

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 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. 

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 1,537 career points, 244 assists and 82 steals.  
• For Brad Calipari, he has already surpassed his dad's, John Calipari, point totals at Division I as he has 173 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. 

PLAYING 40

• Antoine Davis led the HL with 36:45 minutes per game, 25th in the NCAA.
• He played 40 or more minutes seven times last season and has 12 times in his career to this point. 
• He started the year playing 38 at Michigan State. 

A LONG JOURNEY FOR KUOL

• Detroit Mercy's graduate senior transfer Bul Kuol is looking to make an impact.
• 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.
• Kuol was very active in the season opener on defense and ended the game with 12 points and four rebounds at MSU. 

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.
• He connected on the three ball on 37 of his 51 field goals last season and 57 of 74 in his career have been from distance.
• He also started to do some work in the post, grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds against Milwaukee. 
• Some of his other standout performances saw his post 13 points with seven rebounds in the win over UC Irvine and nailing five treys en route to 15 points at Ohio. 
• Isiani began the year with seven points, six rebounds and a career-best five assists and two steals at Michigan State.  

ROSE RAISING HIS GAME

• Senior Dwayne Rose Jr. 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 13 games, he averaged 10.7 points and 3.4 rebounds, shooting 42.1% (43-of-102), including 10-of-19 from three. 

CLEANING THE GLASS

• Junior Chris Brandon elevated his game to another level last year and was a beast on the glass all season long. 
• He saw action in all 31 games with 18 starts and had career highs posting a team-high 8.1 rebounds and 44 blocks to go with 6.3 points and 20 steals, while shooting a career-best 63.4 percent from the field, a team-high and second in school history. 
• Brandon was fourth in the HL with 3.13 offensive rebounds per game (44th in DI) and fifth in total rebounding at 8.1 (110th in DI) as he recorded a team-high four double-doubles on the year and pulled down at least 10 rebounds in 12 contests, including 10 times in conference action. 
• He posted his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds along with four blocks at #1 Gonzaga. He scored a career-high 18 points (9-10 FG) and blocked a career-best six shots with 12 rebounds against IUPUI and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds - the most boards by a Titan since 1992 - with six points, three blocks and two assists at Oakland.