DETROIT (12/7/2020) -- Playing their third game in five days, the Titans will finally get a chance to play at home as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team welcomes Kent State on Tuesday, Dec. 8.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. and 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 are coming off two tough losses to power conferences falling 83-76 at nationally-ranked Michigan State and 78-70 at Notre Dame. In both games, Detroit Mercy had a lead with seven minutes left in the game, but saw both teams make one final run in the contest. 

Junior Antoine Davis leads the team in scoring at 19.0 points per game, one of four Titans averaging double figures through two games. Senior Matt Johnson is tallying 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, graduate senior Bul Kuol is averaging 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds and graduate senior Marquell Fraser is at 11.5 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds. 

Kent State is 1-1 on the season beating Point Park, 90-41, before taking Virginia to overtime on the road and losing 71-64. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• These two campuses are separated by just 200 miles and are three hours apart, but this will be just the seventh career meeting between the two squads as Kent State leads it, 4-2. 
• Last year, Detroit Mercy got off to a slow start as the Golden Flashes won the game, 92-57.
• Antoine Davis tallied 30 points as a freshman and 23 last year against Kent State.  

FINALLY ABLE TO START

• Detroit Mercy opened its season last Friday at Michigan State, and off a tweet sent out by Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, scheduled a game against the Fighting Irish on Sunday. 
• 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. 

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.

AGAINST THE MAC

• Detroit Mercy is 180-121 all-time against current members of the MAC.
• The Titans are trying to break an eight-game losing streak to the conference as the last win was a 78-74 victory at Eastern Michigan in 2018. 
• The last home win vs. the MAC was also in 2018 when they beat Bowling Green, 82-67 to win the Legends Classic subregional.

 
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 at Michigan State and were just 8-of-10 at Notre Dame. 

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. 
• At Notre Dame, the Titans were just edged on the glass, 42-39, and had a 13-7 advantage on second-chance points and 12-7 ledger on fast-break points. 

EVERYONE MUST HELP OUT

• The Titans had five players pull down at least five rebounds at Notre Dame and three players also recorded three assists. 

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. 

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 25.0 points per game is tops among all active players and his 1,551 career points is 11th 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. 
• A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list.
• 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 235 career 3-pointers and is already tied for second in school history, while his career 3.79 triples per game is the second-highest among all active players in DI trailing only Dru Kuxhausen of McNeese State. 
• The 3.79 mark is also currently seventh all-time in NCAA history. 
• His uncharacteristic 0-of-9 effort at Michigan State marked just the second time in 62 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 45 career 20-point games, 15 career 30-point outings and three 40-point contests in just 62 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 63 games - reaching at least 17 points in 50 of them.
• In two seasons, Davis has scored 1,551 career points, 13th in school history and his 235, 3-pointers is tied for second in the school record book

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 in five of his last six games and 10 in his last 15 games dating back to last year. 

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 1,551 career points, 13th in school history, and is 449 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. 

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 248 career assists, good for 4.0 per game. 

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 and had one at Notre Dame.

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. 
• Fraser came back with an all-around game of 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals at Notre Dame. 
• 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.
• He came right back to score 15 at Notre Dame with five rebounds and an assist at Notre Dame. 
• 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 two games already has 35 points and has knocked down six 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.

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 1,551 career points, 248 assists and 84 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. 

A LONG JOURNEY FOR KUOL

• Detroit Mercy's graduate senior transfer Bul Kuol is looking to make an impact.
• Kuol is coming off 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.

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 had a career-high five assists with six rebounds and two steals at Michigan State and pulled down 10 boards with two blocks at Notre Dame. 
• He connected on the three ball on 37 of his 51 field goals last season and 58 of 80 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. 

IN THE BOOKS

• Freshman Joey Liedel made his collegiate debut late in the game at Notre Dame and quickly showed the Titans what to look forward to as he knocked down his first shot, a 3-pointer, something he did 334 times as a prep, sixth in the state of Michigan record books.