DETROIT (11/15/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will start a tough week of powerhouse competition as the red, white and blue head to Mississippi State to battle the Bulldogs on Wednesday, Nov. 17. 

Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. (EST) at Humphrey Coliseum and fans can watch the game live on ESPN+/SEC Network + or listen to the red, white and blue on WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM FaithTalk Detroit with the Voice of Detroit Mercy basketball Dan Hasty.

Detroit Mercy is off to an 0-2 start with road losses at Wyoming and at Toledo. Senior Antoine Davis leads the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game, while junior Madut Akec is tallying 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. 

Mississippi State - runner-up at last year's NIT - was picked to finish eighth in the annual SEC media preseason poll. The Bulldogs are off to a 2-0 start with home wins over North Alabama and Montana. 

Detroit Mercy will conclude the week at Louisville on Saturday. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• Mississippi State leads the all-time series, 2-1, as the Bulldogs swept a home and home series with an 82-76 win in Starkville in 2010 and an 80-75 victory in Detroit in 2011. 
• In 1968, No. 11 U-D - led by Spencer Haywood - downed the Bulldogs, 86-62, in the first game of the Motor City Basketball Tournament. Haywood registered 32 points and 24 rebounds in the win.

THE WORLD IN 1968

• Check out some fun facts about the world in 1968, the first time the Titans and Mississippi State met up.
• Republican Richard M. Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey in the U.S. presidential election
• Civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
• McDonald's launched the legendary Big Mac, the first Red Lobster restaurant opened in Lakeland, Florida, and Smucker's introduced Goober—a combination of peanut butter and jelly in a single jar
• Vince Lombardi stepped down as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
• The oldest and most-watched news magazine on television—60 Minutes—premiered on CBS, while the acclaimed children's show, Mister Rogers, debuted on NET (now PBS)

FAMILIAR WITH THE TITANS

• Mississippi State assistant coach Ernie Zeigler was an assistant at Detroit Mercy in 2014-15 and is a native of Detroit, playing at Cody High School. 

TITANS PICKED FIFTH 

• The Horizon League preseason coaches poll was released with the Titans earning fifth garnering two first-place votes and 350 points, trailing only defending champions Cleveland State (502), Wright State (463), NKU (406) and Milwaukee (396). 
• Oakland totaled 340 points for sixth place, while Youngstown State collected 214 for seventh. UIC (204), Purdue Fort Wayne (169), Robert Morris (157), Green Bay (146) and IUPUI (85) rounded out the poll. 
• It was the highest the Titans have been picked in the HL preseason poll since being selected fourth in 2015.

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 senior guard Antoine Davis.
• From 2010-13, the Titans had head coach Ray McCallum and star guard Ray McCallum, winning the HL title 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 for his senior season in 1968-69.

STAT RANKINGS

• Last season as a team, the Titans were top 100 in a number of areas, including fifth in both 3-point field goal percentage (39.1%) and free-throw percentage (80.4%) and 10th in 3-point field goals per game (10.2). 
• The Titans also ranked 11th in least fouls per game (14.3), 50th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.25), 52nd in total 3-pointers (225), 56th in field goal percentage (46.4%) and scoring offense (76.5%), 60th in least turnovers per game (11.5) and 89th in assists per game (14.3).

FROM ALL OVER

• The Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will feature student-athletes from eight states (Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York and Texas) and four countries (Canada, Georgia, Ivory Coast and the Sudan).

TOUGH SCHEDULE

• A nine-game road trip will start the season for the Titans as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team's non-conference is one filled with tough match-ups
• The opponents totaled a 116-101 record last year and has teams from the SEC, ACC and Mountain West, conferences that produce multi NCAA Tournament teams. 
• The nine-straight games away from Calihan Hall is the second-longest streak away from the Motor City since the end of the 2000-01 campaign when the Titans played 10-straight with two road games to end the season, three neutral site games in the conference tournament, and then five games in the NIT as they made a run to the semifinals.  

CASHING IN ON THE FREE ONES

• Senior Antoine Davis, who claimed fourth in DI in free-throw percentage with a league-best and school-record 91.7% (88-of-96) last season, currently owns the school record at 89.0% (371-of-417) and comes into the game hitting a school-record 57-straight free throws, the longest current streak in the country. 
• His 89.0% is the fourth-highest among active returning players in the nation. 

RACKING UP THE POINTS

• Senior Antoine Davis now has 60 career 20-point games, 20 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in just 84 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 84 games - reaching at least 17 points in 67 of them.
• He enters the season with a chance at the NCAA record for most consecutive games in double figures, held by La Salle's Lionel Simmons (1986-90) and Campbell's Chris Clemons at 115 (2015-19). 
• Last year, he recorded a HL-best 15, 20-point games, five 30-point outings and a conference high-tying 46 points, just two off his career-high and a HL Tournament record with his 46 coming against Robert Morris in the first round of the playoffs. 
• The 46 points was tied for the league and nation high with Cleveland State's D'Moi Hodge (vs. Purdue Fort Wayne). 
• Last season he also reached at least 23 points in 13-straight games, the best 20-point streak by a Titan since Spencer Haywood's 16-straight in 1968-69 - and to Haywood's resume, most of those were 30-point games. 

PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Antoine Davis was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year.
• It was the second time he has earned that honor as he was also tabbed with the accolade as a sophomore.
• Last season, the Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American led the Horizon League in scoring and was third in the nation at 24.0 points per game, a number that has him ranked as the second leading returning scorer in the county this year.
• He also led the HL and was second in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (3.77), marking the third-straight year that Davis has been top 10 nationally in 3-point field goals per game. He was among the nation's leaders in a bevy of other categories including: fourth in free-throw percentage with a league-best and school-record 91.7%, 12th in total 3-pointers (83), 22nd in total points (527), 23rd in total field goals (178), 59th in the nation in assists per game (4.8), 64th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (37.2%) and 92nd in DI in total assists (105).

AD THE QUICKEST TO 1,000 & 2,000, ON A QUEST FOR SCHOOL RECORD

• Antoine Davis scored 27 points at Notre Dame in the 2019-20 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 game.
• 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.
• Last year, he passed DeBusschere again (1,978) for third in Titan history as he crossed the 2,000-point plateau in his 81st game, quicker than the other two 2,000-point scorers in John Long (2,167 total - 2,000 in game 102) and Rashad Phillips (2,319 total - 2,000 in game 116). 
• He now has 2,077 career points, just 90 behind Long for second place and 242 in back of Phillips for the all-time school mark. 

ABOUT 2,000 POINTS

• Senior Antoine Davis has 2,077 career points, the fourth leading active scorer in the country in total points, although all of his have come against DI competition. 
• At the moment, 608 NCAA players have amassed over 2,000 career points at the DI level and if he is able to get to 2,500, only 73 players have achieved that mark.
• Only 12 players have reached 2,000 career points in the Horizon League as he is eighth in conference history in that category, 837 shy of the all-time mark. 

ONE LETHAL SHOT

• Antoine Davis comes into the year fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.82, three-point field goals per game.
• He has connected on a 3-pointer in 80 of his 84 collegiate games and also has 44 career games with four or more triples, 15 with six or more, eight games with seven or more, and has thrice connected on 10 in his career, tying a school record as well as breaking a conference tournament record. 
• He was the league leader and second in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (3.77) last season, and that marked the third-straight year that he has been top 10 nationally in 3-point field goals per game. 
• His 39 career 3-pointers is also second in school and Horizon League history, trailing former Titan Rashad Phillips' 348, while also fourth among active players in the NCAA in that category. 

DAVIS NAMED TO BOB COUSY, LOU HENSON AWARD WATCH LIST

• Antoine Davis began the year on a couple of national award watch lists in the Bob Cousy Award and Lou Henson Award. 
• The Bob Cousy - given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - annual honor is now in its 19th year and recognizes the top point guards in Division I men's college basketball. 
• The Lou Henson National Player of the Year award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I.

AMONG THE BESTS

• Senior Antoine Davis ended last year leading the Horizon League and ranking third in the country in scoring at 24.0 points per game, just 0.5 shy of the leader, marking the third-straight season he finished in the top four nationally in scoring (26.1 for third in 2019 and 24.3 for fourth in 2020).
• He also became just the second player in HL history to lead the conference three times joining Loyola's Alfredrick Hughes (1983, 1984, 1985) as he could set put just himself on that pedestal if he were to lead the league again this year.

DAVIS DISHING IT OUT

• Senior Antoine Davis can not only score, but he can get his teammates involved as he stands 10th in school history with 354 career assists. 
• He has 36 career games with five or more assists with a career high of nine at Wright State in 2020. 

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 has won the 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 2,077 career points, 354assists and 114 steals.  
• Compared to his brother, current assistant coach Mike Davis Jr., Antoine has him beat as well as recorded 143 career points, 33 assists and 25 steals in three seasons at UAB from 2006-09. 

WHAT AN AKEC DEBUT

• Junior Madet Akec made an immediate impact with the Titans in his debut at Wyoming, posting his first career double-double with career-high 14 points and a career-best 13 rebounds.
• He came back upping his career-high to 15 points - all in the second half - with seven boards, two assists, two blocks and a steal at Toledo. 
• A teammate of current Titan Prince Oduro at South Florida, he competed in 33 games at USF the past two seasons, redshirting as a freshman. 
• In his first year, he played in 18 games, with five starts, and averaged 2.1 points and 2.1 rebounds shooting 48.1 percent from the floor and 4-of-11 from three.
• He then saw action in 15 games last season and averaged 1.7 points and 2.5 rebounds shooting 38.2 %, while hitting 7-of-19 from behind the arc
• A native of Tonj, South Sudan, he prepped at Victory Rock in Bradenton, Florida, where he tallied 19.3 points and 9.9 rebounds as a senior, shooting 48.0-percent from three-point range.
• His brother, Deng Adel, played basketball at Louisville and played in the NBA with Toronto, Cleveland and Brooklyn and is currently playing overseas in Wales.

A MCADOO IS BACK

• Kevin McAdoo had the distinction of making the first basket of the season, hitting a triple at Wyoming and is coming off a career game, tying his career-high with 23 points and hitting five 3-pointers at Toledo. 
• The name McAdoo is special in Titans' history as his father, Kevin McAdoo Sr., is the school's all-time assist leader with 615 earning four varsity letters between 1982-86.
• He played last year at Bradley after playing his first two years at Eastern Michigan. 
• Last season, he saw action in 17 games with eight starts and averaged 6.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, while posting a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. 
• He tallied a season-best 13 points at Missouri State and notched 10 points to go along with a career-best five assists at Valparaiso.
• In his first two years at EMU, he played in 59 games with 21 starts and recorded 6.7 points and 1.0 assists, shooting 42.4% overall and 34.4% from behind the arc. 
• As a sophomore, he netted 8.6 points and 1.5 assists along with 30 steals and knocking down 40 triples, second on the squad. He scored a personal-best 23 points in the 2017-18 season finale against Sam Houston State and 20 points at Central Michigan in 2018-19.
• As a prep, he earned four letters at West Bloomfield High School and averaged 25.0 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds, leading his team to the final four and earning Third-Team All-State honors in his senior campaign. 

HL'S SIXTH MAN RETURNS 

• A transfer from St. Bonaventure, Matt Johnson was selected the HL Sixth Man of the Year last season and returns to the Titans for another year. 
• He started the season with nine points and five boards at Wyoming. 
• He was just the second Titan to ever receive the HL Sixth Player Of The Year following Eli Holman in 2012. 
• He saw action in all 22 games with eight starts and averaged 8.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists, while shooting 43.2% from the field, 39.2% from three and 94.4% at the free-throw line (17-of-18).
• He ended the year fourth on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.
• He scored in double-digits eight times with three 20-point performances, grabbed at least five rebounds in eight games and handed out at least three assists in three contests. 
• Johnson posted a then career-high 20 points (7-14 FG, 4-6 3FG) along with five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in his Titan debut at Michigan State and followed that up with 15 points and five boards at Notre Dame. 
• He grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and scored 10 points against Wright State in game one and then tied his then career-best with 20 points to go with six rebounds in game two. 
• Later in the season, he recorded a career-high 24 points on a career-best 9-of-14 from the field with six 3-pointers to go with six rebounds in the second victory over Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Before last season, he transferred from St. Bonaventure, where he played in 22 games with one start and scored just 37 total parts. 
• He also played at two junior colleges prior to St. Bonaventure spending his freshman year at Pensacola State and sophomore at Howard College. 

DJ LOOKING TO END HIS CAREER ON A HIGH NOTE

• Graduate senior DJ Harvey joined the Titans this season for one more shot at making a run to the NCAA Tournament.
• Harvey just tied his career-high pulling down nine boards at Toledo. 
• He started his collegiate career playing two seasons at Notre Dame before playing the last two years at Vanderbilt. 
• After sitting out his first season with the Commodores, saw action in 23 games with 10 starts in 2020-21 and tallied 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game and that jumped to 14.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in the SEC Tournament. 
• He shot 38.9 % overall, 36.8 % from three and 88.9 % from the free-throw line with 11 assists and 11 steals, netting double figures eight times, including a season-high 17 points and five rebounds in a win over Texas A&M in the first round of the SEC Tournament. 
• Prior to that, he played 47 games with Notre Dame and averaged 8.6 points and 3.7 rebounds, shooting 38.5 % with 47, 3-pointers. 
• Some of his big games as a member of the Fighting Irish included posting 18 points at Florida State, 18 points and a season-high eight rebounds against Georgia Tech, 19 points on a career-best four 3-point field goals against Jacksonville, 19 points with five boards versus Purdue and a career-high 19 points with six rebounds and a steal at Illinois.
• As a prep, he averaged 17.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists as a senior at DeMatha High School as he helped the program to 118 wins in his four years. He was ranked as the No. 1 player in the state of Maryland by 24/7 Sports and MaxPreps and nationally as No. 21 (MaxPreps), No. 43 (SI.com), No. 43 (Scout), No. 44 (247Sports), No. 47 (ESPN) and No. 51 (Rivals).

HIGH WATERMARK

• Junior Noah Waterman was a great addition to the Titan team a year ago. 
• He became eligible mid-season and played in 15 games with 12 starts and was third on the team in scoring (11.9), fourth in rebounding (4.5) and tied for the team lead with 10 blocks. 
• He shot 55.5% from the field and 52.8% from the outside (38-of-72), scoring in double figures in eight games with one 20-point outing. 
• Waterman started his Titan career with eight points with three assists and came back with 19 points, three rebounds and three assists in game two. 
• He averaged 9.0 points and 3.5 rebounds with a pair of steals in the wins over Green Bay netting 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 4-of-7 from three with two steals, a rebound and an assist in game one
• In the second meeting with Oakland on the road, he posted 12.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game recording 18 points and a career-high eight rebounds and two blocks in the win, hitting 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-8 from three.
• He netted 17 points with five rebounds and two blocks in the win at Horizon League champions Cleveland State, going a career-best 5-of-7 from three with three of those in the final three minutes to seal the win and ended the regular season against Robert Morris netting 19 points in game one and a career-high 22 in game two, where he was a career-best 8-of-11 from the field with a career-tying five triples. 
• He then had 19 points and pulled down five rebounds in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals at NKU. 
• A transfer from Niagara, Waterman played in seven games with five starts until an injury ended his freshman year.
• In high school, he was 6-2 but hit a growth spurt and is now almost seven feet allowing him to play as a guard with his shooting skills. 

THE MOTOR CITY HAS A PRINCE

• Senior Prince Oduro transferred to the Titans as a four-year Division I transfer, playing in 69 career games at Siena, Mississippi State and South Florida.
• He scored eight points and five rebounds at Toledo his last time out. 
• A member of the USF Bulls last year, he saw action in 17 games, averaging 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, shooting 45.9 % from the floor. 
• He scored a season-high eight points and added five rebounds at Wichita State and had six points and four rebounds against Temple in the AAC Tournament.
• At Mississippi State in 2019-20, he played in 21 games and averaged 1.2 points and 0.9 rebounds, connecting on 7-of-13 shots.
• As a freshman at Siena in 2017-18, he was an impact player starting 27 of the 31 games he appeared in and earning All-MAAC Rookie Team honors tallying 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds, shooting 48.4 % from the field with 21 blocks.
• He notched a season-high 19 points against Niagara and pulled down a season's best 12 rebounds against Manhattan.
• In high school, he played for First Love Christian Academy in Washington, Pennsylvania, and averaged 13.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game as his team garnered a 24-3 record and earned a Slam National Post-Grad Championship appearance during senior season.
• He was the first player in his prep school's history to sign with a Division I program and that was after suiting up for Earl Haig Secondary in his native Canada, where he won a gold medal as Team Canada posted a 6-1 record at the 2017 FIBA U19 World Cup in Egypt.

BIG WILLY STYLE

• Senior Willy Isiani is back and as one of the most experienced Titans, he has been a part of the turnaround under head coach Mike Davis.
• Known as a shooter, he is started 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 last year. He also notched 15 points with seven boards and three assists against Kent State.  
• A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, who is believed to be the first Titan from the country of Georgia, has connected on the three ball on 67 of his 99 career field goals.