DETROIT (12/1/2021) -- Horizon League play will start this weekend as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will start the conference action in the hometown of the championship as the Titans visit IUPUI on Thursday.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana, the home site for the league's men's and women's basketball championships. 

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while fans can also listen to all the action on WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM FaithTalk Detroit with the Voice of Detroit Mercy basketball Dan Hasty.

Detroit Mercy has had a slow start to league play at 0-6, but the first six opponents are a combined 29-11 on the year with Wyoming at 6-0, Toledo at 6-1 and Louisville and Mississippi State at 5-1.  

Senior Antoine Davis is currently second in the nation in scoring at 23.7 points per game and is on the verge of becoming not only the all-time Titan leader in 3-point field goals, but also the HL all-time leader as he enters the game with 342 career triples, six behind the record held by Titan legend Rashad Phillips. 

IUPUI is 1-5 on the year with the one win coming in its last game against NAIA member Spalding, 61-41. The Jaguars are the lowest-scoring team in the league at 51.8 points per game, but they are also first in the league in defense allowing just 57.5 points. 

Following the game, the Titans will head to UIC, but with an extra day of rest as Detroit Mercy will play the Flames on Sunday. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• Despite being just about a four and a half-hour drive, the Titans and Jaguars had never faced each other before IUPUI joined the Horizon League in 2018-19 as Detroit Mercy leads the series, 4-2.
• The Titans are 1-2 all-time at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum, the home court for the 2022 Horizon League men's and women's basketball championships. 
• IUPUI moved to Division I in 1998-98 and was independent for two seasons before joining the Mid-Continent (now the Summit League) in 2000-01.

LAST TIME IN INDY 

• It was the end of the 2019-20 season when sophomore Antoine Davis was unstoppable, pouring in a season-high 43 points as the Titans used some clutch free throws down the stretch to win in come-from-behind fashion, 90-88, at IUPUI.
• The 43 points marked the second-most in his career behind the 48 he had against Wright State as a freshman and is still the seventh-highest scoring game in Titan history.
•  Davis was 15-of-28 from the field with six 3-pointers and was 7-of-8 at the free-throw line. 

I KNOW YOU 

• IUPUI graduate senior BJ Maxwell was a Titan, wearing the red, white and blue during the 2019-20 campaign. 
• He started two games before suffering a season-ending hand injury.
• Maxwell is the rare seventh-year senior as he earned an extra year due to injury and another due to the pandemic.

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. 
• 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. 
• So far the six non-conference foes are 29-11 on the year with Wyoming at 6-0, Toledo at 6-1 and Louisville and Mississippi State at 5-1. 
• 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.  

STAT RANKINGS

• The Titans currently rank 60th in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (9.3), 100th in 3-point field-goal percentage (35.9%) and 81st in free throw percentage (73.9%).
• The team is also 69th in fewest fouls and 89th in fewest turnovers per contest.
• Individually, senior Antoine Davis is second in the nation in scoring (23.7), fourth in 3-point field goals per game (4.3), seventh in minutes played (38:12) and 18th in free throw percentage (94.7%), while his 39 points at Hofstra is tied for the fourth-most in the country this year and the eight triples he made in the contest is tied for the seventh most. 
• Junior Madut Akec is 84th in rebounding (8.2). 

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 89.1% (386-of-433).
• He saw his school record and NCAA-best 57-straight free throw streak come to an end at Louisville. As a sophomore, he had a streak of 37 in a row at one point. 
• His 89.1% is the third-highest among active returning players in the nation. 

RACKING UP THE POINTS

• Senior Antoine Davis now has 63 career 20-point games, 21 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in just 88 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 88 games - reaching at least 17 points in 70 of them.
• He entered 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 reached at least 23 points in 13-straight, the best 20-point streak by a Titan since Spencer Haywood's 16-straight in 1968-69 - but 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 HL 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 (3.77).

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 2,182 career points, as he just passed Long for second place and is now 137 in back of Phillips for the all-time school mark. 

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

• Senior Antoine Davis is the only active player at the Division I level to have at least 1,500 points and 350 assists. 

ABOUT 2,000 POINTS

• Senior Antoine Davis has 2,182 career points, the third 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 sixth in conference history in that category, 732 shy of the all-time mark. 

ONE LETHAL SHOT

• Antoine Davis comes into the year fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.89, three-point field goals per game.
• He has connected on a 3-pointer in 84 of his 88 collegiate games and also has 48 career games with four or more triples, 17 with six or more, nine 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 342 career 3-pointers is also second in school and Horizon League history, trailing former Titan Rashad Phillips' 348, while also third among active players.

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, 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 (1983-85) as he could put just himself on that pedestal if he were to lead the league again this year as he currently sits on top and second in the country at 23.7 ppg. 

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 368 career assists. 
• He has 37 career games with five or more assists with a career-high of nine at Wright State in 2020 and a season-high of eight at Hofstra.  

MADUT DOING IT ALL

• Junior Madet Akec is averaging 14.2 points and a team-best 8.2 rebounds, 10 steals and three blocks. He has also scored in double figures in all six games. 
• He is shooting 48.5% overall and has hit at least two 3-pointers in four games. 
• He posted his third double-double of the year - and second straight - with 17 points and 11 rebounds at Hofstra. 
• 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 and exceeded his career high with 19 points and five steals to go with a team-high 10 boards for his second double-double at Louisville. 
• 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, and tallied 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds, while shooting nearly 50.0% (14-of-31).  
• A native of Tonj, South Sudan, he grew up in Melbourne, Australia, before prepping at Victory Rock in Bradenton, Florida.
• 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 then had a career game, tying his career-high with 23 points and hitting five 3-pointers at Toledo. 
• At Mississippi State, he scored 13 points and handed out four assists. 
• 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 letters between 1982-86.
• He played last year at Bradley after playing his first two 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 and 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 at West Bloomfield High School, he 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 and tied for the team-high with four assists at Mississippi State before scoring 10 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals at Louisville
• He added 10 more points at Hofstra and seven points, four rebounds and two assists at Northeastern.  
• 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, scoring in double-digits eight times with three 20-point performances.
• 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 against 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 tied his career-high pulling down nine boards at Toledo and then netted six points with five boards at Mississippi State.  
• 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 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 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. 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 - who just returned to the Titans after missing four-straight games with an undisclosed injury - 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.
• 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 shots 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.
• Oduro just grabbed a season-high eight rebounds at Northeastern to go with five points. 
• He scored eight points with five rebounds at Toledo and was then perfect from the field hitting all seven shots and finishing with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds at Mississippi State. 
• At Louisville, he had four points, seven boards and two blocks.
• 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. 
• 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, 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-best 12 rebounds against Manhattan.
• In high school, he played for First Love Christian Academy in Washington, Pennsylvania, and was the first player in his prep school's history to sign with a Division I program. In his native Canada, 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 in his fourth year - all under coach Davis. 
• He scored six points on a pair of 3-pointers at Hofstra and has grabbed at least three boards in four games, including a season-high seven points and five rebounds at Northeastern. 
• Known as a shooter, he started to learn the post position grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds with eight points at Western Michigan last season, 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 70 of his 103 career field goals.