DETROIT (12/7/2021) -- The last leg of a season-opening nine-game road stand will have the Titans a bit closer to home as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team visits Kent State on Thursday.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center and will be broadcast live on ESPN3, 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 won two in a row, both in conference play, as the Titans swept the opening weekend of league action with some dominating defense and swift offense downing IUPUI, 69-45, and a come-from-behind 64-56 victory at UIC.

Senior Antoine Davis was named the HL's Player of the Week as he averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in the three games last week, including 19.0 points, 7.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in the two conference victories. He now has 2,220 career points and is second in school and sixth in Horizon League history in scoring, just 99 points shy of former Titan All-American and conference Player of the Year Rashad Phillips' 2,319.

Junior Madut Akec averaged 19.0 points and 7.5 rebounds, scoring a career-high 20 points at IUPUI, while graduate senior Kevin McAdoo tallied 8.5 points in the two HL triumphs. 

Kent State is 4-3 on the year, but has dropped two of its last three, including a 73-58 home setback to Townson on Monday. The Golden Flashes were picked fourth in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

After the game, the Titans will open a seven-game homestand with two in-state rivals as Western Michigan comes to town on Saturday, Dec. 11, and Central Michigan next Sunday, Dec. 19, with both games tipping at 1:00 p.m.

ALL-TIME SERIES

• These two campuses are separated by just 200 miles and are three hours apart, but this will be just the eighth career meeting between the two squads as Kent State leads the series, 5-2.
• KSU has won three in a row and is 2-0 all-time at home in the match-up. 
• Antoine Davis tallied 30 points as a freshman, 23 as a sophomore and 21 last season against the Golden Flashes.
• The first meeting took place in the championship game of the 1976 Motor City Tournament as Jeff Whitlow hit a jumper at the buzzer in overtime for an 81-79 win. Terry Tyler had 23 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks in the game.  

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. 
• The six non-conference foes the Titans have faced so far are 40-14 on the year with Wyoming at 8-0, Louisville, Toledo and Mississippi State at 6-2 and Hofstra and Northeastern at 5-4. 
• 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 41st in free throw percentage (76.7%) and 70th in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (8.9).
• The team is also 93rd in fewest fouls called. 
• Individually, senior Antoine Davis is second in the nation in minutes played (38:35), third in 3-point field goals per game (4.2), third in total 3-pointers (34), fourth in scoring (22.5), 63rd in assists (4.6) and 99th in three-point field goal percentage (38.6%), 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 82nd in rebounding (8.0) and 61st in minutes played (34:43).

YOUR HL POW

• After guiding the Titans to a 2-1 week and a perfect start in Horizon League play, Detroit Mercy senior Antoine Davis was named the conference's Player of the Week.
• It was the seventh time in his career that he has been tabbed the HL Player of the Week.
• Davis averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in the three games last week, including 19.0 points, 7.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in the two conference victories.
• He netted 23 points on the road at Northeastern and came back with his first collegiate double-double of 19 points - where he hit five 3-pointers - and a career-best 10 assists at IUPUI. He then added a team-high 19 points and five assists in the come-from-behind road win at UIC.

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 89.4% (396-of-443).
• He is currently third in the nation in free throws (96.6%) as he is 28-of-29. 
• Going back to last season after he was just 3-of-6 in the second game against Wright State, he has made 89 of his last 92 attempts (96.7%), spanning 24 games. He saw his school record and active 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 career 89.4% is also the highest among active returning players in the nation and 19th all-time in NCAA history. 

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 90 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 90 games - reaching at least 17 points in 72 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.

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 2,220 career points and is now just 99 in back of Phillips for the all-time school mark. 

ABOUT 2,000 POINTS

• Senior Antoine Davis has 2,220 career points, the second-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, 694 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 86 of his 90 collegiate games and also has 49 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. 
• Davis is also the school and career 3-point record holder at 350 career triples as he passed former Titan All-American Rashad Phillips (348) for both records with his second trey at UIC.
• The NCAA record book registers the top 30 for all-time 3-pointers and No. 30 stands at 379 by a familiar name to head coach Mike Davis in Robert Vaden, who was recruited and played for coach Davis at Indiana and at UAB. 

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 383 career assists. 
• He has 39 career games with five or more assists and just set his career-best with 10 at IUPUI. 
• It was the most assists by a Titan since Jermaine Jackson Jr. had 13 against Siena Heights in 2017-18.

PLAYING ALL 40

• Senior Antoine Davis led the Horizon League and was second in the country in minutes per game (38:34) trailing only American's Jamir Harris, who played in only 10 games on the season but was deemed the statistical leader by the NCAA in the pandemic year. 
• He has played 40 or more minutes 24 times in his career, including the last four games. 
• This year, he is second in the nation averaging 38:35 minutes per game.

MADUT DOING IT ALL

• Junior Madet Akec is averaging 15.3 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds, 13 steals and four blocks. He is shooting a team-best 51.1% overall and has hit at least two 3-pointers in four games. 
• He currently stands fourth in field goal percentage, fifth in rebounding, eighth in scoring and ninth in steals. 
• He has also scored in double figures in all eight games and is tied for second in the HL with three double-doubles and three 10+ rebounding outings.  
• Akec scored a career-high 20 points with seven rebounds at IUPUI and added 19 points - 17 in the second half and 10 in a row at one point - and eight boards at UIC.  
• He posted his second straight double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds at Hofstra. 
• Akec made an immediate impact with the Titans at Wyoming, posting his first career double-double with career-high 14 points and a career-best 13 rebounds.
• He came back upping his then 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 and 10 points at UIC.  
• 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. 

HIGH WATERMARK

• Junior Noah Waterman - who 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 scored eight points with five rebounds at IUPUI in his first real action of the year. 
• He became eligible mid-season last 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.
• 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. 

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).

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 and 10 points at UIC.  
• He saw action in all 22 games with eight starts last season 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.
• Prior to Detroit Mercy, he played one year at St. Bonaventure and also at two junior colleges Pensacola State and Howard College. 

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 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 a season-high eight points hitting a pair of three's at IUPUI and that was after six points on a pair of 3-pointers at Hofstra.
• He has also grabbed at least three boards in four games, including 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 72 of his 105 career field goals.