DETROIT (2/4/2021) -- Winners of five of the last six, the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will look to continue its winning ways as the red, white and blue host Horizon League-newcomer Purdue Fort Wayne this weekend, Feb. 5-6. 

Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday as both games will be streamed online on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN App with Jeremy Otto and Earl Cureton on the call. 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.

Detroit Mercy is going for their first four-game winning streak since the 2015-16 campaign (that was all non-conference), while the last time the Titans won four-straight HL games was in 2012-13. 

Detroit Mercy has improved to 6-8 overall and 5-5 in the Horizon League as the Titans have swept Green Bay and Youngstown State, while earning a split at Oakland in the last three weeks. The Titans have shot over 50.0% in three-straight games and five of the last six and their 5-1 mark in their last six games is their best six-game stretch since opening up Horizon League play at 5-1 in the 2018-19 season.

Junior Antoine Davis - who has six-straight games of at least 24 points - is now second in the HL and 15th in the nation in scoring at 21.1 points per game, while senior Dwayne Rose Jr. is tallying 15.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and shooting 62.2% from the field in his last four contests. 

Purdue Fort Wayne has is 6-9 in the season and 5-9 in conference action, but the Mastodons have dropped four straight getting swept on the road at Green Bay and at home by Oakland. 

Both teams will be looking to improve their seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship as Purdue Fort Wayne is currently the seventh seed with the Titans holding down the ninth spot. Due to the unbalanced nature of the Horizon League schedule because of COVID-19, the championship will be seeded utilizing a formula that considers four factors: League winning percentage, strength of schedule, weighting road wins vs. home wins and number of League games played. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• Despite being just 161 miles apart, this is only the third career meeting between the two schools as Purdue Fort Wayne won both previous match-ups, 93-86 at Calihan Hall in 2016 and 91-82 in Fort Wayne in 2017.

FROM THREE

• The Titans have connected on double-digit 3-pointers in four of their last five games and five times this season, actually five times in the last seven games.
• They tied a school record with 17 in the first win against Green Bay and are 69-of-145 (47.5%) in the last six games.
• Detroit Mercy is now leading the HL and 32nd in DI with 9.4 triples per game, while it's 36.9% from behind the arc is second in the league and 55th in the country. 

AT THE TOP

• Detroit Mercy led the HL and was ninth in the NCAA in free-throw percentage at 78.2 percent last season and are currently 12th in the nation and tops in the league again in that category hitting 79.1% on the year (155-of-196).
• The Titans hit all 11 at the charity stripe at Michigan State and were 18-of-20 against Kent State, 16-of-19 at Western Michigan, 15-of-18 in the final game versus Wright State, 15-of-19 in the first home game against Oakland and 15-of-16 in the first game at Oakland.  
• Part of that success is junior Antoine Davis, who is second in the league and 115th in the country hitting 83.0 % (39-of-47) and owns a career 87.4%, second in school history and the sixth highest among all active Division I players. 
• The Titans also have seven other players who are hitting over 70.0% at the line on the year.

KEEPING THE BALL & STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE

• The Titans currently rank 65th in the nation and third in the HL averaging just 11.9 turnovers per game. 
• Detroit Mercy has less than 10 turnovers five times on the year, including two-straight games of just eight and a season-low of seven at Notre Dame earlier in the season. 
• They also rank 25th in the country and third in the league averaging just 15.3 fouls per game. 
• In the first game victory over Green Bay, the Titans were whistled for just eight fouls (four on Willy Isiani) as the Phoenix shot just two free throws in the contest. 
• In fact, in seven of the 14 games on the year, teams have gone to the line 10 or fewer times against the Titans.  

HELPING A TITAN OUT

• As a team, the Titans are registering 14.5 assists per game, third in the Horizon League and 99th in DI.
• They have at least 15 assists in six games on the season, reaching 20 in the first game at Oakland and a season-high 21 in the win at Oakland in game two. 

AD TABBED HL POW

• After leading the Titans to a sweep of the Penguins, junior Antoine Davis was named the Horizon League Player of the Week. 
• Davis averaged 24.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals, while shooting 42.9% (18-of-42) from the field with nine 3-pointers. 

STARTING TO HEAT UP

• Antoine Davis had a slow start to the season averaging just 16.3 points, shooting 31.1 % from the field (37-of-119) and 10.4% from three (5-of-48) in the first six games
• After having one of his shooting games in his career in the second game against Wright State, where he was 3-of-18 from the field and 0-of-7 from three, he has turned it on over his last eight contests
• Davis is averaging 24.8 points and 5.2 assists, while shooting 49.0% from the field (70-of-143) and 45.2% from behind the arc (38-of-84) in the last six games.
• He has scored 20 or more in his last six games with 26 and 30 in the wins over Green Bay, 30 and 27 at Oakland and 25 and 24 in the sweep at Youngstown State.

 
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 24.4 points per game is tops among all active players and his 1,809 career points is ninth-most among active players and the most among the junior class. 
• He is currently second in the HL and 15th in the nation in scoring at 21.1 points and also tops the team and is fifth in the league with 4.4 assists per game.

WHAT'S OUR 5?

• After starting the year using the same starting five in five-straight games, the Titans have used nine different starting line-ups in each of the last nine games. 
• Nine different Titans have started a game as only graduate senior Bul Kuol and junior Antoine Davis have started all 14. 

RACKING UP THE POINTS

• Junior Antoine Davis now has 52 career 20-point games, 17 career 30-point outings and three 40-point contests in just 74 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 74 games - reaching at least 17 points in 59 of them.
• He is now 25th all-time in scoring in the Horizon League at 1,809 points, while his 24.4 points per game is third all-time. 

ONE LETHAL SHOT

• Antoine Davis hit a season-high seven 3-pointers in the second win over Green Bay, going 7-of-11 from behind the arc.
• In fact, he has hit at least four in the last seven games and five in five of those contests. 
• He now has 38 games with four or more triples, 13 with six or more, six times with seven or more and has twice connected on 10 in his young career.
• Davis has 276 career 3-pointers, second in school history, while his career 3.70 triples per game is the second-highest among all active players in DI trailing only Dru Kuxhausen of McNeese State (3.76). 
• The 3.73 mark is eighth all-time in NCAA history. 
• Earlier this season, he was an uncharacteristic 0-of-9 at Michigan State, 0-of-6 game at Western Michigan and 0-of-7 versus Wright State and that marked just the second, third and fourth time in 72 collegiate games that he failed to hit a three. The other was an 0-of-5 mark against Cleveland State last season.

AD THE QUICKEST TO 1,000, NOW LOOKING AT 2,000

• 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 1,809 career points, fourth in school history and 176 behind third place, and 191 points shy of 2000 - something only two Titans have done (John Long and Rashad Phillips).

DAVIS DISHING IT OUT

• Junior Antoine Davis has 303 career assists, good for 4.0 per game and is currently fifth in the Horizon League at 4.4 per game. 
• Davis has at least three assists in 12 of the 14 games, including nine straight, and has at least five in his last four outings.
• He posted a season-high eight in the first win over Green Bay, one-off his career-best, six in the near comeback at Oakland and seven in the win at OU and the first win at Youngstown State. 
• Last season, he handed out 4.5 assists per game, fourth in the HL and 89th in the nation.

ROSE RAISING HIS GAME

• Senior Dwayne Rose Jr. continues to play at a high level as he averaged 14.5 points on 68.8% (11-of-16) shooting and was 6-of-7 (85.7%) at the free-throw line in the sweep at Youngstown State, scoring a season-high 17 in the second game. 
• At Oakland the week before, he tallied 15.5 points and 3.0 rebounds, while shooting 57.1% from the field netting15 points in the first game and 16 points in the Titans' win in game two. 
• After missing the first game against Green Bay and playing just eight minutes in game two, Rose Jr. is recording 15.0 points and 3.0 rebounds, shooting 62.2% (23-of-37) and 85.7% (12-of-14) at the line. 
• He had a strong game at Notre Dame finishing with six points, six rebounds and three assists and came back with 15 points and four boards against Kent State and netted 10 points with a key 3-pointer late in the game in a win at Western Michigan. 

HIGH WATERMARK

• Redshirt freshman Noah Waterman has really shown his talent for the Titans in his first seven games, scoring in double figures four times.
• He scored 10 points with four rebounds at Youngstown State in game one before a leg injury kept him out of game two.  
• At Oakland, he posted 12.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists recording 18 points and a career-high eight rebounds with two blocks in the win, hitting 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-8 from three. In the first game, Waterman scored six points with seven rebounds and three assists.
• Against Green Bay, he scored 15 points in game one on 5-of-8 shooting with four 3-pointers and two steals, and in game two, he grabbed six boards and had just three points, but it was his key triple with less than four minutes left that help put some distance in the second win over the Phoenix, 62-58, at the time. 
• Against Oakland at home, he tallied a career-high 19 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in game two. 
• A transfer from Niagara, Waterman played in seven games with five starts until an injury ended his season last year. 
• He averaged 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds, shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three. 
• As a prep, he was selected MVP of the Empire State Christian Athletic League in 2017 and 2018. He posted 33.9 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.9 blocks in his senior season.
• In high school, he was 6-2 but hit a growth spurt as a junior and is now almost seven feet tall. 
• With the NCAA blanket waiver that was announced in mid-December, Waterman became immediately eligible to play. 

A LONG JOURNEY FOR KUOL

• Graduate senior transfer Bul Kuol has already made a major impact on the team, both on offense and defense.  
• A native of the Sudan, Kuol has posted double digits in scoring 11 times with three 20-point outings, while also setting career high in every statistical category. 
• At Youngstown State, he hit the go-ahead triple late in the game in game one and in game two, he forced a key turnover as the Titans held on for the win. 
• In the win at Oakland, he came close to his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high nine boards and five assists. 
• Against Green Bay, he averaged 20.5 points on 12-of-19 shooting (63.2%), 6-of-9 from three (66.7%) and 11-of-15 (73.3%) at the line, while grabbing 6.0 rebounds. 
• In the home meeting with Oakland, in game one, he tallied a career-high 28 points going 7-of-14 from the field, 6-of-12 from three and 8-of-8 at the line.
• Kuol netted a then career-best 21 points - hitting 7-of-15 shots and 4-of-8 from three, against Wright State to go with a high watermark of four thefts.
• He also handed out a career-high five assists in the first game with three swats.  
• He netted 18 points with six caroms at Notre Dame and was active in the season opener on defense, ending the game with 12 points and four boards at MSU. 
• He is now second on the team and 16th in the Horizon League averaging 14.6 points, hitting 42.0% at the field, 42.0% from behind the arc and 77.3% at the line. 

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. 
• It was his third career double-double for Fraser, who has displayed an all-around skillset on the season. 
• He had 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals at Notre Dame, a season-best 19 points hitting 8-of-12 shots in the first game versus Wright State and 10 points with seven boards and five helpers in the second game.  
• In the second win over Green Bay, he was back in double figures for the first time in four games scoring 10 points and registering nine boards with four assists.
• At Oakland, he scored seven points and had seven boards in game one and then handed out a career-high six assists in the win, while at Youngstown State in game two, he netted 14 points. 

 
SOMETHING TO PROVE

• A transfer from St. Bonaventure, Matt Johnson has scored in double digits seven times, grabbed at least five rebounds in six games and handed out at least three assists in three contests. 
• In his last three games, he is tallying 10.0 points on 54.4% shooting and four 3-pointers. 
• He certainly made a name for himself in his debut tallying 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, pulled down seven rebounds with a career-best five steals against Kent State and tied his career high with 20 points and recorded a collegiate-best eight boards against Wright State. 
• His previous career-high in scoring was just 12 points at George Washington last season as a member of St. Bonaventure, where he scored just 37 points all year.