DETROIT (11/7/2022) -- The 117th season of Titan basketball will begin on Tuesday as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team opens the year at home against Rochester on Dick Vitale Court in Calihan Hall. 

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App with Jeremy Otto on the call. Fans can also listen to the action on the radio on WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM FaithTalk Detroit with the Voice of Detroit Mercy basketball Dan Hasty.

Detroit Mercy's 15-man roster is full of veterans with graduate senior Antoine Davis leading the way. He is one of six graduate seniors on the roster that also has two seniors and two juniors. 

The Titans' chase for a Horizon League title and a NCAA Tournament berth will also feature a run at HL and NCAA records for Davis. 

Davis - who was named the HL Preseason Player of the Year and a preseason Bob Cousy Award nominee - comes into the game with 2,734 career points, tops in school history, second all-time in Horizon League history (180 away from first), 22nd in NCAA history (266 away from becoming the 11th player in NCAA history to score 3,000 points) and 933 away from Pete Maravich's NCAA-record 3,667. 

The Titans have had a great history of starting off with a win as the red, white and blue are 81-34 all-time on opening day, with two years in the early 1900's unknown due to record-keeping, although they have dropped five in a row with the last win over Adrian in 2016-17. 

Detroit Mercy is also 77-13 in home openers dating back to the 1932-33 campaign, including winning 26 of its last 28, and has won 16 of its last 17 at home, with the lone blemish coming in an 81-78 loss to Purdue Fort Wayne late last season. 

Head coach Mike Davis is in his fifth season at the helm of the Titans, where he has recorded 45 wins and now has 397 in his career, three away from 400. 

Tickets start at just $10 and a number of ticket packages are available by clicking here. 

Detroit Mercy has announced a new fan policy for all men's and women's basketball games inside Calihan Hall as masks are recommended but not mandatory. The lower bowl of Dick Vitale Court will also be open to fans and the concession stands will be fully operational in 2022-23. Visitors need to understand that at any time, the policy can change based on recommendations from the CDC and Wayne County. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• The Titans have won all four previous meetings between the two schools, located roughly 30 miles apart. 
• The first game was in 2005, an 80-61 victory, and the red, white and blue followed that up with a 67-51 victory in 2007, 102-67 in 2013 and a 77-54 triumph in 2014.   

AGAINST NON DI'S

• Detroit Mercy has taken care of business against non-Division I schools as the Titans have won 34 in a row against them during the regular season, with the last loss against Wayne State in 1993.
• The Titans are 259-67 (.791) all-time against non-division one foes.

COACH DAVIS VS. NON DI'S

• Head coach Mike Davis has not scheduled many non-Division I schools in his 23 years as a head coach.
• This is just the second time in his tenure at Detroit Mercy that a non DI is on the schedule as the red, white and blue defeated Michigan-Dearborn, 96-51, last season. 
• It is also just the fifth time he has played one as he defeated Wiley College with Texas Southern (2013), Winston Salem State with UAB (2006) and Alaska Anchorage with Indiana (2001), but that was not even scheduled by him as it was part of the old Great Alaska Shootout in-season tournament. 

VS. THE GREAT LAKES STATE

• The Titans are 292-171 (.629) all-time against other schools from the state of Michigan, including 272-97 versus programs outside of the two Big Ten institutions.

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 graduate 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. 
• The father-son coaching player duo is part of 23 at the Division I level, while the family coaching connection is part of eighth in DI.

FROM ALL OVER

• The Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will feature student-athletes from six states (Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas) and two countries (Australia, Sudan).  

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Titans have 43 players in their history who have reached 1,000 career points.
• Only 59 other Division I programs have had more than 43 1,000-point scorers to their credit.

HIGHLY THOUGHT OF

• Detroit Mercy currently has four players on its roster that were top 100 prospects coming out of high school. 
• TJ Moss - 26th 
• Gerald Liddell - 41st
• Damezi Anderson - 92nd
• A.J. Oliver - 98th

HIGHLY THOUGHT OF #2

• Aside from its four top-100 players out of high school, the Titans have seven players that previously played in high-major leagues that generally send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament.
• TJ Moss - South Carolina 
• Gerald Liddell - Texas
• Damezi Anderson - Indiana
• A.J. Oliver - Clemson
• Arashma Parks - Temple
• Jordan Phillips - Arkansas
• Buay Koka - Tulane

WE JUST LOVE LEARNING

• Detroit Mercy currently has six players on its squad as graduate seniors, tied with Notre Dame for the most in the country. 

HIGHEST PRESEASON HONOR

• Graduate senior Antoine Davis was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year in the coaches' preseason poll.
• He was the Co-HL Player of the Year last season, the fifth Titan to be selected the HL Player of the Year, and the first player in conference history to make All-League four times - with every one of those a first-team selection.  
• He led the HL in scoring at 23.9 points per game, shooting 42.9% from the field, 37.9% from three and 88.2% at the free-throw line to go with 3.6 rebounds per game, 28 steals and one block. He led the league and was second in the nation in three-point field goals per game (3.90), the conference leader and fifth in the country in total 3-pointers (113), HL leader and 23rd in the nation in free-throw percentage (88.2%), league leader and 58th in DI in three-point field-goal percentage (37.9%) and third in the league with 4.4 assists per game.

NATIONAL NOTICE

• Antoine Davis was named a Preseason Third Team All-American by Dick Vitale of ESPN and is also one of the 20 candidates for the 2023 Bob Cousy Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Named after Class of 1971 Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy, the annual honor, now in its 20th year, recognizes the top point guard in Division I men's college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
• Last season he earned the Lou Henson Award All-American, First Team USBWA All-District V and NABC First Team All-District 12 selection.
• Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting on October 28. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2023 Bob Cousy Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February to just 5. 
• Previous winners of the Bob Cousy Award include Collin Gillespie, Villanova (2022), Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois (2021), Ja Morant, Murray State (2019), Jalen Brunson, Villanova (2018), Trey Burke, Michigan (2013), Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (2012), Kemba Walker, Connecticut (2011) and Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph's (2004). 

RACKING UP THE POINTS

• Antoine Davis now has 77 career 20-point games, 26 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in 111 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 111 games - reaching at least 17 points in 92 of them.
• Davis' 111-straight games in double figures is now fourth in NCAA history, just one shy of Danny Ainge (BYU, 1971-88) for third and four behind Chris Clemons (Campbell, 2015-2019) and Lionel Simmons (La Salle, 1987-90) for the NCAA lead. 
• Last year, he scored in double figures in all 29 games and posted 20 or more points 18 times, second most in the league, with a conference-best six 30-point outings, including a season-high 39 points at home against Milwaukee and on the road at Hofstra, the highest scoring mark in the HL and tied for the 25th best outing in Division I on the year. As a junior, 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.

DAVIS DISHING IT OUT

• Antoine Davis can not only score, but he can get his teammates involved as he is tied for sixth in school history with 474.
• The all-time record is 615 by Kevin McAdoo as he starts the season 141 shy of that mark. 
• He has 47 games with five or more assists - including nine last season - as he set his career-best with 10 at IUPUI and against Western Michigan.

AD THE QUICKEST TO 1,000 & 2,000 & OWNS THE SCHOOL RECORD

• With his 39 points at home against Milwaukee as a senior, Antoine Davis became the Titans' all-time leading scorer passing Rashad Phillips (2,319) with his 36th point and now has 2,734, second in HL history. 
• 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 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). 

ABOUT 2,700 POINTS

• Antoine Davis is the highest active scorer in the country in total points with 2,734, 22nd in NCAA history. 
• At the moment, only 27 players have reached 2,700 at the DI level.  
• It was his 18th point at Robert Morris last season on a three that put him at 2,500 career points, which was just the fourth time that a student-athlete has posted 2,500 with his dad as head coach following Pete Maravich (Press Maravich), Doug McDermott (Greg McDermott) and Allan Houston (Wade Houston). 
• Only 12 players have reached 2,000 career points in the Horizon League as he is second in conference history in that category, 180 shy of the all-time mark by Alfredrick Hughes of Loyola. 
• Imagine that record with the idea that Davis and the Titans have seen 13 games canceled and not made up in the last two seasons due to the pandemic, at least one game missed due to the Titans not being eligible for the postseason in 2019-20, one game canceled at California in his freshman year due to smoke from wildfires and a game missed as a freshman and sophomore due to an injury. 

ONE LETHAL SHOT

• Antoine Davis comes into the game fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.86, three-point field goals per game.
• He has connected on a 3-pointer in 45-straight games and 107 of his 111 collegiate games. He has 60 career games with four or more triples, 22 with six or more, 10 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 conference leader and fifth in the country in total 3-pointers (113) last season, third in school history to join his 132 for second in 2019, 101 for fifth in 2020 and 83 for eighth in 2021.  
• Davis is already the school and career 3-point record holder at 429 career triples as he passed former Titan All-American Rashad Phillips (348) for both records.
• He is currently 13th in NCAA history in total 3-pointers at 429, just two shy of moving into the top 10. 

7-UP

• Graduate senior A.J. Oliver is one of six players in Division I that will be in his seventh year of college basketball.
• He enrolled at Clemson as a freshman mid-season in 2016-17, but did not see action that year. He then played 19 games for the Tigers in 2017-18 before transferring to Old Dominion, where he sat out the 2018-19 season before playing the last three seasons with the Monarchs.
• The other players in their seventh year are:
• DeAndre Dishman - Middle Tennessee
• Juan Munoz - Hawaii
• DeJuan Clayton - California
• Jailyn Ingram - Georgia
• Michael Henn - Penn State

A.J. LOOKING FOR ONE FINAL RUN

• Graduate senior A.J. Oliver will look for one more run to the NCAA Tournament in his final collegiate season.
• He has played in 95 games with 54 starts at Clemson and at Old Dominion from 2017-22 and averaged 6.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, shooting 35.0 % from the field, 37.1% from three and 79.1% at the free-throw line.
• Last season at ODU, he saw action in all 32 games with 11 starts and tallied 2.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.
• In 2020-21, he started all 21 contests he appeared in and ranked third on the team with 9.7 points and led the squad with an 88.6 free-throw percentage and 33 triples.
• He scored a season-high 19 points against William & Mary, while in his first season with the Monarchs, he played in 22 games with 21 starts and was third on the team with 11.3 points per game, led the team with 51, 3-pointers while also pulling down 4.9 rebounds per game, pouring in a career-high 21 points against FAU and grabbing a career-high 12 boards versus UTSA. 
• Oliver joined Clemson mid-season in 2016-17 and did not play, but then got in 19 games for the Tigers in 2017-18, posting 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. His best game came in the ACC Tournament against Boston College, as he finished 3-for-4 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 on three-pointers for a season-best nine points off the bench before netting six points and registering six rebounds against Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 
• He was a four-star prospect, according to ESPN, Rivals and Scout and ranked 98th in the nation coming out of high school and played a stint with the U.S. Select Team at the Adidas Eurocamp in Italy in 2016, before graduating high school early and enrolling at Clemson in January.

LIDDELL COMING TO PLAY

• Senior Gerald Liddell has one final year of collegiate eligibility after starting his career at Texas before transferring to Alabama State. 
• Last season at Alabama State, he saw action in 25 games with 19 starts and averaged 10.3 points, a team-high 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists to go with 24 steals and 24 blocks. He shot 43.8 % overall and 37.0 % from three, reaching double figures in 13 games and posting five double-doubles, scoring a career-high 22 points with 11 boards against North Carolina Central and tallying double-doubles in four of his last five games, including netting 13 points with a career-best 14 rebounds against rival Alabama A&M. 
• In his three years with Texas, he saw action in 35 games with 10 starts and averaged 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds. His best year was as a sophomore as he played in 15 games with 10 starts until a back injury cut his season short. Liddell recorded 4.1 points and 3.1 assists and started the year with a then career-best 14 points against No. 23 Purdue. 
• As a prep at Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas, he was ranked as the No. 41 overall prospect in the nation by 247Sports and No. 47 by ESPN.

MEET MR. MOSS

• Graduate senior TJ Moss has joined the Titans after a successful prep career in high school and playing at South Carolina and McNeese State.
• He has played in 64 college games with eight starts. Last year, he suited up in nine games at McNeese State and averaged 7.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, while collecting eight steals. He scored a career-high 17 points at TCU, where he was 5-of-12 from behind the arc, and had five assists and three steals. 
• He spent his first three seasons at South Carolina in the SEC, where he played in 55 games for the Gamecocks, posting 3.3 points, 1.8 assists and 1.3 boards with 30 steals in his time. After playing in just seven games as a freshman before an injury ended his season, he saw action in 30 games and tallied 6.9 points, 5.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds as a sophomore, scoring a season-high 10 points against Kentucky.
• He came back the next year to play in 18 games and dropped a season-best 15 points at Tennessee and also had seven assists against Arkansas and six assists in the SEC tournament against Mississippi.
• As a prep, was a four-star prospect on ESPN.com and was once hailed as the 26th-best prospect nationally in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports after helping one of the top prep schools in the nation in Nevada's Findlay Prep to a 32-5 overall record in 2017-18, advancing to the semifinal round of the high school national tournament. 

TAKING YOU TO THE PARK

• Graduate senior Arashma Parks is a Titan and looking to give the red, white and blue a presence in the middle.
• He played the last four years at Temple of the American Athletic Conference, appearing in 49 games with 14 starts.
• As a senior, he played in 19 games with 13 starts and averaged 1.1 points and 2.7 rebounds, along with tallying six assists.
• After missing his freshman year due to an injury, he came back as a sophomore to play in 22 games and posted 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds, putting in a career-high 10 points against St. Joseph's.

HOOSIER IN THE MOTOR CITY

• Graduate senior Damezi Anderson started his career at Indiana before ending up at fellow Jesuit institution Loyola.
• He did not play in 2021-22 at Loyola and saw action in four games the year before. Prior to that, he played for Indiana for two seasons, appearing in 39 games and averaged 2.1 points and 1.6 rebounds, including 2.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 18 games as a sophomore. 
• Coming out of high school, he was ranked #92 in the country by 247Sports and No. 114 in the nation by Rivals and was the No. 2 player in the state of Indiana as he tallied 2,210 points in his prep career at Riley High School to set a St. Joseph County and South Bend scoring record. 

FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER

• Junior Jayden Stone transferred to Detroit Mercy after playing his first two years at Grand Canyon, where he played in 30 games the past two seasons and averaged 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds, along with 25 assists to just 16 turnovers. He shot 39.3% from the field and 30.2% from behind the arc, along with 82.1% at the free-throw line, scoring a career-high 14 points against Abilene Christian, hitting 5-of-7 from the field.
• A native of Perth, Australia, he prepped at Central Park Christian High School in Alabama but then transferred to Sacred Heart High School in Alabama for his junior season and Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas for his senior year.
• One of the top prospects in the state of Alabama, he was named 2019 Alabama 2A Player of the Year and First Team All-State as a junior as he tallied 21.2 points and 10.2 rebounds, leading his team to a runner-up appearance in Class 2A.
• At powerhouse Sunrise Christian, he helped lead the school to a 22-3 record against a national prep schedule and was a McDonald's All-American nominee. 

TITANS NIL OPPORTUNITIES

• The Horizon League is at the forefront of providing student-athletes with opportunities and education to capitalize on their Name, Image and Likeness. The League's recently announced partnership with Opendorse is highlighted by the HL becoming the first conference to have a conference-wide marketplace exclusively for League student-athletes. 
• The Titans also have a partnership with Basepath, another NIL company that works with Athletic Departments that want to enable NIL opportunities for their student-athletes. They provide operational infrastructure to make this process simple: contract approval flows, task management for quid pro quo verification, automated co-branding deals, and a compliance dashboard to view all the activity at your department.