Men's Basketball 12.02.22

Titans Look For Opening Week #HLMBB Sweep At Cleveland State On Saturday

Men's Basketball 12.02.22

Titans Look For Opening Week #HLMBB Sweep At Cleveland State On Saturday

The Titans will look to start the #HLMBB campaign with two wins

DETROIT (12/2/2022) -- Fresh off its win over preseason Horizon League favorite Purdue Fort Wayne, the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will head to Cleveland State on Saturday.

Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. at the Wolstein Center and will be aired live on ESPN+. 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 evened its record on the year at 4-4 by winning its HL opener, 75-66, over the Mastodons. Graduate senior Antoine Davis had a game-high 22 points, nailing three 3-pointers late to push the team ahead. Senior Gerald Liddell had a big debut as a Titan registering 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while graduate senior Damezi Anderson tallied 16 points and seven rebounds back in his home state.

During the game, Davis broke the Horizon League and now has 2,919 points, 13th in NCAA history, while his 459 triples are third all-time in the NCAA record book.

Cleveland State has won five in a row and is 5-3 on the season, defeating Oakland, 80-64, in its opening league game on Thursday.

The Titans have swept a conference road weekend just once in the last three years, and that was last season when they won at IUPUI and at UIC to start Horizon League play.

After the game, the Titans will go right back into non-conference play, starting with a trip to Tulsa on Wednesday.

ALL-TIME SERIES

The teams have split the last 22 meetings, but the Titans still lead the series, 46-28.
Each team won on their own home floor last year, with the Titans earning a 74-67 win at home and CSU claiming a 72-70 decision in Cleveland.
Over a longer stretch, no team has won more than three in a row since the Vikings took five straight in the 2007-08 and 2008-9 campaigns.
Detroit Mercy is 14-21 on the road in the series and has dropped 10 of the last 13 (2016, 2018, 2021) at the Wolstein Center.

AGAINST THE VIKINGS

Antoine Davis struggled a bit early on against Cleveland State, but has recorded a pair of 35-point efforts in the last four meetings.
Both 35-point games have come at the Wolstein Center, while he added 24 in the home win last season and 23 on the road in the back-to-back road contests during the Covid 2021-22 campaign.
Overall, he is averaging 24.4 points and 3.3 assists, shooting 37.8% (62-of-164) overall, 25.3% (19-of-75) from three and 94.5% (52-of-55) at the free throw line. In fact, he was just 6-of-39 (15.3%) from behind the arc and 23-of-85 (27.0%) from the field averaging 19.5 points in his first four games against CSU, but 13-of-36 (36.1%) from deep and 39-of-79 (49.3%) overall in the last four meetings, where he has netted 29.2 points per game.

CONGRATS ON WIN #400

Head coach Mike Davis earned his first triumph as a head coach on Nov. 14, 2000, when his Indiana Hoosiers defeated Pepperdine, 80-68, in Bloomington.
The 70-49 victory over Charlotte marked the 400th win for Davis, who now has 401 triumphs, tied for 150th in NCAA history.

OFFENSIVE MINDED

Detroit Mercy has already topped 80 points three times this season after doing so just seven times all of last year.
The Titans have twice posted 30 field goals netting exactly 30 against Ohio and Bryant. They have also shot over 50.0% three times, going for 51.7% (30-of-58) against Ohio, 52.6% (30-of-57) versus Bryant and 52.0% (26-of-50) in the win over Charlotte.
The red, white and blue have connected on double-digit triples in six of their eight games and are 29th in the NCAA with 10.0 per contest. They drained a season-high 15 against Bryant, in just 24 attempts for 62.4%, and have made double-digit triples in 23 of 38 games dating back to last season.

FROM THREE

Detroit Mercy saw half of its 24 total field goals at Purdue Fort Wayne go in from behind the arc.
The Titans lead the Horizon League and are 13th in the nation at 40.8% from three as well as second in the league and 29th in the country with 10.0 triples per game.

HIGHEST PRESEASON HONOR

Antoine Davis was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year.
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.

NATIONAL NOTICE

Antoine Davis has garnered some national attention on preseason watch lists.
He was named a Preseason Third Team All-American by Dick Vitale.
Davis is one of the 20 candidates for the 2023 Bob Cousy Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
He was also named one of the 50 candidates for the Wooden Award for the nation's Most Outstanding Player, a top 50 candidate for the Naismith Trophy National Player of the Year and a top 50 candidate for the Lou Henson Award for the top mid-major player.
Last season he earned the Lou Henson Award All-American, First Team USBWA All-District V and NABC First Team All-District 12 selection.

AMONG THE BESTS

Antoine Davis owned the scoring crown in the Horizon League last year at 23.9 points per game, third in the nation, as he became the first player in HL history to top the league in scoring four times, passing Loyola Chicago's Alfredrick Hughes, who did it in three-straight seasons (1983, 1984, 1985).
He also finished top-four nationally for the fourth-straight year (26.1 for third in 2019, 24.3 for fourth in 2020 and 24.0 for third in 2021).
Davis is currently second in the nation in scoring at 23.1 points per game as well as sixth with 3.75, 3-pointers per contest.

ANOTHER NCAA RECORD FOR DAVIS

Antoine Davis scored 29 points against Bryant, but it was his 3-pointer in the first half that got him to 11 points and secured the NCAA record for the most consecutive games in double figures with 116-straight and he has now extended that mark to 119 after his 22 points at Purdue Fort Wayne.
He broke the mark held by Chris Clemons (Campbell, 2015-2019) and Lionel Simmons (La Salle, 1987-90).
As a freshman, Davis broke the NCAA record for 3-pointers in a season by a rookie with 132, passing Stephen Curry's 122 he had at Davidson in 2007-08.

RACKING UP THE POINTS

Antoine Davis now has 83 career 20-point games, 26 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in 119 games - reaching 17 points in 105 of them.
Last year, he 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.
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.

ABOUT 2,900 POINTS

Antoine Davis is the highest active scorer in the country in total points with 2,919, 13th in NCAA history.
At the moment, only 14 players have reached 2,900 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 points in the Horizon League as he is now the all-time leader in the conference.
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, one contest he sat out against a non-DI as a senior 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 3.85, three-point field goals per game.
He posted back-to-back season-highs of six against Bryant and Charlotte and had five in the win over Ohio and at Purdue Fort Wayne as he is sixth in the NCAA with 3.75, 3-pointers per contest.
Davis has made a three in 114 of his 119 collegiate games - although CSU was one of the five times he was held "threeless" going 0-of-5 as a sophomore - with 65 career games with four or more triples, 23 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 459 career triples as he passed former Titan All-American Rashad Phillips (348) for both records.
He is currently third in NCAA history in total 3-pointers at 459, 50 behind Fletcher Magee's NCAA record of 509.

CASHING IN ON THE FREE ONES

Graduate senior Antoine Davis led the HL and was 23rd in the nation in free-throw percentage (88.2%) last year, good for sixth in school history as he is also first with 91.7% in 2021, 90.1% for fourth in 2020 and 85.7% for ninth in 2019.
He owns the school record at 88.3% (504-of-571), eighth among active players and tied for 31st all-time in NCAA history.
He has had numerous streaks of 10 or more free throws in his career with a career-best of 57-straight between the end of his junior and the start of his senior year.

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

With his 39 points at home against Milwaukee as a senior last season, Antoine Davis became the Titans' all-time leading scorer passing Rashad Phillips (2,319) with his 36th point and now has a HL record 2,919 points, passing Loyola Chicago's Alfredrick Hughes' (1981-85) 2,914.
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).

DAVIS DISHING IT OUT

Antoine Davis can not only score, but he can get his teammates involved as he is sixth in school history with 504 assists, five away from the top five.
The all-time record is 615 by Kevin McAdoo as he is now 111 shy of that mark.
He has 49 games with five or more assists - including nine last season - and posted a nine-assist performance in the season opener.
His career-best is 10 at IUPUI and against Western Michigan last season.
If he were to reach 3,000 career points, he would be just the second player in NCAA history to amass 3,000 points and 500 assists, joining St. Peter's Keydren Clark (2002-06), who recorded 3,058 points with 501 career helpers.

WHAT A START FOR LIDDELL

Gerald Liddell had to wait for seven games to play, but it might have been worth it as the senior transfer tallied 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds with two assists, two steals and a block at Purdue Fort Wayne.
His previous high in boards was 14 as a member of Alabama State against Alabama A&M last year, and the 16 rebounds were the most by a Titan since Chris Brandon had 17 versus Cleveland State in 2020.
Liddell started 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 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.

FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER

Junior Jayden Stone had a massive game in the season opener, posting his first double-double with a career-high 15 points and 12 rebounds. Since then, he has twice passed his career high with a game-high 22 points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals at Boston College and 24 points with six assists against Bryant. At Washington State, he netted a team-high 20 with five boards.
On the season, he is averaging 14.4 points - tied for fifth in the HL - shooting 51.6% overall (33-of-64), 54.2% from three (13-of-24) and 91.7% (22-of-24) at the free throw line to go with 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
The Perth, Australia, native 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 to go 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.
He was one of the top prospects in the state of Alabama, earning the 2019 Alabama 2A Player of the Year.

HOOSIER IN THE MOTOR CITY

Graduate senior Damezi Anderson had a great start to his Titan career with a career-high 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists, going 6-of-13 from the field and 5-of-12 from behind the arc.
He followed that with 11 points and four boards at Boston College before fouling out with more than 10 minutes left in the game and 15 points and four rebounds versus Ohio and 16 points and seven rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne.
On the season, he is tallying 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds, shooting 41.3% from the field and 37.0% from three.
He started his career at Indiana before ending up at 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.

WHAT DO YOU SAY ZAY

Freshman Isaiah Jones played in just one game, three minutes against Rochester in the season opener, but with the team down a few players, the rookie delivered, tallying 11 points on 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from three with four rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne in 21 minutes of action.

MEET MR. MOSS

TJ Moss joined the Titans after a successful prep career in high school and playing at South Carolina and McNeese State and has flashed his ability to be an all-around player.
At Purdue Fort Wayne, he had eight points with a career-high four steals, three assists and two blocks.
He scored a season-high nine points with five rebounds, three assists and two steals versus Charlotte and had four points, four assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal versus Bryant.
He played in 64 games with eight starts prior to transferring to Detroit Mercy.
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, 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.
As a prep, he was a four-star prospect on ESPN.com and was once hailed as the 26th-best prospect nationally by 247Sports.

A.J. LOOKING FOR ONE FINAL RUN

A.J. Oliver posted 12 points and five rebounds in the season opener and had 10 points against Bryant and five points and five rebounds versus Charlotte.
He 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.
In his first year, 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, 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.

LONE STAR PHILLIPS IS BACK

Senior Jordan Phillips saw injuries limit him to just three games last year, but he started this season with a bang recording his second career double-double by tying his career high with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with two steals against Rochester.
Since then, he has been a consistent player for the Titans, scoring in double figures in five games, grabbing at least four rebounds in five games and handing out a pair of assists in three contests.
He netted six points with seven rebounds at Boston College, 13 points, three caroms and two assists versus Ohio, 16 points with four rebounds at Florida Atlantic, 11 points with three boards and two assists against Bryant and 11 points with eight rebounds in the win over Charlotte.
He is currently posting 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds, shooting 40.3% from the field and 42.9% from three.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, he transferred to the Titans after appearing in 64 games in his three seasons at Arkansas and UT Arlington.

MOTOR CITY PRIDE

Junior Kyle LeGreair returns as a big part of the Titans' defense and heart and soul on the court.
He played 20 minutes at Boston College and had two points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals and dished out three assists versus Bryant and had a career-high four rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne.
He really came into his own last season, appearing in 22 games and was 7-of-9 from the floor, hitting his only 3-pointer, and tallied 12 steals. He tied his career-high with five helpers and added a career-best four rebounds at NKU and recorded a career-high five points with three rebounds and a steal against UIC, recording his first two career field goals.
As a freshman, he saw action in just two games and a total of just five minutes.

IS THERE A GRAND OLE OPRY AROUND HERE

The Titans will have three players that are natives of Tennessee in graduate senior TJ Moss and freshmen Isaiah Jones and Marcus Tankersley.
Moss is from Memphis and starred at Memphis East HS before 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.
Jones hails from Nashville, but ended his prep career at Speights Academy in Florida. He was named First Team at the Prep Nationals Post Grad SLAM All-Stars showcase and averaged 16.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 11.0 assists as a junior and also set a school record with 11, 3-pointers in a game.
Tankersley is from Chattanooga, but ended his high school career at Veritas Academy in the Sunshine State. He was Second Team All-State as a senior and posted a career-high 38 points as a senior playing for Veritas, under head coach Rod Wilmont, who played for coach Davis at IU.
He tallied 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists and was tabbed First Team All-State and All-District as a junior, leading his team to a 2020 state title.

A TALL GLASS OF KOKA

Graduate senior Buay Koka - all 7-1 of him - played in 20 games with one start last year and averaged 1.0 points and 0.7 rebounds, shooting 47.4% (9-of-19) from the floor with two assists and two blocks.
He scored four points hitting both of his field goals with a rebound against WMU and had five points, four rebounds and two blocks against Dearborn.
He came to the Titans as a mid-season graduate transfer from Tulane in 2020-21, and saw action in 11 games with four starts and averaged 2.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and blocked eight shots the rest of the way for the red, white and blue.
At Tulane, he played in 34 games with Tulane as a freshman, sophomore and junior, but did not see any action as a senior prior to his transfer to Detroit Mercy.