DETROIT (3/2/2022) -- The Titans will have to get by a thorn on their side in the postseason when the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team travels to NKU on Thursday in the Keeps Horizon League Championship Quarterfinals. 

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at BB&T Arena and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App. 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.

The Titans enter the match-up at 14-14 on the season and earned the sixth seed with a 10-7 record in the Horizon League, while NKU claimed the third seed and a first-round bye with an 18-11 overall record and a 14-6 mark in conference play.

Detroit Mercy advanced to the quarterfinals after eliminating 11th-seeded Green Bay, 79-62. Senior Antoine Davis tallied a game-high 38 points, while graduate senior Kevin McAdoo added 14 as the Titans shot 54.4% in the game. 

Davis - the Titan and Horizon League record holder with 425 career 3-pointers - which is 13th in NCAA history - now has a school-record 2,693 points, 26th in NCAA history. He is also third in the HL record book just three points out of second and Xavier's Byron Larkin (1984-88) and 221 shy of the all-time mark of 2,914 by Loyola's Alfredrick Hughes (1981-85). 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• The Titans swept the season series for the first time this year with a 74-68 road win and a 60-52 home victory, but the Norse still lead the all-time series, 10-4.
• The Norse are 6-2 all-time against the Titans at BB&T Arena. 

AGAINST THE NORSE

• Antoine Davis is averaging 19.5 points, 3.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds in eight games against NKU, shooting 44.0% (62-of-141) overall and 34.6% (27-of-78) from three.
• He tallied 29.7 points as a freshman in three games against NKU - including a 33-point effort at home - but struggled in the next three meetings scoring 14.3 points on 36.8% shooting and 34.6% from the outside. This season he is tallying 19.5 points shooting 51.9% (14-of-27) and hitting 7-of-17 (41.2%) from three, netting 19 with four assists and three boards on the road and 20 points at home. 
• Senior Willy Isiani had a 14-point effort as a freshman and is averaging 5.3 points in seven games. Junior Noah Waterman netted 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting (5-of-7 from three) in last year's tournament game and added 18 points with five boards in the home match-up.

LOOKING FOR 3 WINS IN 1 SEASON

• Detroit Mercy is looking for a third win over a team for the second-straight year and the 11th time in school history.
• Last season, the Titans downed Robert Morris three times.

TITANS AS THE 6TH SEED

• Detroit Mercy is 5-4 all-time as the sixth seed after its win over Green Bay in the first round. 
• In 1987, Detroit Mercy reached the finals with a high-scoring guard in Archie Tullos leading the way for the sixth seed upsetting third-seeded Saint Louis (69-66) and second-seeded Evansville (75-75) before dropping the title game to top-seeded Xavier (122-96). 

HISTORY OF THE HL 6TH SEED

• The sixth seed in the Horizon League postseason is 27-41 all-time with two trips to the title game, including one championship. 
• In fact, the #6 seed has now won a game in five of the last six and 10 of the last 12 conference tournaments.
• UIC won it all as the six in 2002, while the Titans reached the title game in 1987.  

PLAYING SOME DEFENSE

• The Titans have held 15 foes under 70 points this year, including five under 60 points with four of those in HL play. 

KEEPING THE BALL

• Detroit Mercy committed just 10 turnovers against Green Bay and is second in the HL and 95th in the nation with 11.8 turnovers per game. 

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 is currently third in the nation in scoring at 24.2 ppg.

LONG RANGE TITANS

• The Titans have connected on at least 10, 3-pointers in five of the last six games and 16 times this season, including a season-high 18 against Milwaukee, tying a school record and tied for the 11th most this season against DI competition. 
• The team currently ranks seventh in Division I in 3-point field goals per game (10.6) and 29th in three-point field-goal percentage (37.8%), tops in the HL in both.

RACKING UP THE POINTS

• Senior Antoine Davis now has 76 career 20-point games, 26 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in 109 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 109 games - reaching at least 17 points in 90 of them.
• Davis was in double figures for the 109th straight game with 38 against Purdue Fort Wayne and is now fourth in NCAA history in that category, passing former Arizona standout Sean Elliott (1985-89), and just three in back of Danny Ainge (BYU, 1971-88) for third. 
• This year, he has 17, 20-point games, second in the HL, and a conference-best six 30-point contests.  
• 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. 

ABOUT 2,500 POINTS

• Antoine Davis is the highest active scorer in the country in total points with 2,693, 26th in NCAA history. 
• At the moment, only 76 players have reached 2,500 at the DI level.  
• It was his 18th point at Robert Morris on a three that put him at 2,500 career points.
• It was 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 third in conference history in that category, three out of second and Byron Larkin and 221 shy of the all-time mark.
• Imagine that record with the idea that Davis and the Titans have seen 11 games canceled and not made up in the last two seasons due to the pandemic.

ONE LETHAL SHOT

• Antoine Davis comes into the game fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.89, three-point field goals per game.
• He has connected on a 3-pointer in 43-straight games and 105 of his 109 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. 
• His 109 triples on the season is second in the school record book, the third time in his career he has tallied at least 100 following the 132 as a freshman for second and 101 as a sophomore for fourth.
• In a COVID shortened season, he tallied 83 last year and the school record is 136 by Rashad Phillips in 2001. 
• 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 already the school and career 3-point record holder at 419 career triples as he passed former Titan All-American Rashad Phillips (348) for both records with his second trey at UIC.
• He is currently tied for 13th in NCAA history in total 3-pointers at 419.

WHO IS STARTING TODAY?

• Detroit Mercy has used 13 different starting line-ups this season, but the same five have started the last five games. 

HIGH WATERMARK

• Junior Noah Waterman - who missed time early with an injury and then again from health and safety protocols - tallied just 3.0 points in his first seven games on 26.6% shooting (8-of-30), but now been in double figures nine times in his last 13, tallying 10.9 points on 48.0% (48-of-100), including 31-of-72 (43.0%) from three in that span.
• He tallied 13 points with a career-tying eight boards against Purdue Fort Wayne. 
• He just had 12 points, five rebounds and two steals versus Wright State and 15 points, four rebounds and a career-best 13 boards against Cleveland State
• That was after back-to-back season highs with 18 points (7-11 FG, 4-7 3FG), five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal against NKU and 16 points with six rebounds at Oakland, going 5-of-13 with four 3-pointers. 
• He became eligible mid-season last year 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.
• At Oakland in the win, he recorded 18 points and a career-high eight rebounds and two blocks.
• He netted 17 points with five rebounds and two blocks in the win at Cleveland State, going a career-best 5-of-7 from three with three of those in the final three minutes to seal the win. He had a career-high 22 in game two against Robert Morris, where he was a career-best 8-of-11 from the field with 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 is now almost seven feet allowing him to play as a guard with his shooting skills. 

DJ ON THE REQUEST LINE

• Graduate senior DJ Harvey has come alive in the second half of the year after dealing with some early injuries and health and safety protocols.
• In his last 13 games, he is averaging 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds, shooting 49.0% (51-of-104) overall and 35.0% from three (20-of-57), going in double figures eight times with a career-high 20 at Wright State. 
• Prior to that, he was tallying just 4.8 points and 5.0 rebounds on 32.1% shooting and just 9-of-27 (33.3%) from distance.
• In the first round of the playoffs, he had 10 points, a team-high seven rebounds and a career-tying three steals. 
• He started his hot play with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists against UIC and followed that with a double-double against Michigan-Dearborn with a then season-high 15 points and career-tying 12 rebounds, hitting 4-of-8 from three. 
• He netted a career-high 20 points with seven rebounds at Wright State, a 15-point, nine-rebound effort at NKU, 14 points and nine rebounds at Robert Morris, 14 points at Youngstown State and just flirted with a triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists at Oakland. He also scored 15 points with four rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Earlier in the season, he had one of his best collegiate games posting his first career double-double with a season-high 14 points and career-best 12 rebounds against Central Michigan.
• He started his collegiate career playing two seasons at Notre Dame before playing the last two years at Vanderbilt. 
• He was one of the top recruits in the nation coming out of high school. 

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.
• McAdoo has been consistent in the second half of the year with five double-figure games in his last 12, netting 14 points with a career-tying three steals, three rebounds and two assists against Green Bay.
• He had a strong weekend with eight points, five rebounds and four assists against NKU, where he hit a couple of big triples in the second half, and 11 points with three helpers versus Wright State. 
• He had a great game with 15 points at NKU. Recently, he had 13 points against UIC and 19 points, eight assists and five boards against Michigan-Dearborn.
• Earlier this season at Mississippi State, he scored 13 points and handed out four assists and then had 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 and is the rare graduate senior who will have two years of eligibility after the NCAA granted an exception last season due to COVID.
• In high school, he earned First-Team All-State honors from the BCAM, while collecting second-team accolades from the Detroit Free Press at West Bloomfield.

HL'S SIXTH MAN RETURNS 

• Matt Johnson was selected the HL Sixth Man of the Year last season and once again has been a steady contributor going for a season-high 21 points with five rebounds, four assists and a block against Purdue Fort Wayne. Before that, he had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists against Cleveland State. 
• He had a great all-around weekend tallying nine points, a career-high nine rebounds, three assists and three steals against Wright State and six rebounds, two assists and a steal against NKU. 
• Johnson tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and a career-best six assists against Michigan-Dearborn. He scored a season-high 16 points and tied his then career-best with eight boards against UIC.
• He had seven points with five rebounds, three assists and three steals at Cleveland State.
• He saw action in all 22 games with eight starts last season and averaged 8.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
• 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 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.