DETROIT (1/10/2023) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team returns home for a pair of games this week as the Titans host Youngstown State on Thursday, Jan. 12.
The Titans will honor graduate senior
Antoine Davis and reaching 3,000 career points prior to the game. There is a special $3 ticket promotion for the game that can only be accessed only by using the promo code 3KPOINTS by
clicking here. There will also be a special 30% discount at the Titan Gift store on game day.
Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.) and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ 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 WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM FaithTalk Detroit with the Voice of Detroit Mercy basketball Dan Hasty.
Detroit Mercy is 6-11 on the season and 2-4 in the Horizon League as UDM is looking to end a three-game, with all three losses coming by five points or less. Davis leads the team and the nation in scoring at 25.0 points per game and is now sixth in NCAA history with 3,159 career points and third with 499 career 3-pointers.
Junior
Jayden Stone had a strong week back out on the court, tying his career high with 24 in both games at Wright State and at NKU, shooting 59.4% (19-of-32) from the field and 64.3% (9-of-14) from three. He also nearly posted a double-double in both contests with nine rebounds against the Norse and eight versus the Raiders.
Youngstown State has won five of the last six and is 12-5 overall and 4-2 in league play, just a game out of first.
The Titans will conclude their quick homestand on Saturday as Robert Morris visits the Motor City.
ALL-TIME SERIES
- Detroit Mercy has dominated the all-time series to a 40-13 advantage and winning 14 of the last 18 meetings, but Youngstown State has claimed four of the last six.
- The Titans are 21-5 all-time at Calihan Hall in the match-up, but the Penguins have won their last two trips to the Motor City. In fact, due to the pandemic canceling last year's home game and both games being played at YSU in 2020-21, Detroit Mercy has not beat Youngstown State at home since Jan. 12, 2018.
VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATE
- Antoine Davis is averaging 25.0 points, 4.4 assists and 2.5 rebounds in seven career games against Youngstown State, shooting 43.0% overall, 39.1% from three and 80.0% at the line. He has five games with 20 or more points, three games with 25 or more and a 34-point effort as a sophomore at home.
HUSTLE POINTS
- Detroit Mercy has outrebounded its opponents in six of the last nine games and nine times on the season as the Titans are third in the HL in rebounding at 36.7 per game and top the league and stand 29th in the nation with 12.9 per contest.
- The Titans had a +15 effort (43-28) against Green Bay, which included a 19-8 margin on the offensive glass.
- At Eastern Michigan, Detroit Mercy had a 42-38 advantage on the boards and a 16-11 edge on the offensive glass, with a 14-7 margin on second-chance points.
- At Charlotte, the Titans won the glass, 33-32, with 13 offensive rebounds, leading to 10 second-chance points.
- In the win at Tulsa, the Titans won the battle of the boards, 41-39, on the strength of 18 offensive rebounds, which led to a 23-13 second-chance points advantage.
- At Cleveland State, the Titans won the glass, 44-31, with 20 offensive caroms for a 19-10 second-chance points margin.
WHERE WE RANK
- Antoine Davis currently leads the nation in scoring at 25.0 ppg. He also tops the HL and is second in DI in total 3-pointers (70), leads the conference and DI in total points (425), first in the HL and third in 3-pointers per game (4.12) and first in the conference and fourth overall in field goals (139). His 37:40 minutes a game is also first in the league and fourth in the country.
- Jayden Stone is seventh in the league with 2.1, 3-pointers per game, 11th in scoring at 13.9 ppg., and 16th in rebounding at 5.3 per night. Graduate senior Damezi Anderson is ninth in the HL with 2.1 triples per game, and senior Gerald Liddell's seven double-doubles are first in the league and 14th in the nation.
- A note on Liddell is that he is not eligible for league and nation leaders due to games played; otherwise, his 12.8 rebounds per game would be second in the country.
FROM THREE
- The red, white and blue nailed 12 triples at NKU and have now connected on double-digit 3-pointers in 11 games, with a season-high 17 at Charlotte, one shy of the school record.
- Detroit Mercy also hit 15 against Bryant, in just 24 attempts for 62.4%.
- Detroit Mercy saw half of its 24 field goals at Purdue Fort Wayne go in from behind the arc.
- The Titans are second in the Horizon League and 43rd in the nation at 37.6% from three, as well as second in the HL and eighth in the country with 10.2 per game.
NATIONAL NOTICE
- Antoine Davis has garnered some national attention on preseason watch lists.
- He was recently named to the Midseason Top 25 Watch List for the Wooden Award for the nation's Most Outstanding Player, the only mid-major player on the list.
- Davis is one of the 20 candidates for the 2023 Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard of the Year Award) by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is also on the watch list for the Naismith Trophy National Player of the Year and for the Lou Henson Award for the top mid-major player.
- He was named a Preseason Third Team All-American by Dick Vitale.
- Last season he earned the Lou Henson Award All-American, First Team USBWA All-District V and NABC First Team All-District 12 selection as well as the Co-HL Player of the Year, the first player in conference history to make All-League four times - with every one of those a first-team selection.
WEARING THE SCORING CROWN
- 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 (1983-85).
- 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 leading the country at 25.0 points per game.
- The only Titan to ever lead the nation in a NCAA statistic was Spencer Haywood, who averaged 22.1 rebounds per game in 1968069.
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 128 after his 29 points at NKU.
- 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 91 career 20-point games, 29 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in 128 games - reaching 17 points in 113 of them.
- This year, he has a league-best 14, 20-point games and three 30-point outings.
ABOUT 3,000 POINTS
- Antoine Davis is the highest active scorer in the country in total points with 3,159, sixth in NCAA history.
- At the moment, only 11 players have reached 3,000 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).
- Imagine that record with the idea that Davis and the Titans have seen 15 games canceled and not made up in the last two seasons - seven of those being at home - due to the pandemic, at least one game missed due to the Titans not being eligible for the postseason in 2019-20 and one game canceled at California in his freshman year due to smoke from wildfires.
- Also, his current game total of 128 games is consistent with a normal four-year playing career.
ONE LETHAL SHOT
- Antoine Davis comes into the game fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.90, three-point field goals per game.
- He tied his career and school career best with 10, 3-pointers - the fourth time he has done that - at Charlotte. He also had six against Milwaukee, back-to-back games of six against Bryant and home versus Charlotte and five at NKU, Ohio, at Purdue Fort Wayne, and at Tulsa and is third in the NCAA with 4.12, 3-pointers per contest.
- Davis has made a three in 123 of his 128 collegiate games, with 70 career games with four or more triples, 25 with six or more, 11 games with seven or more, and has four ties connected on 10 in his career, tying a school record as well as breaking a conference tournament record.
- Davis is already the school career record holder as he passed former All-American Rashad Phillips (348).
- He is currently third in NCAA history in 3-pointers at 499, five away from Oakland's Travis Bader for second and 10 away from Fletcher Magee's NCAA-record 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 is currently third in the Horizon League and 22nd in DI at 89.5%.
- Davis owns the school record at 88.9% (550-of-619), seventh among active players and 22nd all-time in NCAA history. His 550 free throws are also first in school history.
- He has had numerous streaks of 10 or more in his career as he has currently made 45 of his last 48.
- Davis had a career-best of 57-straight between the end of his junior and the start of his senior year.
DAVIS DISHING IT OUT
- Antoine Davis can not only score, but he can get his teammates involved as he is fifth in Titan history with 527 assists, 21 shy of Rashad Phillips and fourth place.
- The all-time record is 615 by Kevin McAdoo as he is now 88 shy of that mark.
- He has 49 games with five or more assists and posted a nine-assist effort in the season opener against Rochester.
- His career-best is 10 at IUPUI and against Western Michigan and UIC last season.
- He is now 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 - who missed the last two games due to an undisclosed injury - had to wait seven games to play as his eligibility was cleared by the NCAA, but it might have been worth the wait as the senior transfer has posted seven double-doubles in his first eight games. He was the first Titan to have seven-straight since Ryvon Covile registered seven in a row to end the 2006-07 season.
- vs. Green Bay 19 points, 11 rebounds
- at Cincinnati 18 points, 13 rebounds
- at EMU 18 points, 14 rebounds
- at Charlotte 13 points, 18 rebounds
- at Tulsa 25 points, 12 rebounds
- at Cleveland St. 18 points, 13 rebounds
- at Purdue Fort Wayne 16 points, 16 rebounds
- His all-around game has seen him tie his career-high with four steals at EMU, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal, playing all 45 minutes at Charlotte, a season-high three blocks and two steals at Tulsa and three more blocks against Green Bay.
- He has at least two steals in five games and has blocked at least one shot in seven, and if he were eligible for conference leaders, he would be third in the nation in rebounding at 12.8, sixth in the HL in scoring at 16.8, second in the league with 1.5 blocks and third with 1.8 steals.
- The 18 rebounds he pulled down at Charlotte were the most by a Titan since Eli Holman had 18 versus Milwaukee in 2010.
- He came into the year with a high in boards of 14 against Alabama A&M, while his previous high in points was 22 against NC Central, both done last year as a member of Alabama State.
- Liddell started his career at Texas before transferring to Alabama State.
- At ASU, 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.
- 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 HS in Cibolo, Texas, he was ranked No. 41 in the nation by 247Sports and No. 47 by ESPN.
HOOSIER IN THE MOTOR CITY
- Graduate senior Damezi Anderson has been a consistent player for the Titans all season long.
- He has scored in double figures in eight games on the year, with 12 points and eight rebounds at Wright State, 15 points and six rebounds against Green Bay, 15 points in the win over Ohio, 16 with seven boards in the victory at Purdue Fort Wayne and 14 at Charlotte.
- He also has 10 games with four or more rebounds, with a career-high nine against Rochester and at Cleveland State.
- He began 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 three against Rochester.
- On the season, he is tallying 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds - 19th in the HL - shooting 38.9% from the field and 33.3% from three and ranking seventh in the HL with 2.06 3-pointers per game.
- 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.
A.J. LOOKING FOR ONE FINAL RUN
- A.J. Oliver - who has missed three games this season due to illness - had one of his best games, tying his season-high with 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds at Eastern Michigan.
- He had another strong game with five points and seven rebounds versus Green Bay.
- Oliver posted 12 points and five rebounds in the opener against Rochester and had 10 points against Bryant as he is averaging 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds, shooting 43.5% overall.
- He played in 95 games 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 line.
- Last season at ODU, Oliver 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.
FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER
- Junior Jayden Stone - who has missed four games with an illness on the season - had a massive game in the season opener, posting his first double-double with a then career-high 15 points and 12 rebounds.
- Stone has been in double figures in eight games with five 20-point outings - tied for fourth in the HL - and has also grabbed at least five rebounds in seven affairs.
- He had a big weekend at the road last week, tying his career-highs with 24 points in both games and grabbing nine rebounds at NKU and eight boards with three assists at Wright State, shooting 59.4% (19-of-32) from the field and 64.3% (9-of-14) from three, and that was after netting 16 against Milwaukee.
- He had a game-high 22 points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals at BC, career-high 24 points with six assists against Bryant and a team-high 20 with five boards at Washington State.
- He is averaging 13.9 points - 11th in the HL - shooting 49.2% overall, 51.9% from three and 85.7% at the line to go with 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
- The Perth, Australia, native transferred to Detroit Mercy after two years at Grand Canyon, where he played in 30 games and averaged 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds.
- He was one of the top prospects in the state of Alabama, earning the 2019 Alabama 2A Player of the Year.
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.
- After a slow start, he has turned it on in his last six games, tallying 6.5 points, 3.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds after posting 4.1 points, 1.7 assists and 2.1 rebounds in his first 11. He has also handed out at least three assists nine times on the season and has five games with five or more rebounds.
- Moss topped his career high with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists against Milwaukee and 15 points with six boards at Wright State.
- He had four points, a team-high five assists and three rebounds against Green Bay and that came after a season-best six assists and six rebounds at Cincinnati.
- At Purdue Fort Wayne, he had eight points with a career-high four steals, three assists and two blocks.
- 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 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.
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