DETROIT (11/28/2023) -- The Horizon League will start its 45th year of competition in a big way as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball teams welcomes #MetroSeries rival Oakland into Calihan Hall on Wednesday.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App with Jeremy Otto and Earl Cureton '11 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.

It will be a RED OUT as the first 600 fans will receive a red t shirt courtesy of Alliance Catholic Credit Union. Tickets can be purchased here. 

This is the 10th year of the #MetroSeries as Detroit Mercy and Oakland branded the annual rivalry in 2013. The programs battle for the Metro Rivalry Cup, which will be awarded to the school with the most head-to-head victories over the course of the academic year. The Golden Grizzlies and Titans compete in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's track and field. The winner of each competition will be awarded points, with cross country, golf and track and field being decided by the highest finish at the Horizon League Championships. 

It is also the 45th year of the Horizon League (1979-80) and the 44th with Detroit Mercy as a member, as the Titans are the eldest program in the league. The Titans are 18-25 all-time in Horizon League openers and 24-19 all-time in Horizon League home openers, winning four of the last five HL and home openers. 

Senior Jayden Stone is second in the HL and 17th in the nation in scoring at 21.7 points per game, second in the league, and 38th in the nation with 3.00 3-pointers per contest. Graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia is averaging 10.7 points, 6.3 rebounds - sixth in the HL - and 3.0 assists - eighth in the league - while sophomore Marcus Tankersley is 19th in the conference with 13.3 points per game.

Oakland enters the contest at 4-3 following a 78-76 road at Xavier on Monday. The three other wins have come against Bowling Green, Loyola Marymount and Marshall. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• This is the 34th meeting between the two schools, located about 26 miles apart. 
• Detroit Mercy won the last game on the road, 96-74, but Oakland leads the series, 18-15, and has won 12 of the last 14 and 17 of 20 since joining the Horizon League in 2013- 14. 
• The Titans are 12-9 at home in the match-up, but have dropped eight straight in the Motor City, with the last win in 2015. 

A BUNCH OF CAREER HIGHS

• The Titans have already had five student-athletes post career highs in the first five games as graduate senior Donovann Toatley had 20 and graduate senior Oton Jankovic netted nine at Toledo, senior Jayden Stone put in 34 against Eastern Michigan, while graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia went for 16 at Ole Miss and sophomore Marcus Tankersley added 19. 

HORIZON LEAGUE MARKS

• Detroit Mercy is 18-25 all-time in Horizon League openers, winning four of the last five.
• The Titans are also 24-19 all-time in conference home openers, also winning four of the last five.
• The red, white and blue are 303-342 all-time in the Horizon League in their history. 

TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

• The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will have 11 non-conference games, with several against multi-bid leagues.
• Nine of the 11 contests will have the Titans on the road as the red, white and blue face teams from the AAC, ACC, BIG 10, SEC and the WCC, among others.
• The 11 foes totaled a 202-161 (55.6%) record last season, with four making postseason trips in NC State (NCAA), Northwestern (NCAA), Toledo (NIT), and Cincinnati (NIT), and are already 44-21 (67.6%) this year. 

EARNING THOSE HOTEL POINTS

• The Titans started the year with four straight away from Calihan Hall for the fourth time in school history and the third time under head coach Mike Davis.
• In 2020-21, Detroit Mercy started the year with nine straight on the road, while in 2019-20, the red, white and blue played seven in a row away from the Motor City.
• It also happened in 2006-07 when the Titans played their first five outside of Detroit.

FROM ALL OVER

• Detroit Mercy's roster features student-athletes from five states (Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Maryland, Indiana) and five countries outside the states (Australia, Canada, Croatia, France, Italy).
• Edoardo Del Cadia is believed to be the first Titan from Italy, while Jayden Stone is the first Titan from Australia and Alex Tchikou the first from France. 

A PRECIOUS STONE

• Senior Jayden Stone has had a great start to the year, topping his career high twice and extending it to a career-best 34 points against Eastern Michigan, hitting 12-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from three. He also corralled six rebounds, had four assists and tied his career-high with three steals. 
• He is coming off a game-high 23 points, five rebounds and three assists at Southern Illinois Edwardsville. 
• Earlier in the year, he had a then career-high 25 points at Cincinnati, going 9-of-20 from the field and connecting on four triples, and also led the team with 22 points at Ole Miss.
• Stone is averaging a team-high 21.7 points, second in the Horizon League and 17th in the nation, with his 3.0 triples per game, second in the HL and 38th in DI, along with 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists. 
• He has now played in 19 career games with the Titans and has netted 20 or more nine times, been in double figures 14 times, and has grabbed five or more rebounds on 13 occasions, including all six games this year.  

DEL CADIA NETS CAREER BEST

• Graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia tied and then set his career high in points, while posting his first career double-double in the first six games.
• He just recorded 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, shooting a career-best 6-of-9 from the field at Southern Illinois Edwardsville. 
• Del Cadia tallied a career-best 16 points and career-tying 10 boards at Ole Miss, to go with three assists, a block and a steal. At Ohio, he had nine points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.  
• He netted 13 points at Cincinnati, hitting 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc before fouling out after playing just 22 minutes and that was after seven points, six boards and three helpers in the opener at Toledo.
• He has scored in double figures in three games and has grabbed at least five rebounds in five of the six games this season and is currently averaging 10.7 points, 6.3 rebounds - sixth in the HL - 3.0 assists - eighth in the league - and 1.0 steals, shooting 52.3% (23-of-44).

OLAJUWON IN THE BOOKS

• Redshirt freshman Abdullah Olajuwon has had games with increased production to start the season. Before scoring four points with a steal against Eastern Michigan, he had four points, a team-high eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals at Ohio.
• He scored his first basket in the season opener at Toledo, added two more points with six boards at Cincinnati, and had a bucket at Ole Miss. 
• He is now 1,318 points behind his dad, Hakeem Olajuwon, who netted 1,332 in three years at Houston from 1981-84.

SCORE IT MARK

• Sophomore Marcus Tankersley scored just seven points in each of the first two games at Toledo and at Cincinnati on 6-of-13 shooting, but he has really picked up the offense since then.
• Tankersley just tallied 16 points at Southern Illinois Edwardsville. He exploded for a career-high 19 points at Ole Miss on a career-best 8-of-13 from the field with four rebounds and a career-high five assists. He came back with 14 points and a career-high eight rebounds at Ohio and netted 17 points with three rebounds, three assists and a steal against EMU. 
• Dating back to last season, he has now scored in double figures in six of the last eight games, shooting 40-of-71 (56.3%) in that span. Overall, he is tallying 13.3 points and shooting 52.6% from the field, third in the league. 
• He saw action in 24 games, all as a reserve, last season and averaged 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds, shooting 51.3% from the field (20-of-39) and 93.8% (15-of-16) at the line.
• He really came on at the end of the year, scoring 10 points (4-5 FG, 4-4 FT) with three steals and tying his season high with five boards against Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League Championship opening round and ending the year with a season-best 14 points, hitting 6-of-9 from the field, with three rebounds and three assists in the Horizon League Championship Quarterfinals at Youngstown State.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF FOR TRENTON

• Junior Trenton Johnson - a walk-on - did not see action in the opener at Toledo and played just 15 minutes at Cincinnati, but when the Titans needed another man at Ole Miss, his hard work and dedication paid off.
• Johnson scored his first DI points, finishing with eight on 3-of-4 shooting, 2-of-3 from three, along with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• He upped his point total to nine at Ohio, adding three assists and a block and had six points against Eastern Michigan.  
• He spent the last two years at Vincennes University, seeing action in 64 games with 27 starts and posted 5.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

MY FAVORITE COLOR IS PINK

• Junior Jamail Pink gave the Titans some strong minutes in his first start at Southern Illinois Edwardsville, scoring six points on a pair of 3-pointers along with registering two rebounds, two assists and a steal in a career-high 29 minutes.
• Pink had hit two career 3-pointers coming into the game, both last season, while his career-high is seven points against NKU last season.
• He has now played in 20 career games, including 16 last year with two starts. 

DAVIS IN THE BOOKS

• Sophomore Tyree Davis earned his first Division I points, putting in two baskets and ending with four points against Eastern Michigan. 

COACH WILLIAMS MAKES HISTORY

• Detroit Mercy hired its first female assistant coach in school history in former high school coach Jerica Williams.
• She is one of 31 women on DI MBB staffs in positions of leadership directly working with the players, although she is the only coach in Division I who has on-the-court instruction and recruiting duties.
• She was the girls' basketball head coach at Detroit Country Day from 2020-2022, where she was named back-to-back Coach of the Year in her first two years as a head coach while leading her team to back-to-back MSHAA Final Fours, before becoming Girls' Basketball Program Lead at the Windward School in Los Angeles, California. In the off-season, she continued working with NBA players.
• Prior to the home opener on Nov. 21, Detroit Council Member Angela Calloway presented the prestigious Spirit of Detroit Award to her for her outstanding achievement in becoming the program's first-ever female men's assistant coach.
• The Spirit of Detroit Award is issued by the Detroit City Council to a person, event, or organization deemed to have performed an outstanding achievement or service to the citizens of Detroit.

WIN #411 & COUNTING

• 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.
• Last season, he won his 400th career game in the 70-49 victory over Charlotte at Calihan Hall.
• He now has 411 career wins, 145th in DI NCAA history, one away from 143rd, held by and Mike Deane and Brad Brownell.  
• Davis is one of nine current coaches to win 100 games at three different schools (Indiana, UAB, Texas Southern).