DETROIT (12/8/2023) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will start a six-game road clip to end the calendar year by traveling to Illinois to battle Northwestern on Sunday. 

Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network +. 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 will look for their first win against the Big Ten conference since 1997 and the first win over Northwestern since the only other time the two schools met back in 1956, a 94-84 victory. 

Senior Jayden Stone continues to pace the Titans and the Horizon League, topping the conference in scoring at 21.3 points per game - 15th in the nation. Graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia leads the team with 2.8 assists per game to go with 9.9 points and 6.4 rebounds, while graduate senior Donovann Toatley is tallying 9.3 points per game. 

Following the game, the Titans will have a week off for finals before getting on a plane and heading out West to California to face Jesuit-rival Loyola Marymount next Monday, Dec. 18. 

DETROIT MERCY-NORTHWESTERN

• This is only the second career meeting between the two schools, with the other a 94-84 victory in the championship game of the 1956 Motor City Classic.
• The Titans - who defeated Boston University to start the event - got a school-record 40 points from Bill Ebben in the win. Detroit Mercy - U-D at the time - had a 21-point lead in the second half, but Northwestern came back to knot it at 78-apiece with eight minutes remaining. At the end of the game, three Titans and four Wildcats had fouled out. Mike Walsh added 20 for Detroit, while Phil Warren had 28 and Joe Rukilck netted 26 for Northwestern. 
• Head coach Mike Davis is also no stranger to Northwestern as he was 7-3 against the Wildcats as the head coach at IU from 2000-06 and 0-1 as the head coach of Texas Southern (2012). 

AGAINST THE BIG TEN

• The Titans are 30-122 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference - 12-80 on the road - but have dropped 17 in a row against the league.
• The last win was a big in-state triumph as the red, white and blue downed Michigan State, 68-65, on the road. 

TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

• Detroit Mercy 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 61-28 (68.5%) 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 on the road.
• Overall, 12 of the first 15 games for the Titans will be on the road. 

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. 

LOOKING FOR THAT OFFENSE

• Everyone knew the Titans' offense might look different without Antoine Davis.
• Detroit Mercy currently ranks 343rd in scoring at 61.6 points per game.
• Without the NCAA all-time second-leading scorer and the top 3-pointer shooter in NCAA history, UDM also ranks 312th with 5.6 triples per game.
• In fact, the Titans have not hit double-digit 3-pointers this season, the longest streak since going 11 straight at one point during the 2015-16 campaign.  

SHOWING SOME DEFENSE

• The Titans held Ball State to 36.4% from the field and 5-of-21 (23.8%) from three their last time out, forcing a season-high 21 turnovers and 12 steals. 
• It was the second time in the past three games and the fourth time this season they have held an opponent under 40.0% from the field (Cincinnati - 37.5%, Ohio-31.7%, Oakland - 36.4%).
• The 12 steals were the most since tallying 13 against IUPUI last season, while the 21 forced turnovers were the most since IUPUI had 21 on the road in 2021.
• Detroit Mercy also posted 11 steals and six blocks against Oakland, the most since recording seven blocks against IUPUI at home last year.

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 three steals. 
• Stone just led the team with 18 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three assists against Ball State, the most steals by a Titan since 2017.
• He had a game-high 26 points, hitting a season-high 5-of-8 from three, along with grabbing a team-best eight boards at Cleveland State. 
• He flirted with a triple-double, posting 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists against Oakland, and that was after 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 HL best 21.3 points, 15th in the nation, with his 2.8 triples per game, second in the HL and 42nd in DI, along with 6.6 rebounds - eighth in the conference - and 2.3 assists. 
• He has now played in 22 career games with the Titans and has netted 20 or more 10 times, been in double figures 17 times, and has grabbed five or more rebounds on 16 occasions, including all nine 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 nine games. He has also showcased some fine all-around play as a post-player.
• His last time out against Ball State, he registered 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal. At Cleveland State, he scored five points, tied for the team lead with eight rebounds and handed out a season-best five assists with a block. 
• He recorded 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, shooting a career-best 6-of-9, at Southern Illinois Edwardsville and tallied a career-best 16 points and career-tying 10 boards at Ole Miss, to go with three assists, a block and a steal.  
• He netted 13 points at Cincinnati, hitting 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from three.
• He has scored in double figures in five games and has grabbed at least five rebounds in eight of the nine games this season as he is currently averaging 9.9 points, 6.4 rebounds - ninth in the HL - a team-high 2.9 assists and shooting 51.6% (33-of-64) from the field. 

OLAJUWON IN THE BOOKS

• Redshirt freshman Abdullah Olajuwon has had games with increased production to start the season in all areas on the court.
• Against Oakland, he registered two points, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.  
• He had four points with a steal against Eastern Michigan and 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 and added two more points with six boards at Cincinnati.
• He is now 1,313 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 had 11 points with seven rebounds against Ball State. He finished with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and a career-high three steals against Oakland and 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 eight of the last 11 games. Overall, he is tallying 11.9 points and shooting 44.1% from the field. 
• Last year, he really came on at the end of the season, scoring 10 points with three steals and five boards against Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League Championship opening round and ended the year with a season-best 14 points, hitting 6-of-9 from the field, with three rebounds and three assists in the HL Quarterfinals at Youngstown State.

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. 
• He then provided some energy and great minutes against Oakland, making 4-of-5 from the field and ending with a season-high eight points, four rebounds, and his first two career blocks. At Cleveland State, he netted five points and registered another block and just had four points and three rebounds against Ball State. 
• Davis' dad, Ricky Davis, played 12 years in the NBA and averaged 13.5 points per game, including a career-high 20.6 with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002-03.

RETURN OF THE MAK

• Junior Mak Manciel is a local product from Sterling Heights, Michigan, who was a First Team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American as a sophomore at Henry Ford College after posting 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, shooting 47.6% from the field, 40.8% from three and 83.0% at the line. 
• Last year, he was at Arkansas State, but missed last season due to a knee injury.
• He scored his first Division I points on two free throws at Ole Miss, along with a steal. He connected on his first basket, a three, at Ohio and posted four steals and four rebounds against Oakland.

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.  

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 and registering two rebounds, two assists, and a steal in a career-high 29 minutes.
• He just scored five points against Ball State, hitting another three. 
• Pink had connected on just two career 3-pointers coming into this season, both last year, while his career-high was seven points against NKU last season.
• He has now played in 23 career games, including 16 last year, with six starts. 

COACH WILLIAMS MAKES HISTORY

• Detroit Mercy hired its first female assistant men's basketball 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 current 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.
• 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.
• 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.