Men's Basketball 02.16.23

Friday Night Lights Shine On #MetroSeries As Titans Visit Oakland

Men's Basketball 02.16.23

Friday Night Lights Shine On #MetroSeries As Titans Visit Oakland

The Titans will look to split the #MetroSeries this year

DETROIT (2/15/2023) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will have another shot in this year's #MetroSeries battle as the Titans make the short trip to Oakland on Friday.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at the O'rena 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 (11-16, 7-9 HL) are still in the hunt for a home game, while Oakland (12-16, 10-7 HL) is looking to solidify a top-four finish in the regular season. The Golden Grizzlies won the first meeting, 76-67, a couple of weeks ago at Calihan Hall.

Graduate senior Antoine Davis, the nation's leading scorer at 27.7 points per game, comes into the contest with 3,482 career points, tops in school and Horizon League history and second in NCAA history, 185 shy of Pete Maravich's NCAA record 3,667. He has scored at least 30 points in four-straight games - the longest streak in his career - and has tallied back-to-back 40-point games for the second time this season as he had a season-tying 42 at Milwaukee and 41 at Green Bay.

Senior Gerald Liddell is averaging 15.9 points and 9.5 rebounds on the year, including 15.8 points and 7.0 rebounds in the last four games, shooting 52.2% from the field, and graduate senior A.J. Oliver was in double figures in both games last week netting 12 against the Panthers and 15 versus the Phoenix.

Following the game, the Titans will play three straight at home to end the regular season, starting with IUPUI on Sunday, NKU on Thursday and Wright State next Saturday. Tickets start at just $10 and can be purchased here.

ALL-TIME SERIES

This is the 33rd meeting between the two schools, located about 26 miles apart.
Oakland leads the series, 18-14, and has won 12 of the last 13 and 17 of 19 since joining the Horizon League in 2013- 14.
The Titans are 2-9 on the road, with their wins coming in 2017, 93-88, and in 2021, 82-72.

VS. OAKLAND

Antoine Davis is tallying 21.4 points, 5.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 10 career games against Oakland, shooting 36.3% overall (65-of-179), 32.7% (35-of-107) from three and 92.5% (49-of-53) at the line. The 21.4 points is the lowest against any HL team, just behind the 21.7 against NKU. He has five games with 20 or more, with his high game of 30 at Oakland in 2021.
Damezi Anderson posted a career-high 22 points in the first meeting, while A.J. Oliver had a season-high 18.

THE #METROSERIES

Detroit Mercy and Oakland branded an annual rivalry called the Metro Series in 2013, which will be awarded to the school with the most head-to-head victories over the course of the academic year.

RETIRING #0

Detroit Mercy has announced that Antoine Jersey will have his #0 retired on Senior Day, Feb. 25, after the game as the Titans take on Wright State at 1:00 p.m.

WIN # 408 & 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.
This season, he won his 400th career triumph in the 70-49 victory over Charlotte.
He now has 408 career wins, 143rd in DI NCAA history and one behind Howard Cann and Danny Nee for 142nd place.

BRINGING THE O

Detroit Mercy has shot over 50.0% in seven games this season,
Two weeks ago, it tallied 51.5% against Purdue Fort Wayne, hitting 35-of-68 from the field, and 50.9% against Cleveland State.
The season high for the Titans is 52.7% against Robert Morris and at IUPUI, while they also shot 52.6% against Bryant, 52.0% at home versus Charlotte and 51.7% against Ohio. Detroit Mercy is 6-1 in games it has registered above 50.0% shooting.
The 35 field goals against Purdue Fort Wayne were the most since connecting on 39 at home against Green Bay in 2019.

HUSTLE & HARD WORK

Detroit Mercy has outrebounded its opponents in 14 of the last 19 games and 18 times on the season as the Titans are fourth in the HL in rebounding at 36.1 per game and top the league and stand 24th in the nation with 12.52 offensive rebounds per contest.
Detroit Mercy dominated the glass at Milwaukee, 43-27, with 25 offensive rebounds, as the +16 rebounding margin was the most since the +33 effort (53-20) at Youngstown State in 2016.
Detroit Mercy owned the boards against Purdue Fort Wayne, 43-32, which included 12 offensive rebounds.
The Titans had a +15 effort (43-28) against Green Bay, which included a 19-8 margin on the offensive glass.

DAVIS RANKINGS

Antoine Davis currently leads the nation in scoring (27.7 ppg.), total points (748), total 3-pointers (129), 3-pointers per game (4.78) and total field goals (245). His 37:17 minutes a game is second in the league and ninth in the country.

FROM THREE

The Titans have nailed 102 triples in the last nine games, highlighted by 16 at IUPUI and 17 against Robert Morris at home, tying a season-high and one shy of the school record.
Detroit Mercy has now connected on double-digit 3-pointers in 16 games and is first in the Horizon League and ninth in the nation at 39.1% from three, as well as first in the HL and sixth in the country with 10.4 per game.

TAKING WHAT YOU GIVE US

The Titans have connected on double-digit free throws in 18 games on the season and made at least 20 four times - three of those in the last four games with a 20-of-23 mark at Green Bay, 21-of-24 at Milwaukee and 22-of-27 against Cleveland State. The season best for makes and attempts were 24-of-34 versus Rochester in the opener.
Detroit Mercy is third in the Horizon League and 20th in the nation in free-throw percentage at 76.5%.

VALUE THE BALL

Detroit Mercy posted a season-best 12 steals against Cleveland State, the most since taking 12 away from Purdue Fort Wayne in 2021, and are coming off 11 steals at Milwaukee. The 20 forced turnovers against the Vikings tied a season-high with the 20 at Purdue Fort Wayne and the 20 at IUPUI.
On the flip side, the Titans are fourth in the HL and 76th in the nation averaging just 11.6 turnovers and have seven games on the season with less than 10 turnovers.

NATIONAL NOTICE

Antoine Davis has garnered some national attention on preseason watch lists.
He was recently named a top-10 finalist for the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard of the Year Award) by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is also on the Late Season Top 25 Watch List for the Wooden Award for the nation's Most Outstanding Player, the only mid-major player on the list, the Top 50 Watch List for the USBWA's Oscar Robertson Trophy for the National Player of the Year and on the midseason Naismith Trophy National Player of the Year and 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.

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 a career-best 27.7 points per game, ahead of Penn's Jordan Dingle's 24.0.
The only Titan to ever lead the nation in a NCAA statistic was Spencer Haywood, who averaged 22.1 rebounds in 1968-69, while his current rate of 27.7 points would be the third highest in school history and the highest in HL history, ahead of the 27.6 by Hughes in 1983-84.

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 to 138 after his 41 points at Green Bay.
He broke the 115-mark mark held by Chris Clemons (Campbell, 2015-2019) and Lionel Simmons (La Salle, 1987-90).
Davis just broke the all-time mark for total games in double figures, passing Creighton's Doug McDermott's 135.
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 and recently broke the all-time 3-point mark, passing Wofford's Fletcher Magee's 509 and now has 558 career triples.

RACKING UP THE POINTS

Antoine Davis now has 99 career 20-point games, 36 career 30-point outings and eight 40-point contests in 138 games - reaching 17 points in 120 of them.
He is also the first player in more than 40 years to record a 40-point game in four different seasons.
Davis became the first Titan to ever register back-to-back 40-point games when he had 41 against RMU and 42 at IUPUI, the first player to do it at DI since Marquette's Markus Howard had 40 against Davidson and 51 versus USC in 2019. He now has two separate back-to-back 40-point games on the season, the first player to register that feat since LSU's Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in 1989-90.
This year, he has a league-best 22, 20-point games, 10, 30-point outings and four 40-point outbursts, with the four 40-point games the most since Campbell's Chris Clemons' four in 2018-19. If he nets 40 again, it would be the most since Gonzaga's Adam Morrison's had five during 2005-06.
He also has scored 30 or more in four-straight games, the longest streak 30-point streak in his career.

ABOUT 3,000 POINTS

Antoine Davis is the highest active scorer in the country in total points with 3,482, second in NCAA history.
Only 11 players have reached 3,000 at the DI level and he is 185 behind Pete Maravich's NCAA-record 3,667
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).
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.

DAVIS FROM THREE

Antoine Davis comes into the game third all-time in NCAA history with 4.04, three-point field goals per game and leading the nation this year at 4.78 per contest.
He set a school record with 11 triples against Robert Morris - eight in the first half alone - and his eighth was the record-breaking trifecta as he became the all-time leader in college basketball with his 510th trey, passing Wofford's Fletcher Magee's (2015-19). He now has 558 to his name.
He has 16 games on the year with four or more 3-pointers, with some of the top games the 11 against RMU, 10 at Charlotte, nine at RMU and eight at IUPUI and at Green Bay.
Davis has made a three in 133 of his 138 collegiate games, with 76 career games with four or more triples, 31 with six or more, 16 games with seven or more, and has five times connected on 10 or more.
Davis' 129 triples on the season are third in school history, three shy of his career single-season best of 132 as a freshman for second and seven away from the Titan record of 136 by Rashad Phillips in 2000-01.

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 second in the Horizon League and eighth in DI at 90.2%.
Davis owns the school record at 89.1% (602-of-676), sixth among active players and 21st all-time in NCAA history. His 602 free throws are also first in the Titan record book.
Davis hit a career-best 57 in a row 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 third in Titan history with 568 assists, 43 behind second-place Wilbert McCormick (1977-80 - 611) and 47 in back of school-record holder Kevin McAdoo's (1983-86) 615.
He has 52 games with five or more assists and posted a nine-assist effort in the season opener against Rochester and eight against Oakland and six at YSU.
His career-best was 10 at IUPUI and against Western Michigan and UIC last season.
He is 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.

PLAYING ALL 40

Antoine Davis played 43 minutes in the overtime game at NKU and all forty against Milwaukee at Florida Atlantic, at Cleveland State and against Oakland.
He has now played 40 or more minutes 34 times in his career and is currently second in the Horizon League and ninth in the nation with 37:17 minutes a game.

FROM ALL OVER

Detroit Mercy will feature student-athletes from six states (Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas) and two countries (Australia, Sudan).

WHAT A START FOR LIDDELL

Senior Gerald Liddell - who missed a few games with 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 seven 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, a season-high three blocks at Tulsa and against Green Bay.
He had 17 points and seven rebounds at Milwaukee, 16 points, eight rebounds, a career-tying five assists with two steals and a block against Purdue Fort Wayne and that was after 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists against Cleveland State. A couple of weeks ago, he netted 24 points with six rebounds, two assists and two steals against Youngstown State.
He has at least two steals in nine games and has blocked at least one shot in 10. He is currently not eligible for statistical leaders due to games played.
The 18 rebounds 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 played 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.
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 now scored in double figures in six of the last eight games and 15 on the year.
He recorded two-straight career-high games tallying his first 20-point outing with 20 points, along with a team-high seven rebounds, three assists and three steals at IUPUI, and then notched 22 points on a career-best 10-of-17 shooting with six boards and two helpers against Oakland.
He also has 15 games with four or more rebounds, with a career-high nine against Rochester and at Cleveland State.
Anderson is now tallying 12,8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in his last eight games, shooting 53.6% overall (37-of-69) and 42.2% (19-of-45) 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 registering 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.

NO MOSSING AROUND

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.
He is coming off a game that saw him score just two points, but register a career-high eight assists and a career-tying six rebounds and two blocks at Green Bay, and that was after six points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals at Milwaukee.
He has turned it on in his last 14 games, tallying 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists after posting 4.0 points, 1.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds in his first 13. He has handed out at least three assists 14 times on the season and has nine games with five or more rebounds, including tying his career high with six five times.
Moss recorded 11 points, five assists and two steals at IUPUI as he was in double figures for the third time in his last six.
He had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists against Milwaukee and a season-high 15 points with six boards at Wright State, where he was 6-of-9 shooting.
He had a season-best six assists and six rebounds at Cincinnati and eight points with a career-high four steals, three assists and two blocks at Purdue Fort Wayne.
He played in 64 games with eight starts at South Carolina and McNeese State prior to transferring to Detroit Mercy.

IN THE BOOKS

Sophomore Jamail Pink hit his first career three against Robert Morris this season, while sophomore Tobin Schwannecke scored his first Division I points on a basket in his Titan debut versus Purdue Fort Wayne.

MOTOR CITY PRIDE

Junior Kyle LeGreair - known as one of the toughest Titans - has started to shine on the court.
He posted four points, four rebounds and a career-tying five assists with a block and a steal at Robert Morris.
LeGreair had three points, three rebounds, two assists and a career-high five steals at IUPUI, the most steals by a Titan since Madut Akec had five at Louisville last year.
LeGreair has one of his best games with four points, a career-high seven rebounds, a career-tying five assists, and two steals against Robert Morris. Before that, he tallied a career-best nine points with four assists at NKU and scored seven points with six boards and three assists against Youngstown State.
LeGreair 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.

A.J. LOOKING FOR ONE FINAL RUN

A.J. Oliver scored in double figures for the eighth time with 15 points and six rebounds at Green Bay and that was after 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and a career-high three steals at Milwaukee.
He had 12 points at Youngstown State and eight points and seven boards against Purdue Fort Wayne. He also posted a season-high 18 points against Oakland on 7-of-13 shooting with four 3-pointers and a season-tying nine rebounds.
In his last nine games, he is averaging 11.1 points and 5.0 rebounds, shooting 45.8% from the field (33-of-72), 39.0% from three (16-of-41) and 94.7% at the line (18-of-19) and that was after tallying 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in his first 14 games, shooting 43.5% overall (27-of-62) and 29.7% from three (11-of-37).
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.
In 2020-21 at ODU, he started all 21 contests he played in and ranked third on the team with 9.7 points and led the squad shooting 88.6% at the line 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.

TWO WITH DOUBLES

Graduate senior Antoine Davis and senior Gerald Liddell did something no Titan teammates have done since 2003.
Davis was 11-of-22 and Liddell 10-of-19 from the field against Youngstown State.
The last time the Titans had a game where two players registered at least 10 field goals was on Dec. 22, 2003, with James Thues (13-of-16) and Jimmy Twyman (11-of-18) reaching the mark in a 95-61 win over Western Illinois.

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 on the opening weekend of HL play, earning HL Freshman of the Week on Dec. 5.
Jones came off the bench tallying 14.0 points and 5.5 rebounds. He shot 58.8% from the field (10-of-17) and 53.3% (8-of-15) from three in the two games.
He started with 11 points and four rebounds in the win at Purdue Fort Wayne end ended with 17 points - connecting on five triples - seven rebounds and two assists at Cleveland State.
Jones followed that up with five points in the win at Tulsa, but it was his three with 50 seconds left that gave the Titans a 73-72 lead en route to the 76-72 victory.
He tallied a season-best eight boards with eight points against Youngstown St.

TAKING YOU TO THE PARK

Graduate senior Arashma Parks earned his first start as a Titan at Wright State and delivered with four points, eight rebounds and a block in 17 minutes. He finished that weekend with six caroms in 19 minutes at NKU.
He was a presence in the middle two weeks ago with five points and nine rebounds, a block and a steal against Cleveland State and four points, four rebounds a block against Purdue Fort Wayne. At Milwaukee, he had seven rebounds - five offensive - in only 10 minutes.
He just missed a double-double with a career-high 11 boards and a season-best eight points at Florida Atlantic.
He had three points and five boards against Bryant and grabbed a then career-high nine rebounds off the bench at BC.
On the year, he is tallying 3.8 rebounds per game and has hit on 17-of-32 shots.
He played the last four years at Temple of the American Athletic Conference, appearing in 49 games with 14 starts.
As a senior, he played in 19 games with 13 starts and averaged 1.1 points and 2.7 rebounds, along with tallying six assists.
After missing his freshman year due to an injury, he came back as a sophomore to play in 22 games and posted 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds, putting in a career-high 10 points against St. Joseph's.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Nothing new for the Titans to have a family connection in the program and this season, Detroit Mercy will once again feature three Davis' in head coach Mike Davis, assistant coach Mike Davis Jr. and graduate senior guard Antoine Davis.
From 2010-13, the Titans had head coach Ray McCallum and star guard Ray McCallum, winning the HL title in 2012 and earning a trip to the NIT in 2013.
Also, the legendary Bob Calihan coached his son, Bob Calihan Jr., for one season as he transferred to U-D from Loyola for his senior season in 1968-69.
The father-son coaching player duo is part of 23 at Division I, while the family coaching connection is part of eight in DI.

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 3,482 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).