DETROIT (2/4/2023) -- It was a sweet weekend at home for the Titans as they took control early and never let their foot off the gas pedal as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dominated Purdue Fort Wayne, 85-52, on Saturday afternoon inside historic Calihan Hall.
The win was the biggest by the Titans since downing UM-Dearborn, 96-51, last season and their biggest win in league play since beating UIC, 98-47, in 2013, as Detroit Mercy has now won 23 of their last 27 overall in Calihan Hall and 17 of the last 21 against Horizon League foes.
Graduate senior and the nation's leading scorer
Antoine Davis recorded a game-high 32 points, hitting 12-of-24 from the field and 6-of-10 from three to go with four assists, three rebounds and two steals. He broke another NCAA with his 136th total game in double figures - all consecutive which is a record he already owns - and moved his career point total to 3,399, 268 behind Pete Maravich's NCAA record 3,667.
Senior
Gerald Liddell tallied 16 points on 7-of-14 from the field and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and handed out a team-high five assists, along with collecting two steals and a block. Graduate senior
Damezi Anderson scored 13 points with seven rebounds and two assists and graduate senior
A.J. Oliver finished with eight points and seven caroms.
Detroit Mercy (10-15, 6-8 HL) shot 51.5% from the field (35-of-68) and was 9-of-18 from three, while holding Purdue Fort Wayne (15-10, 7-7 HL) to 33.9% (19-of-56) shooting and 9-of-31 (29.0%) from behind the arc. The Titans also outrebounded the Mastodons, 43-32, and forced 14 turnovers.
The Titans were trailing 7-4 when Anderson and Davis hit back-to-back threes before a bucket by Davis had the Titans up 12-7. Detroit Mercy then upped its lead to 18-10 with six-straight points as Liddell had four points and Davis had a layup off a steal from Liddell.
Purdue Fort Wayne cut the lead to two, 19-17, when Anderson connected on a jumper and Davis rang in a three with 8:47 on the clock, which was his NCAA record basket for the most total games in double figures.
The Mastodons trimmed it down to two again, 26-24, with over five minutes left when the red, white and blue ended the half on a 12-0 run as the defense forced Purdue Fort Wayne into 0-of-5 shooting with four turnovers. Graduate senior
Arashma Parks got the spurt started with back-to-back layups. After two free throws from Oliver, Liddell had a basket and graduate senior
TJ Moss came up with a steal and a layup before Liddel ended the half by driving to the rim for a bucket and a 38-24 lead.
Anderson started the second half with a three that made it 41-24, but the Mastodons would hit back-to-back triples after that to cut it to 11. The Titans still led by 11 at 43-32 when they put the game away with another 15-0 run as Oliver had a slam followed by a three from Davis. Another basket by Davis had the run at seven and off a steal by Liddell, Oliver scored to put the red, white and blue ahead 52-32. Davis and Liddel had back-to-back baskets and then Davis found Moss going to the net for two and Detroit Mercy led 58-32 with 12:51 left.
The advantage would grow to the 30's as Anderson and Davis hit from distance for a 71-40 score at the 7:04 mark. A steal by Davis led to a dunk from Liddel and he was fouled, hitting the free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play for a 74-40 lead, and a three by Davis gave the Titans their biggest margin at 77-42 with 4:26 on the clock.
As the game was winding down, graduate senior
Buay Koka got inside for a slam and sophomores
Jamail Pink and
Tobin Schwannecke each had baskets, the first at the Division I level for Schwannecke in his Titan debut.
Moss ended with four points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals and Parks posted four points and four boards.
The Titans will now hit the road for three-straight games, starting with a road trip to Wisconsin to face Milwaukee on Thursday and Green Bay on Saturday.
Game Notes:
- The Titans swept the season series from Purdue Fort Wayne as the all-time series is now tied at 4-4, with Detroit Mercy owning a 3-2 edge at home
- Detroit Mercy has shot over 50.0% seven times on the season and the second time it has been back-to-back
- Detroit Mercy has now outrebounded its opponents in 12 of the last 17 games and 16 times on the season
- The 43 rebounds were the most since posting 43 against Green Bay at home earlier this year, while the +11 margin was the most since the +15 in that game as well
- Detroit Mercy held Purdue Fort Wayne to 33.9% from the field, the lowest total since they held Milwaukee to 33.3% last season in a home victory
- The Titans' seven turnovers were the fewest since they had five against Youngstown State as they came into the game third in the HL and 75th in the nation averaging just 11.9 turnovers per contest
- It was win number 407 for head coach Mike Davis, tied for 144th in NCAA history
- Davis moved to 11th in NCAA history in total field goals with 1,137, passing
- Mike Olliver (Lamar, 1977-81 - 1,130) and Hank Gathers, Marymount (1985-90 - 1,127) and is just four behind Doug McDermott (Creighton, 2010-14 - 1,141) for 10th
- Davis now has 114 triples on the season, third in school history behind his career-best 132 as a freshman and Rashad Phillips' 136 in 2000-2001
- Davis now has 97 career 20-point games, 34 career 30-point outings and six 40-point contests in 136 games - reaching 17 points in 118 of them as he has a league-best 20, 20-point games, eight 30-point outings and two 40-point outbursts on the season
- Davis has now made a three in 131 of his 136 collegiate games, with 74 career games with four or more triples, 29 with six or more, 14 games with seven or more, and has five times connected on 10 or more
- Davis extended his NCAA record in 3-pointers to 543
- Liddell has at least two steals in nine games and has blocked at least one shot in 10 on the season
- Liddell's five assists tied his career high with the five he had against Arkansas Pine Bluff last year as a member of Alabama State
- Liddell had 16 points and 16 rebounds in his Titan debut against Purdue Fort Wayne earlier in the year
- Anderson has now scored in double figures in six-straight games and 15 on the year and also has 15 games with four or more rebounds, with a career-high nine against Rochester and at Cleveland State
- Anderson is tallying 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his last six games, shooting 54.0% overall (34-of-63) and 41.5% (17-of-41) from three
- Moss has handed out at least three assists 12 times on the season
- Schwannecke played in 12 games at Grand Valley State in 2020-21 and scored a career-high six points with a career-best five rebounds and two assists in a win at Northwood
