DETROIT (11/19/2024) -- The Titans will hit the road for the rest of the month, starting with a stop in Indiana as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team travels to Ball State on Wednesday.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., at Worthen Arena and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App.

The Titans come into the game at 2-2 with home wins over Cleary and Niagara and losses at Loyola and to Toledo. Against the Rockets their last time out, graduate senior Emmanuel Kuac had a team-high 18 points and the Titans led early in the second half, but Toledo was able to pull away late.

Ball State is 1-3 on the year, defeating Franklin College for its only win and falling at Georgia State, at Dayton, and at home versus Indiana State.

Following the game, the Titans will head south for a contest at Wake Forest and two games at the Jacksonville Classic.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

• Detroit Mercy and Ball State have only met five previous times, with the Cardinals holding a 3-2 edge in the series. 
• Last year, four Titans scored in double figures, and UDM led by as many as 10 points in the first half and by eight with under nine minutes left when Ball State mounted a charge for the win. 
• The first-ever meeting was on Dec. 17, 1977, when the Titans routed Ball State, 103-70. Terry Tyler posted a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds, going 10-of-14 from the field, and John Long tallied 20 points and 13 boards. Ball State was led by Mike Drews' 16 points and eight rebounds, while Randy Boarden added 12 points and six rebounds.

THE WORLD IN 1977

• Who knew the world would change so much in the last 45 years since the Titans and Cardinals first met. Here are some facts about the world in 1977.
• Dick Vitale resigned as head coach of the Titans following his NCAA Tournament run in 1977 and took over as the Athletic Director.
• Atlantic City made history when it became the first location in the U.S.—outside of Nevada—to have legalized casino gambling.
• Rocky won an Oscar for Best Picture.
• Apple Computer was officially incorporated, with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak listed as the co-founders.
• Elvis Presley passed away.

I KNOW YOU

• Head coach Mark Montgomery faced Ball State many times as the head coach at NIU, going 7-11 in those games.

TOUGH FOES IN THE NON-CONFERENCE

• The Titans will play a few home games in the non-conference campaign. Three of those will take place in November, marking the most home games in November since they had three in the 2018-19 season.
• Overall, the Titans' 10 DI opponents were 173-152 (.532) last season as Wisconsin made the NCAA Tournament, while Loyola and Wake Forest played in the NIT. 

A FEW NEW FACES

• With 11 new players on the 15-man roster, the Titans return just 14.2% of their scoring, 12.9% of their rebounding, and 18.0% of their minutes played from last season. 

LOOKING FOR THE NEXT BENCH MARK

• The Titans are looking to get above .500 through five games for the first time since starting the season 4-2 in 2017-18. 

DOMINATING THE GLASS

• Detroit Mercy has collected 179 rebounds in four games, an average of 44.7 per contest. This includes 62 offensive rebounds at a rate of 15.5 per game, which have led to 65 second-chance points to start the year.
• The Titans currently lead the Horizon League and are 21st in the nation in rebounding as well as tops in the HL and 18th in the country with a +13.0 rebounding margin and 23rd in offensive boards. 
• UDM had a monster game on the glass, outrebounding Niagara 49-28, the first time the Titans have had a margin of +20 or more since a 53-20 advantage at home over Youngstown State in 2016. 
• The Titans pulled down 53 rebounds in the season opener against Cleary, the most since the 53 they had against Youngstown State, and then edged Loyola, 40-39, which included 20 offensive caroms.

HOW ABOUT THAT MAK-TION

• Senior Mak Manciel has had a strong start to the season as he leads the Titans at 16.3 points per game, shooting 43.2% from the field and 40.0% from three.
• He tallied a career-high 30 points and eight rebounds against Niagara, where he was a career-best 9-of-15 from the field and 6-of-7 from behind the arc, netting 18 of his points in the second half, six of which were in overtime.
• He has scored in double figures in three of the four games and 10 times in his last 19 games, dating back to last year. Manciel had 12 points and five rebounds versus Cleary and 16 points at Loyola, connecting on a career-high 7-of-8 at the line.
• He got off to a slow start last season in his Titan debut, as he was coming off a knee injury, and ended the year tallying 5.1 points and 2.0 rebounds.
• He started the year 12-of-59 (20.3%) from the field, but shot 40.0% (40-of-98) in the last 15 games, where he averaged 8.4 points and had all seven of his double-digit performances. 
• As a sophomore at Arkansas State, Manciel missed the season due to a knee injury.
• Prior to that, he was a First Team NJCAA All-American at Henry Ford College after posting 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, shooting 47.6%. 

JUST KUAC THIS

• Emmanuel Kuac is back for his second graduate season and hopes to be healthier than last year, which he has already shown.
• An athletic defender, he just posted a team-high 18 points, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-7 from three. 
• Kuac started the year with five points and four rebounds against Cleary in the season opener, netted seven points at Loyola, and had 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal against Niagara.
• He is second on the team in scoring at 10.5 points, hitting 54.2% from the field (13-of-24), 8-of-14 from three (57.1%) to go with 3.8 rebounds. 
• He missed the first 12 games recovering from an injury sustained before arriving at UDM last year, but he never fully recovered, recording 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 19 games. 
• He showed what he could do when healthy at Milwaukee as he was 9-of-19 shooting and 7-of-13 from three en route to a career-high 27 points to go with a season-high eight rebounds, a career-tying three steals and a block.

NATE THE GREAT

• As the Titans opened the year with a 2-1 week, the Horizon League took notice as rookie Nate Johnson was named the league's Under Armour Freshman of the Week on Nov. 11.
• The true freshman showed his all-around skills in his first three collegiate games, averaging 10.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists, hitting 10-of-23 (43.5%) from the field, with four triples.
• He started his collegiate career with nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists in the win over Cleary. He came back and added 13 points and three boards at Loyola, then tallied nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal in the come-from-behind win over Niagara.
• Against Toledo, he got into some foul trouble and played just 19 minutes. 
• The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News named him Honorable Mention All-State at Grand Rapids Christian, where he posted 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game as a senior. 

GEETER READY TO MAKE HIS OWN LEGEND

• After stops at Providence and Eastern Michigan, junior Legend Geeter is ready to make himself at home in his hometown. 
• Geeter recorded a career-high 14 points against Niagara, going 3-of-5 from the field and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.
• He scored eight points in just nine minutes against Cleary in the season opener.
• Geeter - who was coached in high school by assistant coach LaMonta Stone and was a top 50 recruit in the nation - started his career in the BIG EAST at Providence, but did not see action in any games.
• He spent the last two seasons at Eastern Michigan, playing in 57 games with 40 starts and averaging 5.5 points, 3.8 rebounds,1.2 assists, six blocks, and 44 steals while shooting 49.8% from the field and 76.5% at the free-throw line.
• He scored in double figures five times last year, including a then career-tying 13 points with five rebounds at Florida Atlantic and 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals against Bowling Green. He also had 13 points at Illinois State and a career-high 10 rebounds against Winthrop in 2022-23. 

313 IS WHERE O WANTS TO BE

• Junior Orlando Lovejoy hails from Detroit, evidenced by his 313 tattoo on his right arm.
• He scored in double figures for the second time this season with 12 points against Toledo. 
• In the season opener, he tied for the team lead with 13 points. He then had nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and a career-high five steals at Loyola and posted six points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists versus Niagara. 
• On the year, he is averaging 10.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 2.5 assists, shooting 44.8% overall. 
• He was a four-time All-State selection in high school and spent the last two seasons at Eastern Michigan, playing in 53 games with 29 starts and posting 7.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 steals.
• Last season, he tallied 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists with 32 steals, scoring in double figures in 12 games, including a career-high 19 points with five assists and four steals at Northern Illinois.
• He also scored 16 points at Michigan and against Toledo and had a career-best eight assists at Central Michigan.

A DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR OKORO

• Freshman Stephen Okoro talked about being a Dennis Rodman-type player on his recruiting trip, and so far, he has lived up to that, averaging a team-high 5.5 rebounds on the season.
• He just pulled down five rebounds with a block in nine minutes against Toledo.
• He had three points and a team-best six boards at Loyola and made an impact in his Titan debut, playing just 16 minutes and coming away with a double-double on 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field.
• He is the first Titan to have a double-double in his debut since senior Gerald Liddell did it at Purdue Fort Wayne in 2022, while the last Titan freshman to accomplish the task was Marquis Moore at IUPUI in 2019.
• A native of Imo State, Nigeria, he prepped at Combine Academy (NC) last year. As a senior at Principia High School in Missouri, he was named the District Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-State after tallying 13.5 points, 14.1 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. 

LARY HAS FOUND A HOME AT UDM

• Junior Jared Lary has moved around a bit for basketball, playing at three high schools and then in college at Lincoln Memorial and Aquinas.
• Through four games, he has shown that he can do a little of everything, tallying 7.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
• He just had nine points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal against Toledo. He posted 11 points, six rebounds, two steals, and a block against Niagara and had the game-tying basket down the stretch to send the game into overtime.
• Lary netted seven points and registered five rebounds, an assist, block, and steal against Cleary and then had three points, four rebounds, two assists, and a block at Loyola. 
• Last year at Aquinas, he registered 11.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 30 games, shooting 45.7% from the field and 74.2% at the free-throw line, with 30 triples. He had 17 double-figure scoring games, with three 20-point performances, including a career-high 22 against Cleary. 
• He was at Lincoln Memorial for two years, redshirting as a freshman, and playing 18 games in 2022-23, averaging 3.6 points and 1.7 boards, shooting 41.9%.
• As a prep, he started to gain attention at Grand Rapids Christian before transferring to Lutheran East in Cleveland, Ohio. 

GRANT READY TO KEEP FAMILY LEGACY GOING

• Redshirt freshman Grant Gondrezick II came to Detroit Mercy after a stop at Elon and a stellar high school career.
• He did not see any action at Elon but was a high scorer at Benton Harbor, posting nearly 2,000 career points. As a senior, he netted 997 total points, averaging 25.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. He earned First Team All-State for Detroit News, BCAM, and All Eyes on Michigan Magazine while being named to the Mr. Basketball Top 10 Watchlist for 2023.
• In his collegiate debut against Cleary, he had five points and a team-high five assists with a steal. 
• His dad, Grant Gondrezick, played college basketball at Pepperdine and then two seasons in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns, while his mother, Felicia, won the 1988 NCAA Championship at Louisiana Tech.
• His older sister, Kalabrya, played college basketball at Michigan State, while his other sister, Kysre, was Miss Basketball in Michigan, played for Michigan and West Virginia and currently plays in the WNBA.
• His uncle, Glen, his dad's brother, played at UNLV and spent six seasons in the NBA with the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets.  

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

• Freshman TJ Nadeau is coming off his first double-digit scoring performance with 10 points against Toledo.
• He recorded seven points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal in the season opener and then hit a couple of more 3-pointers to end with eight points at Loyola. 
• Nadeau hails from South Lyon and had a great career at Detroit Catholic Central. He was All-Catholic, All-County and All-State as a senior as well as a Mr. Basketball Candidate and a Midwest All-American. He tallied over 1,000 points in his prep career, including 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as a senior.

KALAMBAY'S PLAY

• Freshman Ryan Kalambay came to UDM from Brampton, Ontario, and recorded 10.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 53.9% at Fort Erie Academy last season. 
• In the season opener, he showed some muscle, scoring eight points and collecting two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in just 13 minutes and had four points and two boards at Loyola and two points with three rebounds in just seven minutes against Toledo.