Men's Basketball 11.21.24

Titans Prepare For ACC Showdown With Wake Forest On Saturday

Men's Basketball 11.21.24

Titans Prepare For ACC Showdown With Wake Forest On Saturday

Freshman Miles Mitchell and the Titans will look to knock off the Demon Deacons.

DETROIT (11/22/2024) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will look to make it two in a row as the Titans make their way south to face Wake Forest on Saturday.

Game time is set for 4:00 p.m., at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App.

The Titans stand at 3-2 and are coming off a 70-59 road win at Ball State, leading the contest for virtually the entire game. Junior Orlando Lovejoy tied his career-high with 19 points and junior Jared Lary posted a season-high 15.

Wake Forest is 5-1 on the year and 4-0 at home, which includes a win over Michigan, while its lone loss was at Xavier.

Following the game, the Titans head to Florida for the Jacksonville Classic, with games against Tulsa and Rhode Island.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

This is the first meeting between the two schools, and the third straight year the Titans will have made a trip to North Carolina, as they were at NC State last year and Charlotte two years ago.

AGAINST THE ACC

Detroit Mercy is 20-78 all-time against current teams in the ACC, although most of that is against Notre Dame (12-43), with the last win against a current ACC school against the Fighting Irish, 83-59, in the Motor City in 1993.
In its history, though, the Titans have not beaten an ACC school when they were in the conference. Their other wins have come against Boston College (4-3), Syracuse (1-5), Louisville (1-7), Pitt (1-2), and Georgia Tech (1-1).

NOT MUCH TO REMEMBER

Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes is 2-0 against the Titans as his East Tennessee State squad blitzed UDM, 107-78, at home in 2016 and then earned an 81-73 victory in the Motor City in 2017.

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 returned just 14.2% of their scoring, 12.9% of their rebounding, and 18.0% of their minutes played from last season.

LOCAL & GLOBAL TITANS

Detroit Mercy will have a lot of local flair this year, as 10 of the 15 Titans hail from Michigan.
The 10 homegrown products are the most on the roster since UDM had 12 student-athletes from the Great Lakes State in 2017-18.
Along with those Titans, Detroit Mercy also has a player from Wisconsin, two from Canada and a player from France and Nigeria.

LOOKING FOR THE NEXT BENCH MARK

The Titans have already eclipsed last year's win total of one and just snapped a 22-game road losing streak.
Detroit Mercy is also 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 219 rebounds in five games, an average of 43.8 per contest. This includes 75 offensive rebounds at a rate of 15.0 per game, which have led to 82 second-chance points.
The Titans lead the Horizon League and are 27th in the nation in rebounding. They are also tops in the HL and 22nd in the country with a +12.4 rebounding margin and 23rd in offensive boards.
Detroit Mercy outrebounded Ball State, 40-30, with 13 offensive boards and also collecting 15 of the last 20 rebounds in the contest.
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 also edged Loyola, 40-39, which included 20 offensive caroms.

GIVE US ONE MORE CHANCE

UDM's outstanding work on the glass has led to an 83-40 margin on second-chance points on the season.
Detroit Mercy had 20 second-chance points in the season opener against Cleary, 22 at Loyola, and just tallied a 17-4 margin at Ball State.
Last year, the Titans had just one game all season long with 15 second-chance points.

PLAYING SOME DEFENSE

The Titans held a team under 60 points on the road for the first time since a 71-58 triumph at Milwaukee in 2021-22.
UDM is also at the top of the Horizon League and 69th in the nation holding teams at 27.5% from behind the arc.

JUST KUAC THIS

Emmanuel Kuac is back for his second graduate season and already looks healthier than he did all of last year.
He posted a team-high 18 points, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-7 from three, against Toledo and is coming off a 13-point performance at Ball State, where he was 5-of-10 overall and 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
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 third on the team in scoring at 11.0 points, hitting 52.9% overall (18-of-34) and 11-of-20 from three (55.0%) to go with 4.0 rebounds.
For his career, Kuac has made 92 field goals, 48 of those from three, including 29 of his 44 field goals as a Titan.
Kuac 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.
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, and just had eight points, four rebounds, and two steals at Ball State, going 2-of-2 from distance.
He scored eight points in just nine minutes against Cleary in the 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 is coming off a career-tying 19 points and a season-high seven rebounds with five assists and a steal at Ball State. He was 5-of-12 shooting and tied his career-best, going 9-of-10 at the charity stripe.
Prior to that, he netted 12 points against Toledo, 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 second on the team averaging 11.8 points, tied for second with 4.8 rebounds, handed out a team-high 3.0 assists and shooting 43.9% 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 at NIU.
He also scored 16 points at Michigan and against Toledo and had a career-best eight assists at Central Michigan.

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE

The Titans earned an overtime win against Niagara, the first win in extra time since a 116-109 victory against Houston Baptist (now called Houston Christian) in 2017.

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 5.2 rebounds on the season.
He pulled down four rebounds with two assists at Ball State in eight minutes and five rebounds with a block in nine minutes against Toledo as foul trouble has limited him the last two games.
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 at Purdue Fort Wayne in 2022, while the last 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 two colleges, but he is now starting to thrive at Detroit Mercy.
Through five games, he has shown that he can do a little of everything, tallying 9.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
His latest effort was a season-high 15 points - all in the second half - shooting 6-of-9 overall and 3-of-4 from three, with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block at Ball State.
He had nine points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal against Toledo. Lary posted 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block against Niagara, including the game-tying basket down the stretch to send the game into overtime.
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.

HOW ABOUT THAT MAK-TION

Senior Mak Manciel has had a strong start to the season as he leads the Titans at 13.4 points per game, shooting 41.7% from the field and 38.1% from three.
He just suffered an injury at Ball State and is out indefinitely
Manciel 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 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.
As a sophomore at Arkansas State, Manciel missed the season due to a knee injury.

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. He had four points and two boards at Loyola, two points with three rebounds in just seven minutes against Toledo and two points, two rebounds and a block at Ball State.

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

Freshman TJ Nadeau posted his first double-digit scoring performance with 10 points against Toledo and just had five points at Ball State.
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 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.

Print Friendly Version