JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (11/26/2024) -- The final game in Florida will have the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team facing off with Rhode Island at the Jacksonville Classic on Wednesday.

Game time is set for Noon at Florida State College of Jacksonville, South Campus. It will be streamed live on Baller TV, with a paid subscription, and will feature live stats.

The Titans dropped game one of the event, 63-44, to Tulsa as the defense limited the Golden Hurricane to just 8-of-25 (32.0%) from the field and 4-of-17 (23.5%) from three in the second half but just could not convert on the offensive end.

Rhode Island is 5-0 on the year and is just starting the tournament today, as its final game is on Thanksgiving against UT Arlington.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

• This will be the seventh career meeting between the two schools in a series that saw its first game in 1945.
• The Titans and Rams have split the six games as UDM has won three of the last four, but dropped a 69-55 decision the last time these teams met in 2014.
• The first meeting was on Feb. 17, 1945, in Buffalo, New York, as Tom Molitor scored 17 points for the Titans, but Ernie Calverley led four Rams in double figures with 17 in a 63-45 win.
• In 2014, Juwan Howard Jr. had 17 points and seven rebounds for Detroit Mercy, but behind E.CC. Matthews' 23 points and eight boards, Rhode Island stormed back from a 36-34 deficit at the half to win 69-55.

AGAINST THE A-10

• Detroit Mercy is 154-163 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10, although most of that has come against former conference rivals Loyola, Dayton, St. Louis, and Duquesne when they were members of the MCC.

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. 

LOOKING FOR THE NEXT BENCH MARK

• The Titans have already eclipsed last year's win total of one and snapped a 22-game road slide with a win at Ball State. 

DOMINATING THE GLASS

• Detroit Mercy has collected 314 rebounds in seven games, an average of 44.9 per contest. This includes 105 offensive rebounds at a rate of 15.0 per game, which have led to 100 second-chance points.
• The Titans lead the Horizon League and are 11th in the nation in rebounding. They are also at the top of the HL and 22nd in the country, with a +11.7 rebounding margin and 22nd in offensive boards. 
• Detroit Mercy has a few dominating games on the glass, as it just registered a 48-31 advantage at Wake Forest (14-6 on offense). UDM outrebounded Ball State, 40-30, with 13 offensive boards and collected 15 of the last 20 rebounds in the contest to seal the win. 
• The Titans outrebounded Niagara 49-28, the first time they 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, and Tulsa, 47-44, 16-9 on offense. 

GIVE US ONE MORE CHANCE

• UDM's outstanding work on the glass has led to a 100-47 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 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

• In the win at Ball State, 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.
• At Wake Forest, the Titans responded from a slow start to force the Demon Deacons into missing 25 of their last 31 from behind the arc and 16 for their last 50 shots overall after starting the contest 8-of-11. Against Tulsa, the defense came back to force the Golden Hurricane into 8-of-25 (32.0%) from the field and 4-of-17 (23.5%) from three in the second half.
• UDM tops the Horizon League and is 56th in the nation holding teams at 28.5% from distance. 

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. 

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 had a 13-point performance at Ball State, where he was 5-of-10 overall and 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
• Kuac netted seven points at Loyola and had 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal against Niagara.
• He is fourth on the team in scoring at 8.9 points, hitting 47.7% overall (21-of-44) and 12-of-26 from three (47.7%) to go with 4.0 rebounds. 
• For his career, Kuac has made 96 field goals, 49 of those from three, including 30 of his 48 field goals as a Titan. 
• Kuac missed the first 12 games of last year's season, recovering from an injury he sustained before arriving at UDM. However, 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, shooting 9-of-19 and 7-of-13 from three en route to a career-high 27 points, a season-high eight rebounds, a career-tying three steals, and a block.

313 IS WHERE O WANTS TO BE

• Junior Orlando Lovejoy hails from Detroit, evidenced by his 313 tattoo on his right arm.
• He has turned his play on in the last four games, scoring in double figures in three of them and averaging 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists, handing out 13 assists against just four turnovers. 
• Lovejoy tallied a team-high 15 points, grabbed a season-best eight boards, and handed out six assists at Wake Forest. He had a career-tying 19 points, seven rebounds with five assists, and a steal at Ball State, going 5-of-12 from the field and tying his career-best with a 9-of-10 effort at the charity stripe. 
• Prior to that, he scored 12 points against Toledo, nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and a career-high five steals at Loyola, and six points, six rebounds, and a team-high five assists against Niagara. 
• On the year, he is second on the team at 11.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, shooting 37.9% 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.

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. 
• He has shown that he can do a little of everything through seven games, tallying 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
• He just had a team-high 12 points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist versus Tulsa, after 10 points, four rebounds, and a steal at Wake Forest. He netted 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 and 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. 

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 had eight points, four rebounds, and two steals at Ball State, going 2-of-2 from distance. 
• 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. 

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 5.6 rebounds on the season.
• He just pulled down a game-high nine boards against Tulsa, with four off the offensive glass.
• He had four rebounds, two points, a block, and an assist in 10 minutes at Wake Forest, four rebounds with two assists at Ball State in eight minutes, and five rebounds with a block in nine minutes against Toledo.
• Okoro had three points and a team-best six boards at Loyola and made an impact in his Titan debut against Cleary. He played just 16 minutes and came away with a double-double of 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. 

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.
• In his collegiate debut against Cleary, he had five points and a team-high five assists with a steal. He also had five points and two helpers at Wake Forest and four points, two boards, and a steal against Tulsa.  
• 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, earning First Team All-State, while being named to the Mr. Basketball Top 10 Watchlist for 2023.
• His dad, Grant Gondrezick, played college basketball at Pepperdine and then two seasons in the NBA for the 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 Knicks and Nuggets.  

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. 

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. 
• He just had his second-straight game with five rebounds, three points, two steals and a block against Tulsa. He pulled down five rebounds with a block at Wake Forest. 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.

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

• Freshman TJ Nadeau was in double figures for the second time in the past four games as he tallied a season-high 13 points with a season-best nine boards at Wake Forest. 
• He posted his first collegiate double-digit scoring performance with 10 points against Toledo and 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.