DETROIT (12/4/2024) -- After posting the most wins in November in the past seven seasons, the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will look to start December with a victory in conference play as the Titans welcome Purdue Fort Wayne to Calihan Hall on Thursday.

Game time is set for a special 1:00 p.m. tip on Dick Vitale Court and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App as Dan Hasty and Jeremy Otto have the call.

Tickets to the game are FREE and the first 150 fans will receive a lei.

Detroit Mercy is 4-5 on the season after taking a thrilling overtime game at Eastern Michigan, 98-89. Six Titans scored in double figures, led by redshirt freshman Grant Gondrezick II's season-high 22 points and seven rebounds. Junior Orlando Lovejoy stayed hot with 18 points and seven assists and junior Legend Geeter tied his career-high with 14 points.

Lovejoy currently ranks 10th in the HL in scoring (14.0), fifth in assists (4.0), seventh in assist-to-turnover (2.0), 10th in steals (1.6) and sixth in free-throw percentage (81.6%).

Purdue Fort Wayne - tied for first in the Horizon League coaches preseason poll - is 5-3 on the season and is coming off a 77-57 road triumph at East Texas A&M.

Following the game, UDM will stay home and host Wright State on Saturday.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

• Purdue Fort Wayne swept the series a year ago and lead the all-time match-up at 6-5. 
• Detroit Mercy is 4-3 all-time at home in the showdown. 

HORIZON LEAGUE NOTES

• Detroit Mercy is 18-26 in HL openers, winning four of the last six.
• The Titans are also 24-20 all-time in HL home openers, also winning four of the previous six.
• The red, white and blue are 304-361 all-time in the Horizon League, winning the regular league championships in 1998 and 1999 and the conference title in 1994, 1999 and 2012.

TOUGH FOES IN THE NON-CONFERENCE

• The Titans will play a few home games in the non-conference campaign. Three will take place in November, marking the most home games since they had three in the 2018-19 season.
• Overall, the Titans' 10 DI opponents are 55-24 (.696) on the year.
• Last year, the teams were 173-152 (.532) as Wisconsin made the NCAA Tournament, while Loyola and Wake Forest played in the NIT. 

LOOKING FOR THE NEXT BENCHMARK

• 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.
• UDM also posted four wins in November, the most in the month since going 4-3 at the start of the 2017-18 season. 

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 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.

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. 
• UDM added another extra session win at Eastern Michigan, giving the red, white, and blue two overtime triumphs in a year for the first time since 2013-14 (wins at Northeastern and home versus Youngstown State).  

TURNING ON THE OFFENSE

• The Titans scored 90 points for the second time this season in their 98-89 road win at Eastern Michigan. They also won 91-52 versus Cleary to start the year. 
• The 98 points were the most since UDM recorded 99 in two overtimes at Robert Morris last year, the only time it was in the 90s. 
• UDM's 54.8% shooting against the Eagles was the best since hitting 59.6% (31-of-52) at Wright State last year, while the 17 assists were the second most on the year after the 19 against Cleary.

DOMINATING THE GLASS

• Detroit Mercy has owned the glass this year, outrebounding its opponents in eight of its nine games. The Titans lead the Horizon League and rank 16th in the country with 42.6 rebounds per game, second in the HL and 39th in the country with 13.7 offensive boards, and second in the league and 39th in DI with a +9.1 rebounding average. 
• UDM registered a 48-31 advantage at Wake Forest (14-6 on offense). The Titans outrebounded Ball State, 40-30, with 13 offensive boards and collected 15 of the last 20 rebounds in the contest to seal the win. 
• Detroit Mercy took the glass against Niagara, 49-28, the first time it 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. They 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 115-64 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.

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 against Rhode Island and had 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal versus Niagara.
• For his career, Kuac has made 102 field goals, 50 of those from three, including 31 of his 54 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.
• The EMU transfer has turned his play on in the last six games, scoring in double figures in five of them, averaging 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, handing out 27 assists against just 14 turnovers with seven steals.
• He had 18 points, a season-tying seven assists and three steals at Eastern Michigan, tying the game with a layup with just three seconds on the clock. He scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line against Rhode Island, with seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals. 
• Lovejoy tallied a team-high 15 points, grabbed a season-best eight boards, and handed out six assists at Wake Forest and registered 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 line. 
• 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 leading the team at 14.0 points, and 4.0 assists, shooting 42.4% overall and 81.6% at the line, ranking in the top 10 in the HL in scoring, assists, steals and free-throw percentage. 

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 nine games, tallying 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
• He had 10 points, a season-tying six rebounds with a block against Rhode Island. Lary recorded 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.

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 is coming off his third double-figure scoring game, tying his career-high with 14 points along with three boards, three assists, and a steal at EMU. That was after 11 points, a season-high six rebounds, and a career-high four steals with a block against Rhode Island. He recorded 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 Titan 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 and spent the last two seasons at Eastern 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 4.8 rebounds on the season, with 22 on defense and 21 on offense.
• He 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. 

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

• Freshman TJ Nadeau was in double figures for the third time this season, ending with a season-best 16 points at Eastern Michigan, hitting 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from distance, and 4-of-4 at the line.  
• He tallied 13 points with a season-best nine boards at Wake Forest and posted his first collegiate double-digit scoring performance with 10 points against Toledo.
• In Florida, he registered five points, six rebounds, an assist, and a steal against Rhode Island and had seven points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal in the season opener before hitting a couple of 3-pointers to end with eight points at Loyola. 
• On the year, he is averaging 7.4 points as 11 of his 23 field goals have been 3-pointers. 
• 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.

• Redshirt freshman Grant Gondrezick II stepped up when his team needed him at Eastern Michigan, posting a season-high 22 points, a season-best seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal as he was 7-of-14 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 6-of-7 at the charity stripe.
• He came into the game with just 16 total points and was 7-of-22 from the field. 
• 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 last year, 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 and was 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. 

• As the Titans opened the year with a 2-1 week, the Horizon League took notice as rookie Nate Johnson was named the 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.
• He has been fighting foul trouble recently, but just added 11 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal at EMU and is averaging 6.0 points and 3.8 rebounds.

• Freshman Ryan Kalambay is another Canadian import for Detroit Mercy.
• He had two points, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal against Rhode Island. He had his second-straight game with five rebounds, three points, two steals and a block against Tulsa after pulling 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.

• Freshman Miles Mitchell was a candidate to redshirt at the start of the season, but after not playing the first three games, he has come off the bench providing a spark on offense and defense.
• Mitchell finished with eight points and had four rebounds in just 13 minutes against Rhode Island and just notched two points, four rebounds, an assist and a block in 15 minutes of action at EMU. He scored four points with two boards in nine minutes against Toledo and had two points, three caroms, a block and a steal at Wake Forest.
• He is 9-of-14 from the field (64.3%) on the year, with all of those field goals coming around the basket.