DETROIT (2/16/2024) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will look for a weekend sweep as the Titans battle Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday. 

Game time is set for 1:00 p.m., and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App with Jeremy Otto on the call. Fans can also listen to the action on the radio on WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM FaithTalk Detroit with the Voice of Detroit Mercy basketball Dan Hasty.

The Titans will honor late Hall-Of-Famer Earl Cureton with a tribute video at tip-off and at halftime. The first 500 fans will also receive EC buttons to honor the former Titan, Piston, NBA champion and legendary community ambassador.

UDM will also award its annual John Conti Letterman of Distinction Award during the contest. 

Detroit Mercy is coming off an 81-66 victory over IUPUI on Thursday as the Titans shot 51.0% from the field, won the glass and forced 19 turnovers. The Horizon League leading scorer, senior Jayden Stone tallied a game-high 25 points and sophomore Marcus Tankersley added 19.

Purdue Fort Wayne is 16-10 on the season and 7-8 in the Horizon League. The Mastodons started the year 13-2 and 4-0 in league play, which includes a 91-56 win against UDM, but they have scuffled a bit, dropping eight of their last 11 games. 

Tickets start at just $10 and can be purchased by clicking here.  

ALL-TIME SERIES

• Purdue Fort Wayne took the first meeting to even up the all-time series at 5-5. 
• UDM is 4-2 all-time at home in the match-up.

IT IS OVER!!!!!!

• The Titans longest losing streak in school and Horizon League history came to an end with an 81-66 victory over IUPUI. 
• The last win was against Purdue Fort Wayne in last year's conference tournament.
• The 27 in a row dating back to last season eclipsed the school record 15 straight between the end of 1986-87 and the 0-14 start of 1987-88 and the HL record of 23 straight Cleveland State lost in 2003-04 

SAD NEWS FROM TITAN TERRITORY

• It is with heavy hearts that Detroit Mercy received word that Titan Hall-Of-Famer, NBA champion and Detroit ambassador Earl "The Twirl" Cureton suddenly passed away on Sunday, Feb. 4, at the age of 66.
• He had served as a color analyst on Titan broadcast for almost 20 years, and the last game he did this past Saturday was Detroit Mercy-Robert Morris, two schools where he is in the Hall of Fame. 
• A 12-year NBA veteran and a two-time NBA champion, Cureton suited up for the Titans from 1977-80, playing two seasons after sitting out following his transfer from Robert Morris, a junior college at the time.
• He averaged 11.7 points and a team-high 9.0 rebounds with 1.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.0 steals per game in 1978-79 and then topped the team in scoring (20.0) and rebounding (9.1) to go with 1.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks and steals in 1979-80. He is still 12th all-time in school history in career blocks with 79 - second when he graduated - and was inducted into the Titan Hall of Fame in 2007 and had his famed No. 24 jersey retired by UDM on Jan. 23, 2020.
• Drafted by Philadelphia with the 58th pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, Cureton began his professional career in the 1980-1981 season as the 76ers advanced to the NBA Finals during his rookie season. They would later break through to win the 1983 title, and he was also part of the Houston Rockets championship team in 1994.
• In his 12 years in the NBA, he played for seven playoff teams, including three years in the mid-1980s with the hometown Pistons. He scored a career-high 25 points with 14 rebounds off the bench in a 129-113 Pistons win over the Nuggets on Jan. 17, 1986, and posted a career-best 18 boards as a member of the Clippers against the Rockets on Apr. 7, 1987.

STARTING TO SURGE

• The Titans have struggled on offense but have picked it up in the last 10 games, averaging 73.9 points after tallying just 60.1 in their first 17 games. 
• Detroit Mercy has registered double-digit assists in seven of the 10 games.
• UDM has shot over 46.0% in five-straight games after shooting 51.0% in the win over IUPUI, 47.5% at NKU - including 66.0% in the second half - and hit a season-high 59.6% at Wright State the game before, its best mark since hitting 66.0% against Green Bay in 2021. 
• They had a season-high 99 points at Robert Morris, along with a season-best 17 assists. 
• The 99 points were the most since a 101-83 victory against Green Bay at home in 2019 and the most points on the road since a 115-108 setback at Green Bay in 2016. 
• UDM's 36 field goals at RMU were the most since connecting on 39 versus Green Bay in 2019.

SHOWING SOME DEFENSE

• Detroit Mercy has forced double-digit turnovers in 18 games this season. UDM also has at least 10 steals in six games this year, forcing 19 with 11 steals against IUPUI.
• The Titans' defense forced Robert Morris into 20 and registered 16 turnovers with a season-tying 12 steals at Milwaukee.
• Earlier this year, they forced Ball State into a season-high 21 turnovers with a season-best 12 steals. 
• UDM is fifth in the HL with 6.9 steals per game. 

EARNING POINTS AT THE LINE

• The Titans have made double-digit free throws in 17 of the last 21 games, going 261-of-353 (73.9%) in that span.
• The Titans are coming off a 24-of-33 effort against IUPUI, the second most free throws on the season behind the 25-of-26 at home against NKU.
• The 33 free throws were the most since going 24-of-34 against Rochester on Nov. 8, 2022, a 93-65 win.
• The Titans are fifth in the HL in free-throw percentage at 72.5%. 
• They also have two of the best in the league as Marcus Tankersley is eighth at 79.4%. Jayden Stone is ninth at 78.4%. Tankersley has made 17 of his last 18 in the last three games, including 14 straight games.  

A PRECIOUS STONE

• Senior Jayden Stone returned to action after missing six games and quickly reestablished himself as one of the top scorers in the NCAA in the last 10 games at 22.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists. 
• He just tallied a game-high 25 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. He had 24 points with six boards at NKU, 28 points against Cleveland State and 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists at Green Bay.
• Stone recorded his second double-double of the year with 15 points, a career-high 10 assists, six boards, and two steals at Milwaukee.
• Stone had a monster game with a career-high 36 points and a season-best 10 rebounds, playing 49 of a possible 50 minutes at Robert Morris, while adding four assists, two steals, and a block. 
• He had a then career-best 34 points against Eastern Michigan, hitting 12-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from three with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. 
• Defensively, he came away with six steals against Ball State, the most steals by a Titan since 2017.
• He now has two 30-point efforts - tied for second in the HL - and 12, 20-point performances - tied for third in the league - in just 21 games played.
• Stone is averaging a league-best 20.7 points, 24th in the nation, along with 2.4 triples, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists, top 15 in the HL in all three.
• He has played in 34 career games with the Titans and has netted 20 or more 17 times, been in double figures 27 times, grabbed five or more rebounds on 24 occasions, including 17 times this year, and recorded three double-doubles.

SCORE IT MARK

• Sophomore Marcus Tankersley has now scored 20 or more eight times on the year, including six of the last 10 games.
• He tallied 24 points on a career-best 11-of-17 effort at NKU, and that was after matching his career-high with 29 points, a career-high three triples, and handing out a career-best six assists at Wright State.
• Tankersley netted 24 points against Robert Morris and tallied 23 points against Youngstown State. That came after a career-high 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting and 9-of-9 at the line at Robert Morris and 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 9-of-10 at the line versus NKU.  
• Dating back to last season, he has now scored in double figures in 24 of the last 29 games and is tallying 16.1 points on the year - eighth in the HL - and shooting 44.8% from the field - 12th in the conference.
• In the non-conference, he had 20 at NC State with a career-tying three steals and recorded his first career double-double with a then-career-best 23 points and 11 rebounds at Northwestern.

DEL CADIA NETS CAREER BEST

• Graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia has three double-doubles - tied for ninth in the HL - as he continues to showcase some fine all-around play as a post-player.
• Del Cadia just tied his career-high for the third time with four steals to go with nine points against IUPUI. 
• He almost had another double-double with 13 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and an assist at NKU. 
• He ended with 11 points, nine rebounds and two steals against Cleveland State and registered a career-best 17 points on 8-of-15 from the field with three steals and three rebounds against Youngstown State.  
• He had 16 points and grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne and posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards at NC State.
• He tallied a career-best 16 points with 10 boards at Ole Miss, to go with three assists, a block and a steal.  
• He has now scored in double figures in 12 games and has grabbed at least five rebounds in 15 as he is currently averaging 9.0 points, 5.8 rebounds - 13th in the HL - 1.7 assists and shooting 53.4% (86-of-161) from the field, which would be fifth in the league but he doesn't have enough attempts to qualify.  

RETURN OF THE MAK

• Junior Mak Manciel just tallied his sixth double-figure scoring effort of the season with 14 points and five rebounds against IUPUI. 
• He started the year 6-of-42 (14.2%) from the field, but is shooting just over 37.7% (37-of-98) in the last 14 games, going in double figures in six of them. 
• He scored a career-high 20 points, connecting on 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from three at Wright State. 
• He got his game going against NKU at home, recording 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting with four rebounds. He then had 16 points on 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from three with a season-high five assists at Robert Morris.
• He scored five points and tied his season best with six rebounds at IUPUI and had four points, a season-best six rebounds, and a team-high four assists at NC State.
• Last year, he was at Arkansas State, but missed last season due to a knee injury.
• He was a First Team NJCAA All-American as a sophomore at Henry Ford College after posting 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, shooting 47.6%. 

FINALLY GET TO SEE HIM

• Graduate senior Emmanuel Kuac started the season recovering from a past injury and had a slow start, but he showed what he could do when healthy at Milwaukee.
• He drained 7-of-13 from deep en route to a career-high 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting overall to go with a season-high eight rebounds, a career-tying three steals and a block at Milwaukee. 
• He had a team-high five rebounds with a career-tying three blocks against NKU. He recorded three points, four rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal against Green Bay.
• He missed the first 12 games, recovering from an injury sustained before his arrival at UDM. Kuac saw action in 47 games in his four years at New Mexico - averaging 2.7 points and 3.6 rebounds - but played in just six games as a junior and one as a senior.

MOTOR CITY PRIDE

• Senior Kyle LeGreair has 11 multi-assist games this year after having two helpers and a steal at Wright State. He also now has a steal in 11 of the last 14 games and 17 on the season, with multi-steal games on four occasions after his five-point, four-rebound, two-steal game against IUPUI.  
• He also had five points and a season-tying five rebounds with two assists and a steal against Milwaukee. 
• He scored four points with three assists and two rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne and posted two points, four rebounds and three assists at NC State. 
• He registered five rebounds and three assists at Ole Miss, two steals at Ohio and three assists against Oakland. 

KEEP WORKING HARD

• Junior walk-on Tobin Schwannecke has seen more playing time recently as the coaching staff is awarding him for his dedication in practice.
• He just had a season-high five points against IUPUI, one shy of his career-best of six against Northwood when he played for Grand Valley State in 2021. 

WIN #411 & COUNTING

• Head coach Mike Davis earned his first triumph as a head coach on Nov. 14, 2000, when his Indiana Hoosiers defeated Pepperdine, 80-68, in Bloomington.
• Last season, he won his 400th career game, 70-49, over Charlotte at home.
• He now has 412 career wins, 146th in DI NCAA history.