Chase Kuiper scores his first collegiate basket

Men's Basketball 01.31.25

@DetroitMercyMBB Looks For Homestand Sweep On Saturday Against Green Bay

Men's Basketball 01.31.25

@DetroitMercyMBB Looks For Homestand Sweep On Saturday Against Green Bay

Freshman Chase Kuiper and the Titans will look for a win over Green Bay.

DETROIT (2/1/2025) -- After a big win on Thursday, the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will look for a winning weekend as the Titans entertain Green Bay on Winter Blast Saturday.

Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. 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.

The game is part of the University's Winter Blast alumni festival, featuring the chili cook-off, horse-drawn trolley rides through campus, games and activities, including fowling, cornhole, face painting, cookie decorating, hot cocoa bar and ice skating.

Detroit Mercy led for much of the game against NKU, taking a nine-point lead at halftime and extending it to 18 early in the second half after three straight 3-pointers from freshman TJ Nadeau. Nadeau was one of four Titans in double figures, but it was UDM's defense that really paved the way for win, holding the Norse to 30.2% from the field and 4-of-27 from three.

Green Bay has struggled under first-year head coach Doug Gottlieb as the Phoenix enter the game at 2-21 overall and 0-12 in league play. Green Bay has also dropped 18 straight games, with its last win an 82-57 thrashing at home against SIU Edwardsville.

Tickets to all Titan games can be purchased here.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

Detroit Mercy has won three of the last five and five of the last eight in the match-up, but Green Bay leads the overall series at 37-31.
UDM has won four of the last five at home against the Phoenix and is 18-14 all-time in the Motor City.

OUR FRESH FIVE

Detroit Mercy did something at Purdue Fort Wayne that it has not done in over 50 years: start five freshmen in a game.
In an era where teams may not even have five freshmen on their roster, Grant Gondrezick II, Nate Johnson, Ryan Kalambay, TJ Nadeau and Miles Mitchell all got the nod, as Detroit Mercy had just eight available players in the contest due to injury.
UDM is also believed to be the only team in DI to start five freshmen this year.
Due to injuries, the Titans have used 14 different starting line-ups on the year.

NOT YOUR NBA GAME

The Titans are currently fifth in the Horizon League hitting at 33.2% from three.
But a little different than in years past or today's NBA game, UDM is 11th in the HL and 342nd in DI, connecting on 5.4 per game and 11th in the conference, and 349th in the country with just 16.4 attempts per game.
In fact, the red, white, and blue have made double-digit 3-pointers just once this season (11 at home vs. Purdue Fort Wayne) and three times going back to the start of last year (spanning 55 games).

WINNING THE GLASS

Detroit Mercy is second in the Horizon League and 74th in the country with 38.3 rebounds per game and, fifth in the HL and 74th in the country with 12.2 offensive boards per game.
UDM registered a 48-31 tally at Wake Forest (14-6 on offense). The Titans outrebounded Ball State, 40-30, with 13 offensive 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 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.

PLAYING SOME DEFENSE

The Titans are coming off one of their best defensive efforts of the season, holding NKU to 57 points, 30.2% from the field and 4-of-27 (14.8%) from three.
The 57 points allowed was the fewest since the 91-52 season-open victory over Cleary and the fewest in HL play since beating Purdue Fort Wayne, 85-52, on Feb. 4, 2023, while the 19 field goals allowed was the fewest since Ball State had 17 earlier this season and the least in conference play since the Mastodons were 19-of-56 in that 2023 contest.
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.
The Titans forced Wake Forest into missing 25 of its last 31 from behind the arc and 34 of its last 50 shots overall after starting the contest 8-of-11.
Wisconsin was 7-of-35 and Robert Morris 4-of-23 overall from distance. In the Milwaukee game, UDM held the high-scoring Panthers to 30.8% from the field and 3-of-24 from three, while at Cleveland State, the Vikings were 4-of-24 from three.
The Titans are currently third in the HL in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 31.2% from distance.

OUR PRIDE AND JOY

Junior Orlando Lovejoy - who missed two games with an ankle injury and came back against Oakland - has been remarkably consistent on offense and defense, scoring in double figures in 16 games as well as grabbing at least three rebounds in 19 games and five on seven occasions.
He also has at least three assists in 15 games and five or more in seven, ranking seventh in the league with 3.8 per game.
On defense, he has at least one steal in 18 games with seven multi-steal contests, including a career-high five at Loyola and four at Davidson and at NKU, and is fourth in the HL with 1.70 per game.
He is coming off a team-high 19 points with four boards and two helpers against NKU.
He reached 20 points for the fifth time this season against Milwaukee as he had 20 points and tied his career high with 10 rebounds for his second career double-double along with five assists.
He had a career-high 32 points and nine rebounds against Robert Morris, going 13-of-21 from the field.
Lovejoy tallied 23 to go with four boards and three steals at Youngstown State after 20 points with four rebounds and three assists at Wisconsin.
In his five 20-point games, he has not even attempted a three in four of them, as he is an old-school guard with a mid-range game and gets to the line, where he is second in the league at 84.5%.
He posted 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals against Wright State, and that was after 18 points and a career-high nine assists against Purdue Fort Wayne. He recorded 18 points with seven assists and three steals at EMU, tying the game with a layup with just three ticks on the clock.
He scored 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 and had a team-high 15 points, eight boards, and handed out six assists at Wake Forest.
On the year, he leads the team at 15.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, shooting 44.7% overall and 84.5% at the line, ranking in the top 10 in the HL in scoring (5th), assists (7th), assist-to-turnover ratio (10th - 79A - 52T), steals (4th), field-goal percentage (10th), free-throw percentage (2nd) and minutes played (1st - 34:52).

GEETER READY TO MAKE HIS OWN LEGEND

Junior Legend Geeter has found himself at home in his hometown.
Geeter - who missed the game at Purdue Fort Wayne with an injury - is coming off his first double-figure scoring outing in six games - and his eighth this season - as he had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds versus NKU.
At Davidson, he netted 17 points - hitting a career-high five 3-pointers - along with three rebounds, two steals and a block.
Geeter had a great opening week of conference play, scoring 10 points, grabbing eight rebounds with two assists and a block against Wright State, and that was after a career game, netting a career-high 22 points, going 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from distance ringing in the game-winning triple against Purdue Fort Wayne, while corralling nine boards.
He scored 14 points, along with three boards, three assists, and a steal at EMU, after 11 points, six rebounds, and a career-high four steals with a block against Rhode Island. Earlier in the year, he recorded 14 points against Niagara, going 3-of-5 from the field and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.
On the year, he is averaging 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds, shooting 41.5% overall, with 12 triples.
Geeter was coached in high school by Titan assistant coach LaMonta Stone and started his career at Providence before spending the last two seasons at EMU.

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

Freshman TJ Nadeau is coming off one of his top shooting games as he had 17 points, going 6-of-11 from the field and a season-best 5-of-9 from three, with seven rebounds, a block, and a steal against NKU.
He has now scored in double figures six times this season, netted at least seven points in 15 of the 23 games, and has at least four boards in nine contests.
He tallied his first 20-point game, ending with 20 points, eight rebounds, and two steals at Purdue Fort Wayne and had 11 points versus Wright State.
He posted 16 points at EMU, hitting 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from distance, and 4-of-4 at the line.
Before that, he registered 13 points with a season-best nine boards at Wake Forest and netted his first double-digit effort with 10 points against Toledo.
As a rookie, he is averaging 8.1 points, with 31 of his 68 field goals coming from behind the arc, leading the team from distance, and connecting on a three in 17 of his 23 contests.

NATE THE GREAT

Freshman Nate Johnson has held his own as a rookie on the hardwood, registering seven games in double figures, 20 games with three or more rebounds, and six games with at least two assists.
He is currently posting 7.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists, shooting 37.8%.
He scored 16 points, going 6-of-13 from the field and tying his season-high with three 3-pointers, with five rebounds, two assists and two steals against Oakland.
He had a season-high 19 points with six rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne. He pulled down a season-high 10 boards at Youngstown State, adding six points and three assists. He netted 11 points with four rebounds and a block at NKU and 12 points, three rebounds and two assists against Wright State.
Johnson was named the HL Freshman of the Week on Nov. 11 after averaging 10.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists, hitting 10-of-23 (43.5%) shots, with four triples.
He started his collegiate career with nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists in the win over Cleary. He came back with 13 points and three boards at Loyola and nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal in the come-from-behind win over Niagara.

PUTTING IN THE MILES

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.
He had a season-best nine rebounds with five points and a steal at IU Indy and had seven boards at Wright State.
He grabbed seven boards at Wisconsin and eight boards with a block and a steal at NKU.
Mitchell finished with four points and a season-best three steals at Youngstown State.
Earlier in the season, he had eight points and four rebounds in just 13 minutes against Rhode Island.
He is 22-of-44 from the field on the year, with all those coming around the basket.

JUST KUAC THIS

Graduate senior Emmanuel Kuac was off to a strong start in his second Titan season but missed three games with a knee injury.
He returned at Youngstown State and tied his career-high with nine rebounds and scoring seven points. He was in double figures for the first time in six games with 10 points and five rebounds in the win over NKU and had 16 points with four boards, two assists, two blocks and a steal against Robert Morris.
He posted a team-high 18 points, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-7 from three against Toledo. Kuac netted 11 points with six boards against Purdue Fort Wayne and had 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal versus Niagara.
For his career, Kuac has made 125 field goals, 59 of those from three, including 40 of his 77 field goals as a Titan.

GIVE ME A GRANT

Redshirt freshman Grant Gondrezick II - who missed the last game for personal reasons - has netted double figures in nine of the last 14 games - three of those reaching 20 - after scoring just 16 total points in his first seven.
On the year, he is tallying 8.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists, shooting 36.5% overall and 41.5% from three.
He had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and a season-high three steals against Oakland. That was after a weekend that saw him score 19 points with six rebounds and a season-tying five assists at Purdue Fort Wayne and 21 points and five helpers at IU Indy.
He started his scoring streak at Eastern Michigan, posting a season-high 22 points, 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 registered his second 20-point scoring game with 20 at Wisconsin, going 8-of-18 overall and 3-of-4 from three.
He had four points, but pulled down a season-high eight rebounds with two assists and a steal at Youngstown State.
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.

KALAMBAY'S PLAY

Freshman Ryan Kalambay has really picked up his play in the last four games.
He just had six rebounds, a season-high three blocks and three assists and a steal against NKU.
He was named the HL Freshman of the Week on Jan.20 after registering his first double-double with a season-high 13 points and 11 rebounds against Oakland, going 4-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line.
He came back with a near double-double with 10 points, nine boards and two blocks, shooting 5-of-8 at Cleveland State and had five rebounds at Wright State.
After posting just 37 points, 46 rebounds and nine blocks in his first 19 games, Kalambay has 28 points, 31 boards and seven rejections in the last four.
He has also now connected on 13 of his last 18 at the line after starting the season 2-of-12.
He tied for the team lead with six boards to go with two assists, two steals, and a block at Davidson, had six rebounds, two points, and a block at IU Indy, and five rebounds with a block at Wake Forest.

WHAT A CHASE

Freshman Chase Kuiper scored his first collegiate basket against NKU, recording three rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes.
The walk-on also had three rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne and scored his first DI points, hitting four free throws at IU Indy.
Kuiper was a four-year letterwinner in basketball at Troy High School and was Second Team All-State by the Detroit Free Press and Honorable Mention All-State by the Detroit News after recording 19.1 points and 10.1 rebounds as a senior.

Print Friendly Version