Detroit Mercy Prepares For Home Friday Tilt Against NKU

Men's Basketball 01.28.26

Detroit Mercy Prepares For Home Friday Tilt Against NKU

DETROIT (1/28/2025) -- The three-game homestand for the Titans will come to an end on Friday as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team hosts NKU on Dick Vitale Court in Calihan Hall.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Dan Hasty and Jeremy Otto on the call.

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

The Titans are looking to end a two-game slide as they come into the contest at 8-12 overall and 5-6 in the Horizon League.

UDM topped 80 points for the fourth time in the last six games its last time out against Oakland. The offense saw two players come away with career highs as senior Legend Geeter posted 24 points and nine rebounds, while redshirt freshman Tyler Spratt ended with 21 points and six boards.

NKU is 14-8 on the season and 6-5 in the conference. The Norse have dropped two in a row and three of the last four, but did upend the Titans, 96-71, a couple of weeks ago.

Following the game, Detroit Mercy will hit the road for three straight, starting with a trip to the Wisconsin schools next week.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

NKU has controlled the series since joining the Horizon League, posting an 18-5 record.
The Norse have won 10 of the last 14 overall, but UDM split the regular-season series last year, with each team winning on its home court. NKU did get the final say in the playoff bout.
Detroit Mercy is 3-6 all-time at home in the match-up.

A RECAP OF THE FIRST MEETING

Detroit Mercy ran into a hot-shooting NKU squad, and the result was not kind as the Norse handed UDM a 96-71 setback.
Sophomore TJ Nadeau led the team with 14 points and pulled down five rebounds, while junior London Maiden had 11 points and a team-high six boards.
The Norse led 36-34 with 5:59 left when they took control, going on a 16-3 run for a 52-37 advantage at the break, and UDM could not recover.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Detroit Mercy just missed a team 3.0 GPA as UDM tallied a 2.91 in the fall semester.
Junior Ayden Carter and freshman Zak Abdalla posted a perfect 4.0, while five other Titans recorded at least a 3.0.
Seven Titans made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll in Abdalla, Carter, Je'kel Cotton, London Maiden, Xavier Istomin-Monroe, TJ Nadeau, and Tyler Spratt.
Overall, more than 260 student-athletes took home the academic distinction at Detroit Mercy.
To be named to the honor roll, a student-athlete must have achieved a 3.0 GPA in the spring or fall semester.

A DAUNTING SLATE

Detroit Mercy had a challenging non-conference schedule, visiting four states and playing eight games in 26 days.
The slate includes trips to Michigan State, Notre Dame, and DePaul, as well as UIC, Toledo, and Niagara.
The game at MSU was intriguing as head coach Mark Montgomery faced his college coach and former boss, Tom Izzo.
So far this season, the DI non-conference foes have amassed a 79-67 (54.1%) record.

WE HAVE OPTIONS

The Titans have had a few injuries pop up, but they should be in a good position to deal with them as they are currently second in the Horizon League and 61st in the nation, tallying 28.8 bench points per game.
UDM had a season-high 59 points off the bench in the home win over IU Indy.

CLEANING THE GLASS

UDM has hit the glass all season long and leads the conference at 39.0 rebounds per game - 53rd in DI - and second in the HL and 22nd in the country with 13.7 offensive rebounds per game.
Detroit Mercy has won the glass in eight of the 11 league contests and secured at least 15 offensive boards in seven games on the year.
The Titans posted a 49-27, +22, margin on the glass against Cleveland State, the second biggest on the season behind the 51-18 advantage over Siena Heights. The +22 margin was the largest against a DI school since UDM posted a +33 against Youngstown State at home in 2016.
UDM posted a 44-34 margin at Purdue Fort Wayne, where the Titans collected 15 offensive rebounds.
At Niagara, Detroit Mercy dominated the boards, 43-27, including 14 offensive that led to 14 second-chance points.
Earlier in the season, the Titans had 21 offensive caroms at UIC.

LOOKING FOR THAT SWEET SHOT

The Titans connected on a season-best 11 triples against Oakland, the second time this season they have hit at least 10 after knocking down 10-of-22 at home in the win over Cleveland State.
While the numbers overall this season are not great, UDM has been right around the 50.0% mark from the outside in most of its league play, with games of 9-of-20 against IU Indy and Purdue Fort Wayne, 7-of-15 at Youngstown State, 7-of-13 versus Robert Morris, and 7-of-18 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
Detroit Mercy ranks 270th in three-point shooting (32.1%) and 294th in triples per game (6.7), 10th and 11th, respectively, in the HL, and has now reached double-digit 3-pointers six times in the last 84 games.
Last season, UDM ranked 11th in the HL and 341st in DI, connecting on 5.6 per game.

MAKING THE FREE ONES

The Titans tied their season high in free throws, going 26-of-30 in the road win at IU Indy, just a hair better than the 26-of-31 effort in the home victory over Cleveland State.
Detroit Mercy now leads the HL and is 60th in the nation at the free-throw line at 75.9%, while its 16.4 makes per game rank fourth in the league.
UDM has reached double-digit made free throws in 16 games this year and eight times in the 20's.
Senior Orlando Lovejoy leads Horizon League and is 17th in the NCAA at 90.8% (69-of-76), while sophomore TJ Nadeau is third in the HL at 83.9% (47-of-56).

PROTECT THE BALL

Detroit Mercy has tallied a season-high 11 steals twice, in the season opener at UIC and against Cleveland State.
Senior Orlando Lovejoy leads the way, ranking second in the Horizon League and 43rd in the nation with 2.0 steals per game.
On the flip side, the Titans committed a season-low six miscues at Cleveland State and had seven at NKU.

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

Sophomore TJ Nadeau - who missed the game at IU Indy with an injury - has netted double figures in 13 of his 19 games, including a career-best 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 4-of-5 from three at Cleveland State.
He tallied his fifth 20-point game of the year with a team-high 22 against Purdue Fort Wayne, while grabbing five rebounds, and scored 17 points against Oakland, hitting 4-of-8 from deep.
He had 20 against Robert Morris just two weeks ago.
Earlier this year, he had 24 points on a 9-of-14 effort from the field and six triples at Notre Dame.
Nadeau has hit the boards, grabbing a season-tying six at Niagara and against Wright State, and is averaging 3.6 a game.
He leads the team at 13.7 points per game, while his 43 triples also tops the squad and are approaching the team-high 48 he had last season.

OUR PRIDE AND JOY

Preseason All-Horizon League guard senior Orlando Lovejoy leads the team in assists (4.0) and steals (2.0), and is second in scoring (12.8).
He has a 2.4-1 assists-to-turnover ratio with 76 assists against just 31 turnovers, sixth in the HL, and he recently celebrated crossing the 1,000-point plateau.
His defensive prowess has led to 17 steals over the last five games. He also has at least two steals in 12 of his 19 games played, 19 career games with at least three steals, and 156 total in his career.
He corralled a season-high nine boards at IU Indy and is averaging 3.6 on the season.
Also in his career, he has 20 games with at least five assists after dishing out six against Oakland.
Lovejoy scored 19 points with four assists, three rebounds, and a block against Purdue Fort Wayne, and that was after 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and four steals at IU Indy.
He had a career all-around game, tallying 18 points, a career-tying nine assists, a career-high eight steals, and seven rebounds against Cleveland State.
The eight steals were the third most in school history and the most ever against a Division I program.
Lovejoy registered a pair of 20-point games with a season-high 22 points at Youngstown State (where he was a career-best 10-of-10 at the line) and 20 points against Robert Morris (where he tied his career high with a pair of 3-pointers and dished out five assists).
He started all 30 games he saw action in last year, leading the team at 16.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, shooting 44.7% overall and 86.7% at the line, ranking in the top 10 in the HL in scoring (4th), assists (7th), steals (2nd), field-goal percentage (8th), free-throw percentage (2nd) and minutes played (2nd - 35:05).
He netted double figures in 24 games and tallied nine 20-point games on the season, tied for the eighth most in the HL.
Lovejoy scored a career-high 32 points with nine rebounds against Robert Morris, and had 20 points with a career-tying 10 rebounds for his second career double-double, along with five assists, versus Milwaukee.
One of the most impressive stats is that the 6-3 guard is an old-school player, making just four total 3-pointers last season - and four already this year - while looking to penetrate and use his mid-range game.
In fact, in seven of his 12 career 20-point outings, he has not even attempted a three.

THE BIG MAN

The Titans reeled in a big man in 6-8, 250-lb London Maiden - who missed last game with an illness - and after a slow start, he has shown dominance in the paint.
He netted his fourth double-digit scoring mark of the year with 11 points at IU Indy, and that was after 11 points and six rebounds at NKU.
Maiden had nine points and four boards against Cleveland State, eight points against Wright State, and eight points and four rebounds, with all eight points coming during a 19-4 run to start the second half, at Youngstown State.
He had 16 points and eight rebounds at Niagara, hitting 5-of-7 from the field and 6-of-8 at the line, and a season-high 18 points and nine rebounds, going 6-of-7 from the field and 6-of-8 at the line versus IU Indy.
After starting the year 12-of-31 (38.7%) and tallying 4.0 points and 1.7 rebounds in his first seven games, Maiden is shooting 61.5% (40-of-65) in his last 12, averaging 7.7 points and 4.1 rebounds.
Before he arrived in the Motor City, he played at Blinn College, where he tallied 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds, shooting 59.2% from the field and 71.0% from the line as a sophomore, earning NJCAA All-Region XIV Honors.

THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Freshman Keshawn Fisher had a good start to his collegiate career with 12 points at UIC and 14 points versus Cleary, and has four double-digit scoring efforts in the last 10 games.
He had 10 points against Cleveland State, including an off-the-glass pass from Orlando Lovejoy and a dunk that was #8 on SportsCenter Top plays.
Fisher scored a season-high 15 points with seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal at Youngstown State.
He also had 14 points with a season-best nine rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Fisher was a three-star recruit and had an 85 rating on 247Sports.com after prepping at Overtime Elite Academy in Atlanta, an institution that has produced top 10 NBA draft picks Rob Dillingham, Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, and Alex Sarr in the last few years.
In his lone season at OTE, he posted 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks, and was a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year.
At River Rouge High School, he was named All-State First Team by the Detroit News and the AP as a senior after tallying 25.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, shooting 50.6% from the field.

THE LEGEND OF GEETER

Senior Legend Geeter has been that senior leader on the floor.
He just missed his second career double-double with a career-best 24 points, nine rebounds, and four assists against Oakland.
He had eight points and a career-tying 10 rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne.
He netted 22 points, going 8-of-8 from the field and grabbing six rebounds against Wright State, and came back with eight points and nine rebounds with four assists against Cleveland State.
In his last 11 games, Geeter is averaging 10.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, hitting 41-of-71 shots (57.7%).
Last season, he played in 29 games and tallied 7.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. He was also fourth on the team with 12 games in double figures.

SPRATT IS COMING HOME

Redshirt freshman Tyler Spratt has really come on since the start of the season, scoring in double figures six times in the last nine games.
Spratt just connected on a season-best five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, six boards, and two assists against PFW.
He had 16 points and a career-tying eight rebounds at IU Indy, hitting some key free throws down the stretch.
He scored a season-high 19 points, including 14 in a second-half 18-4 run to put the game away against Cleveland St.
That was after 16 points against Wright State, where he was 6-of-10 from the field.
Spratt earned the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Dec. 15 after scoring 15 points at Purdue Fort Wayne.
After starting the season 10-of-47 overall (21.2%), 4-of-25 (16.0%) from three, and averaging 3.9 points, Spratt has made 40-of-87 (45.9%) from the field and 25-of-56 (44.6%) from distance and averaging 11.7 points in his last 11 games.
He spent his freshman campaign at Cleveland State but did not play.

GREAT STONE TO BUILD UPON

Detroit Mercy freshman Lance Stone tied his season-high with seven assists against Oakland, and that was after a season-high 12 points and four assists (against no turnovers) in the win at IU Indy, hitting some key free throws in his 31 minutes.
Stone had scored 11 points in a game five times prior to that.
He netted 11 points against Cleveland State and 11 points with three assists against IU Indy, making 3-of-6 from three. He had 11 at Niagara, hitting 9-of-11 at the line, and dished out seven assists at DePaul, the most helpers by a freshman since Anotine Davis at the end of the 2018-19 season.
He posted 11 points with five rebounds, six assists, and three steals in his first start against Cleary and 11 points on 3-of-6 from three at Toledo.
The son of assistant coach LaMonta Stone, he posted over 1,500 career points and breaking the Michigan high school record in assists, with more than 850 helpers in his career.
Stone was a four-time All-State selection, who was named First Team by the Detroit News and Associated Press as a sophomore and senior. He was tabbed Detroit Mr. Basketball as a junior, the first time a junior ever received the honor.

THE RETURN OF LARY

Senior Jared Lary had just started to find his role last season at Detroit Mercy, but suffered a knee injury at Eastern Michigan.
He is now starting to get back into the rotation, grabbing at least four boards in the last nine games and seven times on the season.
Lary netted a season-high 10 points with five rebounds at IU Indy.
He had six points on a pair of huge 3-pointers with four rebounds at Youngstown State. He netted seven points at Purdue Fort Wayne, pulled down six rebounds at Niagara, and tallied seven points, a rebound, and an assist at DePaul.
He started six of the nine games he saw action in last season before the knee injury, recording 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Lary had 11 points, six rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block against Niagara and 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.

KALAMBAY'S PLAY

Sophomore Ryan Kalambay has started to see more time recently and has made a mark in the paint.
He now has 23 games in his career recording at least five boards after tying a season-high 11 rebounds with eight points against Oakland.
He leads the team with 18 blocks and is averaging 4.8 points and 6.5 rebounds, hitting 22-of-39 from the field (56.5%).
He had five rebounds and a block against Purdue Fort Wayne, and six points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block at IU Indy.
Kalambay registered his second career double-double, recording 10 points and 10 rebounds with two blocks against Cleveland State.
He had six points, five rebounds, and two blocks against Robert Morris, and that was after a season-high seven points, 10 rebounds, and three assists, and a career-high five blocks at Youngstown State.
He was one of three Titans to appear in all 32 games, making 15 starts, and averaging 3.5 points and 3.8 rebounds, leading the team with 25 blocks and was second with 21 steals.
He posted at least five boards on 14 occasions, including 12 of the last 16.
Kalambay tallied his first career double-double with a season-high 13 points and 11 rebounds to go with an assist, a block, and a steal against Oakland.

THE PRIZE FROM OHIO

The Titans landed one of Ohio's top recruits in 6-6 freshman Je'kel Cotton, who just returned to action against Wright State after missing three games with an injury.
He just had six points and three rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne.
Cotton had five points and two rebounds at IU Indy, hitting a key 3-pointer in an early run to help erase a 10-point deficit.
He was a part of the high-scoring bench, tallying seven points in just five minutes of court time against IU Indy.
In his collegiate debut, he had two points and four rebounds in just eight minutes of action at UIC and pulled down seven caroms at Notre Dame. He also came up with a near double-double of nine points and 10 rebounds in the win over Cleary.
In high school, he was All-State as a senior after averaging 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds, netting a career-high 40 points.

NATE THE GREAT

Sophomore Nate Johnson has scored at least six points in six games and pulled down at least four boards six times.
He just had five rebounds off the bench versus Cleveland State. He had a season-best 12 points and six rebounds against Siena Heights.
Johnson had seven points and four boards at MSU and six points and four rebounds against Eastern Michigan. He started the year with seven points, four rebounds, and two steals at UIC and added seven more points at Notre Dame and nine against Cleary.
He was one of the freshmen trio who played in all 32 games, making 31 starts, and posted 8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, hitting 38.6% from the field and 30.1% from three.
Johnson - a member of the HL All-Freshmen Team - registered 13 games in double figures, 17 games with five or more rebounds, and nine games with at least two assists.
Johnson's cousin is former Titan standout Wilbert McCormick, who played from 1977-80 and is second in school history with 611 assists.

FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER

Detroit Mercy landed a recruit from Australia in a big way as 7-1, 235-lb Xavier Istomin-Monroe joined the Titans.
He has scored a basket in four of the last five games and has at least three rebounds in six contests.
He grabbed a season-high five rebounds with three points against Siena Heights.
At Niagara, Istomin-Monroe had six points and two boards, and that was after his best offensive game with eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal at DePaul.
He had three rebounds at UIC, at Notre Dame, and at Michigan State, and has a blocked shot in four of the eight games.
He is only the second Australia-born Titan following Jayden Stone (2022-24).
As a prep, he won U-18 titles in both Canada and Australia.
Last season, he was at the Royal Crown Academic School in Toronto, helping the team win a NPA title, after averaging 12.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks. He earned finals MVP after posting a season-high 22 points and eight rebounds in the championship game.
In his homeland, he suited up for the City of Sydney basketball association, leading the team to a Melbourne Classic U-18 national title in 2023.