Men's Basketball To Entertain Milwaukee On Friday

Men's Basketball 02.17.26

Men's Basketball To Entertain Milwaukee On Friday

Sophomore Ryan Kalambay and the Titans will look to make it three in a row.

DETROIT (2/19/2026) -- Looking to make a push for a top-five finish and a playoff home game, the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will look to remain hot and sweep the Panthers as Milwaukee heads to Calihan Hall on Friday.

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

A win would push the Titans to .500 this late in the season for the first time since they were 13-13 in 2021-22, as well as give them their fourth HL sweep of the year, the most since they had four in the pandemic back-to-back schedule sequence in 2020-21

Detroit Mercy has won two in a row and four of the last five as the Titans are now 12-13 overall and 9-7 in the Horizon League, standing in fifth place. With four games left in the season, the red, white and blue can finish anywhere from first to ninth in the league as they are battling to host a home playoff game for the first time since 2022-23.

UDM is coming off a 76-70 victory over Youngstown State, and that was after a 77-74 win at first-place Wright State.

The Titans' offense has taken form of late, shooting at least 50.0% from the field in four of the last six games. In HL-only games, UDM leads the conference in three-point shooting at 40.5% as well as field-goal percentage defense (44.0%) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (31.6%).

Milwaukee had lost four in a row, but just won back-to-back games at IU Indy and against Green Bay, and comes into the game at 11-17, 7-10 in league play.

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

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

The Titans and Panthers played some of the toughest games in the Horizon League tournament in the early 2000s, and the match-up has seen winning streaks by both teams in the last several years.
Detroit Mercy just ended a seven-game slide to Milwaukee with a road win just two weeks ago, but the Panthers still have a 36-30 advantage in the match-up.
The teams have split the last 14 meetings, although Milwaukee has claimed three in a row in Calihan Hall, where the Titans own a 16-13 record.

#HLMBB CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET REFUSING TO TAKE SHAPE

There are just two weeks left in the regular season, but there is still plenty to be determined in the Horizon League standings heading into the postseason.
The Titans are fighting for a top-five finish and a home game and still have an outside shot at the top seed, but can also fall all the way to ninth place.
Tickets for the men's and women's second round, semifinals, and championship games are available for purchase at HorizonLeague.com/indy.
The event will take place in Indianapolis, March 8-10, at the Corteva Coliseum, with the opening game and first round held at campus sites.

OFFENSE AND DEFENSE

Detroit Mercy currently leads the Horizon League in three-point field-goal defense (32.5%) and is second in overall field-goal defense (44.4).
Also in the last six games, the Titans have shot at least 50.0% four times (50.0% vs Oakland, 55.6% vs. NKU, 53.7% at Milwaukee, 52.5% at Wright State).

CLEANING THE GLASS

UDM has hit the glass all season long and leads the conference at 38.4 rebounds per game - 54th in DI - and second in the HL and 39th in the country with 12.9 offensive rebounds per game.
Detroit Mercy has won the glass in 12 of the 16 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.

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 leads the HL and is 55th in the nation at the free-throw line at 75.9%.
UDM has reached double-digit made free throws in 20 games this year and eight times in the 20's.
Senior Orlando Lovejoy leads Horizon League and is 43rd in the NCAA at 88.0% (88-of-100).
Other Titans making the free ones include freshman Lance Stone at 86.0% (49-of-57) and sophomore TJ Nadeau at 85.2% (52-of-61).

LOOKING FOR THAT SWEET SHOT

The Titans have struggled from downtown most of the year, but have connected on double-digit 3-pointers in three conference games, going 12-of-20 against NKU, hitting 11 from long range versus Oakland, and a 10-of-22 effort at home against Cleveland State.
While the numbers overall this season are not great, UDM actually leads the Horizon League in league-only games at 40.5% from the outside, with efforts like 9-of-20 against IU Indy and at Purdue Fort Wayne, 9-of-21 at Green Bay, 7-of-15 at Youngstown State, 7-of-13 versus Robert Morris, and 7-of-18 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
Overall, Detroit Mercy ranks 168th in three-point shooting (34.3%) and 284th in triples per game (6.8), eighth and 11th, respectively, in the HL, and has reached double-digit 3-pointers seven times in the last 89 games.
Last season, UDM ranked 11th in the HL and 341st in DI, connecting on 5.6 per game.

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 fourth in the Horizon League with 1.7 steals per game.
On the flip side, the Titans committed a season-low six miscues at Cleveland State and have nine games this year with 10 or fewer turnovers.

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

Sophomore TJ Nadeau has netted double figures in 16 of his 24 games.
He registered his seventh career 20-point game and sixth this season with a team-high 20 points at Green Bay, going 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from three.
He also led the team in scoring with 18 at Milwaukee.
Nadeau posted a career-best 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 4-of-5 from deep at Cleveland State.
He tallied 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 also had 20 against Robert Morris and 24 points on a 9-of-14 effort from the field and six triples at Notre Dame.
Nadeau is second on the team with 13.1 points per game, while his 50 triples top the squad and are a career high.

OUR PRIDE AND JOY

Preseason All-Horizon League guard senior Orlando Lovejoy is all over the leaderboard for the Titans, leading the squad in scoring (13.6), assists (3.6), and steals (1.7), and is third in rebounding (3.5).
He has a 1.9-1 assists-to-turnover ratio with 86 assists against just 44 turnovers, 10th in the HL.
He currently has 1,207 points, 290 assists, and 160 steals in his career.
His defensive prowess has seen him post at least two steals in 13 of his 24 games played and 19 career games with at least three steals.
Also in his career, he has 20 games with at least five assists after dishing out six against Oakland at home.
He has scored in double figures in five straight games, averaging 16.6 points and shooting 53.8% in that span.
He just had 12 points against Youngstown State, a team-high 18 points in the win at Wright State, 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists at Green Bay, and 16 points at Milwaukee.
In the win over NKU, he tallied a season-high 24 points, going 8-of-10 from the field and 8-of-10 at the line.
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 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.
He netted double figures in 24 games and tallied nine 20-point games on the season, tied for the eighth most in the HL.
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 13 career 20-point outings, he has not even attempted a three.

THE LEGEND OF GEETER

Senior Legend Geeter has been that senior leader on the floor and has expanded his game into a scorer, rebounder, and distributor.
Geeter now has at least five rebounds in 15 games this season, including six of the last seven, and is eighth in the HL in rebounding (6.0) as well as ninth in offensive rebounding (2.1).
He also has at least three assists in seven games and 22 in the last six contests.
He was solid at Wright State with eight points, eight rebounds, and a huge block with under 1:30 left in the contest.
In Wisconsin, he recorded four points, eight rebounds, and two assists at Green Bay and six points, eight rebounds, five assists, and a season-high three steals at Milwaukee.
He posted his second double-double with 12 points, a career-tying 10 rebounds, and six assists, along with a block against NKU, and just missed another double-double the game before with a career-best 24 points, nine rebounds, and four assists against Oakland.
Earlier this season, he netted 22 points, going 8-of-8 from the field and grabbing six rebounds against Wright State.
In his last 11 games, Geeter is averaging 10.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, shooting 54.4% from the field.

SPRATT IS COMING HOME

Redshirt freshman Tyler Spratt has really come on since the start of the season, scoring in double figures 10 times in the last 12 games.
He just scored 15 points and registered a season-high nine rebounds against Youngstown State.
He had an all-around game of nine points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block at Wright State, scoring the game-winning basket with under 10 seconds left.
Spratt was the HL Freshman of the Week for the second time this season after netting a season-best 28 points against NKU, connecting on 8-of-10 from three (the most 3-pointers by a Titan since Antoine Davis in 2023), along with a season-high six assists and grabbing six rebounds.
He had 21 points against Oakland, making 9-of-19 from the field with six rebounds.
Spratt had five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, six boards, and two assists against Purdue Fort Wayne, and 19 points, including 14 in a second-half 18-4 run to put the game away against Cleveland State.
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 67-of-137 (48.9%) from the field and 41-of-88 (46.6%) from distance and averaging 14.1 points and 4.7 boards in his last 15 games.

GREAT STONE TO BUILD UPON

Detroit Mercy freshman Lance Stone has started to step up in his rookie season, scoring in double figures in four of the last 10 games, with 29 assists against just 15 turnovers.
He is also averaging 8.5 points and 2.9 assists during that time, draining 15-of-35 (42.9%) from three.
He just had 12 points and three assists against Youngstown State, and eight points and five assists at Milwaukee.
Stone scored a season-high 16 points with four assists against NKU, and that was after a season-high seven assists with six points against Oakland.
He recorded 12 points and four assists in the win at IU Indy, and had 11 points versus Cleveland State.
He also dished out seven assists at DePaul, the most helpers by a freshman since Anotine Davis at the end of the 2018-19 season.
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.

THE BIG MAN

The Titans reeled in a big man in 6-8, 250-lb London Maiden has shown dominance at times in the paint.
Maiden has dealt with an illness that kept him out of the Oakland game and limited him to a few minutes in others over the last six weeks, but he has been in double figures in three of the last four games.
He just scored 10 points in just 10 minutes against Youngstown State. He had 10 points and five boards at Wright State and 10 points and four boards at Milwaukee.
He had 16 points and eight rebounds at Niagara, 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 59.1% (55-of-93) in his last 17, averaging 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds.

KALAMBAY'S PLAY

Sophomore Ryan Kalambay has started to make his mark in the paint, just as he did in the second part of last season.
Kalambay has scored at least eight points in four of the last six games, grabbed at least five rebounds in 13 of his last 15 games - including four in double digits - and now leads the team with 28 blocks, standing eighth in the HL with 1.08 blocks per game.
Kalambay just had 10 points, five rebounds, two steals, and a block versus Youngstown State. He had eight points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and two steals at Wright State, securing the final board of the contest and hitting two free throws to seal the win.
He tied his career-high with five blocks at Green Bay, and that was after eight points and a team-high 10 caroms at Milwaukee.
He posted a season-high 11 rebounds with eight points versus Oakland.
Kalambay registered his second career double-double, recording 10 points and 10 rebounds with two blocks against Cleveland State.

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.
Lary had four points and three rebounds against Youngstown State, and 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.

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.
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.

THE PRIZE FROM OHIO

The Titans landed one of Ohio's top recruits in 6-6 freshman Je'kel Cotton.
Cotton missed a few games with a lower-body injury, but has stepped up at key moments this season, including tying a season-high with nine points and draining three 3-pointers in the win at Wright State.
He came up huge with nine rebounds, four points, a block, and a steal in the win over NKU.
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.
A member of the HL All-Freshmen Team, 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'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.