DETROIT (2/2/2026) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will start the month of February on the road as the Titans meet the Panthers of Milwaukee for the first time this season on Wednesday.
Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. (EST) at UWM Panther Arena and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Titans are 9-12 overall and 6-6 in the Horizon League after a 90-77 victory over NKU. The red, white and blue saw redshirt freshman Tyler Spratt tally a season-high 28 points, and senior Orlando Lovejoy posted a season-best 24. Spratt nailed eight triples with six rebounds and six assists en route to the Horizon League Freshman of the Week.
Detroit Mercy shot a season-high 55.6% and connected on a season-best 12 triples in the win. The Titans have now hit 10 or more 3-pointers in three of the last six games.
Milwaukee is 9-15 on the season and 5-8 in conference play, dropping five of the last six. The lone win was a 65-64 decision at Youngstown State, while the Panthers just fell at home to Cleveland State, 90-88.
After the game, UDM will stay in Wisconsin to battle Green Bay on Saturday.
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 hot streaks by both teams in the last several years. Milwaukee is currently on a seven-game winning streak and holds a 36-29 advantage in the match-up.
- UDM is 11-21 all-time on the road in the series, but has dropped four in a row in Milwaukee.
ABOUT 1995
- The first-ever meeting between the two schools was on Jan. 30, 1995, when the Titans beat the Panthers on the road 69-59, thanks to 24 points from Iyapo Montgomery and 22 from Carl Pickett. Here are some other events that were happening in 1995 when these teams first squared off.
* Starbucks introduced the Frappuccino
* Blue M&M's were added to the mix
* Toy Store was the most popular film, and ER was the top TV show
* Windows 95 Operating system is released by Microsoft
* A dozen eggs were $1.16, and the average price for a gallon of gas was $1.15
* The first professional sports game is streamed online, featuring the Mariners and the Yankees
IN THE CLASSROOM
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 an 81-72 (53.1%) record.
LOCAL & GLOBAL TITANS
- Detroit Mercy will have a lot of local flair, as eight of the 14 Titans hail from Michigan, including six from the Detroit Metro area.
- Along with those Titans, Detroit Mercy also has three players from Ohio, a student-athlete from Nevada, and two from out of the country in Canada and Australia.
WE HAVE OPTIONS
- The Titans are currently second in the Horizon League and 59th in the nation, tallying 28.5 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 39.1 rebounds per game - 47th in DI - and second in the HL and 21st in the country with 13.6 offensive rebounds per game.
- Detroit Mercy has won the glass in nine of the 12 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 have struggled from downtown most of the year, but have connected on double-digit 3-pointers in three of the last six games, including a 12-of-20 effort against NKU and 11 from long range versus Oakland. They were also 10-of-22 at home against 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 217th in three-point shooting (33.4%) and 274th in triples per game (6.9), ninth and 11th, respectively, in the HL, and has now reached double-digit 3-pointers seven times in the last 85 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 leads the HL and is 75th in the nation at the free-throw line at 75.2%, while its 16.4 makes per game rank fourth in the league.
- UDM has reached double-digit made free throws in 17 games this year and eight times in the 20's.
- Senior Orlando Lovejoy leads Horizon League and is 31st in the NCAA at 89.5% (77-of-86), 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 20 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 three 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 3.5 a game.
- He is second on the team at 13.0 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 is coming off a season-high 24 points against NKU.
- He now leads the team in scoring (13.4), assists (2.8), and steals (1.9), and is tied for third in rebounding (3.5).
- He has a 2.2-1 assists-to-turnover ratio with 76 assists against just 35 turnovers, sixth in the HL, and he recently celebrated crossing the 1,000-point plateau.
- His defensive prowess has seen him post at least two steals in 12 of his 20 games played, 19 career games with at least three steals, and 156 total in his career.
- 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 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 13 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 has shown dominance at times in the paint.
- Maiden has dealt with an illness that saw him miss the Oakland game and play limited minutes in a few others inthe last six weeks.
- 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 60.6% (40-of-66) in his last 13, averaging 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds.
- Before he arrived in the Motor City, he played at Blinn College, where he tallied 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds and earned 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 11 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.
THE LEGEND OF GEETER
- Senior Legend Geeter has been that senior leader on the floor, and is coming off a career game with his second double-double of 12 points, a career-tying 10 rebounds, and six assists, along with a block against NKU.
- He just missed another double-double with a career-best 24 points, nine rebounds, and four assists against Oakland.
- He had eight points and 10 rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne the week before and netted 22 points, going 8-of-8 from the field and grabbing six rebounds against Wright State.
- In his last 12 games, Geeter is averaging 10.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, hitting 46-of-81 shots (56.7%).
SPRATT IS COMING HOME
- Redshirt freshman Tyler Spratt has really come on since the start of the season, scoring in double figures seven times in the last 10 games, including back-to-back 20-point performances.
- The reigning HL Freshman of the Week for the second time this season just netted a season-best 28 points, 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 the game before, 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,16 points and a career-tying eight rebounds at IU Indy - hitting some key free throws down the stretch - 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 54-of-110 (49.1%) from the field and 34-of-73 (46.6%) from distance and averaging 14.2 points and 4.1 boards in his last 12 games.
- He spent his freshman campaign at Cleveland State but did not play.
GREAT STONE TO BUILD UPON
- Detroit Mercy freshman Lance Stone has started to step up in his rookie season, scoring in double figures in three of the last six games, with 18 assists against just nine turnovers.
- He is averaging 9.2 points and 3.0 assists in the last six contests, draining 10-of-24 (41.7%) from three.
- He just 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 (against no turnovers) in the win at IU Indy, and had 11 points against 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.
- 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 10 games.
- 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 24 games in his career recording at least five boards, including six in a row and 10 of the last 11 games.
- He just grabbed eight boards against NKU, and that was after a season-high 11 rebounds with eight points against Oakland.
- He also leads the team with 19 blocks.
- 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.
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 came up huge with nine rebounds, four points, a block, and a steal against 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.
