By Packy Moore

GAME NOTES

https://detroittitans.com/documents/2024/12/5/MBB_notes_vs._Wright_State.pdf

DETROIT (12/6/2024) — Off back-to-back dramatic wins, the University of Detroit Mercy men’s basketball team will look to make it three in a row and sweep the opening week of conference play as the Titans host Wright State on 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.

It will be Star Wars Day with a lightsaber giveaway to the first 150 fans and UDM will also hand out its Titan Reggie Spirit of Detroit Mercy Award.

Detroit Mercy is 5-5 on the year after a 98-89 overtime victory at Eastern Michigan and a 79-78 triumph over Horizon League preseason favorite Purdue Fort Wayne as junior Legend Geeter nailed a game-winning three with three seconds left.

Geeter finished with a career-high 22 points, one of four Titans in double figures. UDM’s leading scorer, Orlando Lovejoy, tallied 18 points and a career-best nine assists, while graduate senior Emmanuel Kuac netted 11 points.

Wright State is 5-5 on the year, but started league play with a 66-64 setback at Oakland.

It is the Titans’ last home game in 2024, as they won’t play in Calihan Hall again in the Motor City until Jan. 2.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

• Wright State has dominated the series in recent years, winning 14 of the last 16 and 21 of the last 26, as the Raiders lead the all-time battle, 41-28.
• The Raiders have won seven of the last nine in Calihan Hall as the match-up is tied at 16-16 in the Motor City. 

OUR HL HISTORY

• The Titans have now won five of the last seven Horizon League openers after defeating Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Detroit Mercy is now looking to start the conference at 2-0 for the first time since going 3-0 in 2021-22. 
• The red, white and blue are now 305-361 all-time in the Horizon League, winning the regular league championships in 1998 and 1999 and the conference title in 1994, 1999 and 2012.

TOUGH FOES IN THE NON-CONFERENCE

• The Titans will play a few home games in the non-conference campaign. Three will take place in November, marking the most home games since they had three in the 2018-19 season.
• Overall, the Titans’ 10 DI opponents are 55-26 (.676) on the year.
• Last year, the teams were 173-152 (.532) as Wisconsin made the NCAA Tournament, while Loyola and Wake Forest played in the NIT. 

LOOKING FOR THE NEXT BENCHMARK

• The Titans have already eclipsed last year’s win total of one and snapped a 22-game road slide with a win at Ball State.
• UDM posted four wins in November, the most in the month since going 4-3 at the start of the 2017-18 season, and are 5-5 through 10 games for the first time since going 5-5 in 2022-23.
• A win would put the Titans at 6-5, their best start since the 6-5 start in 2015-16.

TURNING ON THE OFFENSE

• The Titans scored 90 points for the second time this season in their 98-89 road win at Eastern Michigan. They also won 91-52 versus Cleary to start the year. 
• The 98 points were the most since UDM recorded 99 in two overtimes at Robert Morris last year, the only time it was in the 90s. 
• UDM’s 54.8% shooting against the Eagles was the best since hitting 59.6% (31-of-52) at Wright State last year, while the 17 assists were the second most on the year after the 19 against Cleary.
• They also went over 50.0% again, ending with 48.3% (29-of-60) versus Purdue Fort Wayne, including 65.5% (19-of-29 overall and 9-of-14 from three) in the second half.
• UDM also nailed a season-high 11 triples against the Mastodons, the most since connecting on 12 last year at Wright State.

DOMINATING THE GLASS

• Detroit Mercy has owned the glass this year, outrebounding its opponents in nine of its 10 games. The Titans lead the Horizon League and rank 19th in the country with 41.8 rebounds per game, second in the HL and 41st in the country with 13.6 offensive boards and second in the league and 44th in DI with a +8.7 rebounding average. 
• UDM registered a 48-31 advantage at Wake Forest (14-6 on offense). The Titans outrebounded Ball State, 40-30, with 13 offensive boards 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 or more 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. 

GIVE US ONE MORE CHANCE

• UDM’s outstanding work on the glass has led to a 128-72 margin on second-chance points on the season.
• Detroit Mercy had 20 second-chance points in the season opener against Cleary, 22 at Loyola, and tallied a 17-4 margin at Ball State.
• Last year, the Titans had just one game all season long with 15 second-chance points.

PLAYING SOME DEFENSE

• 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.
• At Wake Forest, the Titans responded from a slow start to force the Demon Deacons into missing 25 of their last 31 from behind the arc and 16 for their last 50 shots overall after starting the contest 8-of-11. 
• Against Tulsa, the defense came back to force the Golden Hurricane into 8-of-25 (32.0%) from the field and 4-of-17 (23.5%) from three in the second half, while Purdue Fort Wayne was 6-of-26 from three in the second half. 

JUST KUAC THIS

• Emmanuel Kuac is back for his second graduate season and already looks healthier than he did all of last year.
• He posted a team-high 18 points, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-7 from three, against Toledo and had a 13-point performance at Ball State, where he was 5-of-10 overall and 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
• Kuac just 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 105 field goals, 52 of those from three, including 33 of his 57 field goals as a Titan. 
• Kuac missed the first 12 games of last year’s season, recovering from an injury he sustained before arriving at UDM. However, he never fully recovered, recording 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 19 games. 
• He showed what he could do when healthy at Milwaukee, shooting 9-of-19 and 7-of-13 from three en route to a career-high 27 points, a season-high eight rebounds, a career-tying three steals, and a block.

313 IS WHERE O WANTS TO BE

• Junior Orlando Lovejoy hails from Detroit, evidenced by his 313 tattoo on his right arm.
• The EMU transfer has turned up his play in the last seven games, scoring in double figures in six of them, averaging 16.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, handing out 36 assists against just 19 turnovers with eight steals.
• Lovejoy just tallied 18 points and handed out a career-high nine assists against Purdue Fort Wayne, and that was after 18 points, seven assists, and three steals at Eastern Michigan, tying the game with a layup with just three seconds on the clock. 
• He scored a career-high 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. 
• Lovejoy tallied a team-high 15 points, grabbed a season-best eight boards, and handed out six assists at Wake Forest and registered 19 points, seven rebounds with five assists, and a steal at Ball State, going 5-of-12 from the field and tying his career-best with a 9-of-10 effort at the line. 
• On the year, he is leading the team at 14.4 points, and 4.2 assists, shooting 43.9% overall and 82.4% at the line, ranking in the top 10 in the HL in scoring, assists, steals and free-throw percentage.

LARY HAS FOUND A HOME AT UDM

• Junior Jared Lary has moved around a bit for basketball, playing at three high schools and two colleges, but he is now starting to thrive at Detroit Mercy. 
• He has shown that he can do a little of everything in his nine games, tallying 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
• He had 10 points, a season-tying six rebounds with a block against Rhode Island. Lary recorded a team-high 12 points, three rebounds, two steals, and an assist versus Tulsa after 10 points, four rebounds, and a steal at Wake Forest. He 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 and posted 11 points, six rebounds, two steals, and a block against Niagara, including the game-tying basket down the stretch to send the game into overtime.

GEETER READY TO MAKE HIS OWN LEGEND

• After stops at Providence and Eastern Michigan, junior Legend Geeter is ready to make himself at home in his hometown. 
• Geeter just had a career game, netting a career-high 22 points, going 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from distance, while grabbing 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. He recorded 14 points against Niagara, going 3-of-5 from the field and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line, and eight points, four rebounds, and two steals at Ball State, going 2-of-2 from distance. 
• On the year, he is averaging 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds, shooting 51.6% (32-of-62) overall and 7-of-12 from three.
• Geeter – who was coached in high school by Titan assistant coach LaMonta Stone and was a top-50 recruit in the nation – started his career in the BIG EAST at Providence but did not see action in any games and spent the last two seasons at Eastern Michigan.

A DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR OKORO

• Freshman Stephen Okoro talked about being a Dennis Rodman-type player and so far, he has lived up to that, averaging 4.3 rebounds on the season, with 22 on defense and 21 on offense.
• He pulled down a game-high nine boards against Tulsa, with four off the offensive glass.
• He had four rebounds, two points, a block, and an assist in 10 minutes at Wake Forest, four rebounds with two assists at Ball State in eight minutes, and five rebounds with a block in nine minutes against Toledo.
• Okoro had three points and a team-best six boards at Loyola and made an impact in his Titan debut against Cleary. He played just 16 minutes and came away with a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field.
• He is the first Titan to have a double-double in his debut since senior Gerald Liddell at Purdue Fort Wayne in 2022, while the last freshman to accomplish the task was Marquis Moore at IUPUI in 2019.

WHAT NADEAU ABOUT NOTHING

• Freshman TJ Nadeau was in double figures for the third time this season, ending with a season-best 16 points at Eastern Michigan, hitting 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from distance, and 4-of-4 at the line. 
• He just had nine points, five rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal against Purdue Fort Wayne.
• He posted 13 points with a season-best nine boards at Wake Forest and posted his first collegiate double-digit scoring performance with 10 points against Toledo.
• In Florida, he registered five points, six rebounds, an assist, and a steal against Rhode Island and had eight points at Loyola. 
• On the year, he is averaging 7.6 points as 14 of his 26 field goals have been 3-pointers.

GIVE ME A GRANT

• Redshirt freshman Grant Gondrezick II stepped up when his team needed him at Eastern Michigan, posting a season-high 22 points, a season-best 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 came into the game with just 16 total points and was 7-of-22 from the field. 
• He just added 11 points, four rebounds and two assists versus Purdue Fort Wayne.
• In his collegiate debut against Cleary, Gondrezick II had five points and a team-high five assists with a steal. He also had five points and two helpers at Wake Forest, four points, two boards, and a steal against Tulsa. 
• He did not see any action at Elon last year, but was a high scorer at Benton Harbor, posting nearly 2,000 career points. As a senior, he netted 997 total points, averaging 25.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. He earned First Team All-State and was named to the Mr. Basketball Top 10 Watchlist for 2023.
• 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. 

NATE THE GREAT

• As the Titans opened the year with a 2-1 week, the Horizon League took notice as rookie Nate Johnson was named the Under Armour Freshman of the Week on Nov. 11.
• The true freshman showed his all-around skills in his first three collegiate games, averaging 10.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists, hitting 10-of-23 (43.5%) from the field, with four triples.
• He started his collegiate career with nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists in the win over Cleary. He came back and added 13 points and three boards at Loyola, then tallied nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal in the come-from-behind win over Niagara.
• He has been fighting foul trouble recently, but added 11 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal at EMU and six points with four caroms against Purdue Fort Wayne and is averaging 6.0 points and 3.8 rebounds on the season.

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