Last Updated 8:45 AM, March 03, 2023
NCAA.com

Antoine Davis finishes 3 points from all-time NCAA scoring record in Detroit Mercy loss

Share
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORKAntoine Davis drives against Wright State's Brandon Noel on Feb. 25.Antoine Davis drives against Wright State's Brandon Noel on Feb. 25.
PathCreated with Sketch. PINNED
3:04 am, March 3, 2023

Davis scores 22 points in loss to Youngstown State

Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis scored 22 points in the eighth-seeded Titans' season-ending 71-66 loss against top-seed Youngstown State in the Horizon League quarterfinals.  

Davis ended the game four points short of breaking "Pistol Pete" Maravich's record of 3,667 points. He went 7-for-25 from the field (4-for-15 from three-point range) with five turnovers and four fouls. Davis is the second all-time leading scorer in DI men's basketball history and holds the record for most 3-pointers made in a career.

In a last-ditch effort to tie the game (and Maravich), Davis heaved up a three in transition with just four seconds left on the clock, but the ball clanged off the rim and then the backboard before sailing into the arms of YSU's Brandon Rush to end the game. 

 

Detroit Mercy led by 33-29 at halftime and even had a seven-point lead with 9:19 to go in the game, but the Titans couldn't close out the Penguins, who hung around and eventually took the lead with 1:29 left. 

After just seven points in a first half that saw Youngstown State go hard at Davis on defense, the fifth-year guard began to find his touch as the game went on, putting up 15 in the second half. Davis hit two free throws off a technical foul to pull within three of tying the record and four from breaking it with 10.9 seconds to go. 

 

2:57 am, March 3, 2023

Davis just five away from tying record 🫣

Approaching two minutes to go in regulation, Antoine Davis is five points from tying Pistol Pete at 3,667. 

2:43 am, March 3, 2023

Davis has work to do late 😳

With 7:01 to go, Davis is up to 17 points on the night. He is eight away from tying Pistol Pete and nine off the solo record. 

Detroit Mercy leads Youngstown State, 58-55.

2:14 am, March 3, 2023

Davis picking it up to start the second 🔥

About five minutes into the second half, and Antoine Davis is now 14 points away from beating Pistol Pete's all-time scoring record after hitting two free throws as well as a three in transition. He's still got work to do, though, as he is still just 4-for-12 from the field (2-for-6 from three-point range). 

Detroit Mercy leads, 44-41.

1:47 am, March 3, 2023

Davis is 19 away after tough first half 👀

At the half, eight-seed Detroit Mercy is up on top-seed Youngstown State, 33-29, but Davis has had a cold night shooting as he tracks down Pistol Pete. The Titans' star has just seven points and remains 19 off breaking Maravich's record, going 3-for-9 from the field (1-for-3 from beyond the arc). 

To the Penguins' credit, they have defended Davis hard and kept the clamps on him for most of the first half. 

Gerald Liddell has helped pick up the slack for Detroit Mercy with 11 points. If the Titans can come away with the win and advance in the Horizon League tournament, Davis would get another crack at the record if he can't pick it up in the second half. 

1:13 am, March 3, 2023

Davis is off to a cold start 🥶

Just over five minutes in, and Youngstown State leads Detroit Mercy, 8-8. Davis is 1-for-5 on shooting so far as the Penguins have defended him pretty hard so far. 

He is now 23 points from tying Pistol Pete and 24 from taking sole possession of the record. 

12:56 am, March 3, 2023

The game is on as Antoine Davis chases history 👀

The Horizon League quarterfinals matchup between eighth-seeded Detroit Mercy and top-seed Youngstown State is underway. Detroit Mercy star Antoine Davis is 25 points away from matching Pistol Pete's all-time scoring (3,667) record and just 26 off breaking the record. 

Stay tuned for updates.

5:56 pm, March 1, 2023

How to watch Antoine Davis' attempt to break the scoring record

Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis

Detroit Mercy senior Antoine Davis is 25 points away from tying LSU legend Pete Maravich's DI men's basketball scoring record — and thus only 26 points from standing above everyone else in history.

The Titans star will have at least one more game in his career as he tracks down Maravich — Detroit Mercy is facing Youngstown State in the Horizon League quarterfinals.

  • When: 8 p.m. ET Thursday, March 2
  • How to watch: ESPN+
  • Location: Youngstown, Ohio
5:48 pm, March 1, 2023

Take a look at Antoine Davis career stats

Here's a breakdown of Davis' career stats, including each season's stats.

Season Points per game Points FG FG% 3s 3PT% Rebounds Assists
2018-19 26.1 784 8.8-21.9 40 4.4-11.6 38 3.1 3.6
2019-20 24.3 729 7.9-20.8 38 3.4-10.4 32.4 3.1 4.5
2020-21 24.0 527 8.1-19.1 42.4 3.8-10.1 37.2 2.9 4.8
2021-22 23.9 694 8.2-19.1 42.9 3.9-10.3 37.9 3.6 4.4
2022-23 28.4 908 9.3-22.1 41.9 4.8-11.6 41.9 3.1 3.7
Averages/Totals 25.5 3,642 8.5-20.7 40.9 4.1-10.8 37.7 3.2 4.1

Wondering how Davis' career matches up with Maravich? Here's what Pistole Pete did each season, without a shot clock, no 3-point line and while playing on a freshman team his first year:

  • 1967-68: 43.8 points per game
  • 1968-69: 44.2 ppg
  • 1969-70: 44.5 ppg
5:18 pm, March 1, 2023

Here's the DI men's basketball all-time scoring list

As Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis tries to make history, here's a look at where things stand going into Thursday's game.

Place Player, school Years Points
1 Pete Maravich, LSU 1967-68 to 1969-70 3,667
2 Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy 2018-19 to present 3,642
3 Freeman Williams, Portland State 1974-75 to 1977-78 3,249
4 Chris Clemons, Campbell 2015-16 to 2018-19 3,225
5 Lionel Simmons, La Salle 1986-87 to 1989-90 3,217
6 Alphonso Ford, Mississippi Valley State 1989-90 to 1992-93 3,165
7 Doug McDermott, Creighton 2010-11 to 2013-14 3,150
8 Mike Daum, South Dakota State 2015-16 to 2018-19 3,067
9 Harry Kelly, Texas Southern 1979-80 to 1982-83 3,066
10 Keydren Clark, Saint Peter's 2002-03 to 2005-06 3,058
6:06 pm, March 1, 2023

How Antoine Davis closed in on history

From Detroit Mercy's athletics website:

DETROIT — Graduate senior Antoine Davis nearly had a triple double and ended with a game-high 38 points as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team is moving on in the Barbasol Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship with an 81-68 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday.

The nation's leading scorer not only scored 38 points on 14-of-27 from the field and 6-of-13 from three, but tallied a career-high eight rebounds to go with a team-high eight assists and four steals. He now has 3,642 points, 25 points away from tying and 26 shy of breaking Pete Maravich's NCAA record 3,667. He also has 155, 3-pointers on the year, tied for fourth in NCAA history and seven away from the single-season mark of 162 by Stephen Curry in 2007-08.

The Titans (14-18, 9-11 HL) will now head to top-seeded Youngstown State on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Graduate senior Damezi Anderson scored 11 points with four rebounds and graduate senior A.J. Oliver had nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Freshman Marcus Tankersley scored a career-high 12 points with five rebounds and three steals and senior Gerald Liddell had two points, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Detroit Mercy had a 41-36 lead just four minutes into the second half, but blew the game open with a 19-2 run over the next five minutes. The defense held Purdue Fort Wayne (17-15, 9-11 HL) to 0-of-7 from the field with two turnovers in that span, while the Titans were 7-of-10 shooting with four of those from distance.

Oliver started the spurt with a three off a steal from Davis and then Tankersley and Oliver had back-to-back layups, the latter off a foul and he made the free throw for the three-point play for a 48-36 lead. Anderson then nailed back-to-back triples to extend the rin to 13-straight points and a 55-26 advantage with 11:48 left. After Purdue Fort Wayne hit 1-of-2 at the line, Anderson knocked in another three and once again the Mastodons split a pair before a Davis trey had the team up 60-38 with 10:20 remaining.

Detroit Mercy would never see their lead fall to under double digits the rest of the way as the Mastodons pulled within 12, 60-48, but Davis netted eight-straight points to make it a 20-point lead again at 68-48 with five minutes to go.

Both teams were a big sluggish to start as Detroit Mercy was 1-of-7 and Purdue Fort Wayne was 2-of-7 in the first few minutes.

MEN'S TOURNAMENT: 2023 March Madness schedule, dates, times

The game was tied at 16-16 midway through the period when the Titans went on an 8-0 run. Davis started it with a three and then Tankersley came up with a steal and layup before another Davis triple made it 24-16 with 7:59 to go.

The Mastodons cut it to three, 24-21, when Tankersley had another layup and Davis followed with one, and was fouled, converting on the free throw for a 29-21 advantage with 3:46 left. The lead rose to 10, 34-24, on another Tankersley bucket and a three from Oliver with 2:09 left and the Titans took a 34-26 margin into the break.

Detroit Mercy shot 47.5% from the field (29-of-61), 10-of-25 (40.0%) from three and 13-of-16 (81.3%) at the free-throw line. The Titans also won the rebounding total 37-34 and had 10 steals, while holding Purdue Fort Wayne to 38.3% shooting.

The Titans and Penguins will tip off at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Beeghly Center.

Game Notes:

  • Detroit Mercy now leads the all-time series, 5-4, and is 4-2 at home
  • The Titans are 3-2 at home against the Mastodons, dominating the home game this season, 85-52
  • Detroit Mercy is now 38-39 all-time in the HL postseason, with eight trips to the title game (1988, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2012) and three championships (1994, 1999, 2012)
  • The Titans are a perfect 9-0 all-time in home playoff games
  • Detroit Mercy now has three wins over the same team for the 11th time in school history
  • The Titans won their first-ever game as an eighth seed in the playoffs as they are now 1-3 all-time
  • The eighth seed in the Horizon League postseason is now 14-31 all-time, with two trips to the title game in Wright State in 1994-95 and Cleveland State in 2017-18. 
  • The Titans had started the same starting five in 11-straight games prior to tonight's game, the longest streak under head coach Mike Davis and the longest by the Titans since the same five of Juwan Howard Jr., Doug Anderson, Nick Minnerath, Jason Calliste and Ray McCallum in 26 straight in 2012-13
  • Detroit Mercy has outrebounded its opponents 23 times on the season and in 11-straight games as the Titans came into the contest third in the HL in rebounding at 36.5 per game and tops the HL and 10th in the nation with 13.1 offensive rebounds per contest
  • Detroit Mercy has connected on double-digit 3-pointers in 19 games and is first in the HL and 10th in the nation at 39.1% from three, as well as first in the HL and sixth in DI with 10.4 per game
  • The Titans have connected on double-digit free throws in 21 games on the season as they are third in the Horizon League and 27th in the nation in free-throw percentage
  • The win was # 411 for head coach Mike Davis, 142nd in DI NCAA history and one away from 141st
  • Davis currently leads the nation in scoring (28.3 ppg.), total points (908), total 3-pointers (155), 3-pointers per game (4.89) and total field goals (296)
  • The only Titan to ever lead the nation in a NCAA statistic was Spencer Haywood, who averaged 22.1 rebounds in 1968-69, while his current rate of 28.3 points would be the second-highest in school history behind Haywood's 32.1 in 1968-69 and the highest in HL history
  • Davis has now reached double figures in all 143 of his collegiate games, NCAA records for total and consecutive games
  • Davis now has 104 career 20-point games, 40 career 30-point outings and eight 40-point contests in 143 games - reaching 17 points in 125 of them
  • Davis came into the game third all-time in NCAA history with 4.07, three-point field goals per game and leading the nation this year at 4.83 per contest
  • He now has 21 games on the year with four or more 3-pointers and has made a three in 138 of his 143 collegiate games, with 81 career games with four or more triples, 33 with six or more, 17 games with seven or more, and has five times connected on 10 or more
  • Davis is third in Titan history with 592 assists, 19 behind Wilbert McCormick and 23 in back of record holder Kevin McAdoo's 615 as he is 
  •  just the second player in NCAA history to amass 3,000 points and 500 assists, joining St. Peter's Keydren Clark (2002-06)
  • Davis now has 1,212 career field goals, just three away from Houston's Elvin Hayes and four in back of Kansas' Danny Manning to move into the top six in NCAA history
  • Liddell has now blocked at least one shot in 14 games on the season
  • Anderson has now scored in double figures in nine of the last 13 games and 18 on the year
  • Oliver has now grabbed at least five rebounds in six-straight games and 17 on the season with his season best of nine twice
  • Tankersley's previous high in points was 10 at Cleveland State
  • It was sophomore Jamail Pink's first career start 
  • Detroit played with TJ Moss (leg) and Arashma Parks (illness) who are listed as day to day