UIC did not have a good time visiting Calihan Hall for most likely the last time as members of the Horizon League. The first half went well for UIC and Detroit Mercy did not play well in the last 10 minutes of the first half, the flames led at the break.
The Titans came out swinging in the second half. They went on a 14-2 run making 5 of 7 shots. Matt Johnson who was almost nonexistent in the first half came alive with two layups followed by an Antoine Davis heat check three. Matty Ice then nailed a three of his own.
It was then Willy Isiani who hit back-to-back threes with an and 1 on the second three willy added an easy layup and that put the Titans up 55-45 and they would not look back. It was 10 straight points for Isiani before Johnson wildly make a layup put the game out of reach for the flames. Davis then turned it on under 10 minutes and powered the Titans further out of the Flames reach.
Davis finished with 18 points and 10 assists. Johnson finished with 16 points and 8 boards. Willy added 15 points. DJ Harvey and Kevin McAdoo added 11 and 13 points respectively. This is the first time this season the Titans were able to pull away without AD shooting the lights out and putting the team on his back. UIC is not a contender, but they have some guys who can score and shoot the three well. The Titans also won with Akec not having a good night (He had 2 points) and missing Noah Waterman (unconfirmed COVID protocol).
The Titans went on to beat on lowly UM-Dearborn Monday night Davis did not play. Six Titans scored in double figures. Byron Ottrix scored his first basket as a Titan. Jeramy Shaw who we have not seen play lately had 10 points and a sports center top 10 play.
A player to watch down the stretch is Kyle LeGreair is a player to watch down the stretch for Detroit. He has earned Mike Davis’ trust. He played 18 minutes against UIC with five points, his first of his career at Detroit Mercy. He played almost 27 minutes with four points and five assists against Michigan-Dearborn. If the Titans go on a run this year down the stretch, I expect Davis to use him like Donavan Foster was used on the 2011 and 2012 teams; a defensive point guard that can spell the starting guards and manage the game well.
The Titans are fourth overall in the conference based on win percentage. They have a big test coming up Thursday when they head to Wright State. If they can knock off the Raiders, they can prove they are a legit dark horse for the Horizon League crown. Hopefully, Waterman is back for the next two games, they could use his size and three-point prowess v.s Wright State.
The Titans won’t make up the January game with Oakland. Tony Paul wrote a great informative article on that; I would suggest anyone who is interested or mad it’s not getting made up check it out. Per Tony Paul, the Titans will play another non-D1 next Monday to make up for the no-contest Green Bay game. In theory, there is a possibility the RMU and YSU games are made up but I would not get your hopes up. The Horizon League has made a huge mess of the postponed games and in my opinion, should be forcing the teams to reschedule and play the games.
