In honor of Valentine’s Day coming up, one thing has been true about the Detroit Mercy men’s basketball team for the majority of the season to this point — they’re kind of like a box of chocolates, because you never really know what you’re going to get.
The up and down run of games in Horizon League play has continued over the last couple of weeks for the Titans, since they still have yet to hold a streak of three games in conference play, whether that be a winning or losing streak.
UDM most recently suffered a 76-63 setback to finish out the Wisconsin road trip this past Saturday, losing to Green Bay in a game where the Phoenix outplayed them for 30 of the 40 minutes.
After back-to-back losses at home against Purdue Fort Wayne and Oakland in games where they had leads at halftime and battled to the end, they grabbed back-to-back double-digit wins over Northern Kentucky, who they lost to by 25 just two weeks prior, and Milwaukee, who they beat 76-63 on the road, outplaying the Panthers for 30 of 40 minutes in that one.
Detroit Mercy has continued spreading the wealth on offense, showing a more balanced attack than they’ve displayed in recent memory.
Senior Orlando Lovejoy and sophomore T.J. Nadeau have remained where they have been for the whole season to this point — at the top of the scoring category. Lovejoy has notched 15+ points in three of the last five, including a 24-point output in the win against the Norse. Nadeau has done the same in four of the last five.
The latter has shown himself to be more than just a shooter over the course of this year — this was especially true in the recent win over the Panthers. He scored 18 points despite going just 1-for-3 from deep.
Nadeau talked about expanding his game more after the win.
“The biggest thing last year is that I was known as the sharpshooter. So, in the offseason I had to add a couple things in order to elevate my game,” Nadeau said. “Right now on the scouting report, teams want to take me off the line, so I have to know how to get my shots in other places.”
Redshirt freshman Tyler Spratt has stayed hot, extending his current double-digit scoring streak to six games, which included a nuclear 28-point effort against Northern Kentucky in a game that saw him hit eight of 10 shots from behind the arc. This improved play has not gone unnoticed, and head coach Mark Montgomery had a lot of positive feedback to say about the hot hand.
“The game’s slowing down for him and he’s sticking to his routine. [Spratt’s] in the gym shooting every day and working hard at practice. Sometimes it just takes a little time,” Montgomery said.
Freshman Lance Stone has remained a great backup point guard, dishing out four or more assists in three of the last four games while recording a career-high 16 points in the win over NKU.
Senior Legend Geeter is also playing some of the best, most consistent basketball of his career. He’s a big reason why the Titans are the best rebounding team in the conference, as he’s grabbed eight or more rebounds in five straight games and scored a career-high 24 points in the game against Oakland.
Geeter gave credit to the rest of his team and the coaching staff when he spoke on his success.
“It’s concentration and you know, my team pushing me every day and my coaches pushing me every day. Then just having the confidence helps to contribute on the court and doing what my team needs consistently,” Geeter said.
Another player that’s truly been an unsung hero this season has been freshman Je’kel Cotton. Although Cotton’s usage has been inconsistent game-to-game and he hasn’t done a ton of scoring, he’s emerged as one of the Titans’ best rebounders and perimeter defenders. He was instrumental in Detroit Mercy’s triumph over Northern Kentucky, playing a career-high 22 minutes and pulling nine rebounds while tacking on four points in the process.
Cotton expanded on what his mindset has been in his role this season after the win over the Norse.
“I’ve just been keeping my head down, [continuing to] keep working and accepting my role, getting in the game and doing what I can to impact the game,” Cotton said. “I’m a good shooter, but the shots haven’t been falling, so I do other things I can to help, whether that be rebounding or just playing hard.”
The grind will continue for Detroit’s college team, as four of the six games remaining will be against teams that the Titans lost to during their first matchup with them.
The shooting for Detroit Mercy has improved over the last month or so, especially from three-point range and from the free-throw line. After struggling in both aspects early on in the season, the team has jumped to the top of the conference in free-throw shooting percentage at 75.6%. Although at a modest ranking in three-point percentage, the 34% the Titans currently hold in conference play is significantly better than it was to begin the year.
With the start of the second week in February, the Horizon League in the home stretch of the regular season. Geeter had a key point to say about what the Titans need to improve upon in order to be in the position that they want to be in come March.
“A big thing is really how we start games,” Geeter said. “We start off slow a lot and that’s been a bit of a problem for us, like in the last game against Green Bay. We just need to focus on getting off to a good start and that will help a lot.”
The Titans will look forward to the rest of the week with two games. First, they’ll take on the Horizon League leader in Wright State on the road tomorrow. That game will tipoff at 7 p.m. in the Nutter Center. Then, they’ll return home for the first of three games in a three-game homestand on Sunday. Tip will be at 1 p.m. in Calihan Hall, and both games will be available to stream on ESPN+.
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