by Detroit Mercy star Antoine Davis finished Thursday’s Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals four points shy of breaking Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA record as No. 8 Seed Titans fell 71-66 to the No. 1 Seed Youngstown State. The 6-foot-1 guard missed a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds as the Titans couldn’t muster a major upset in a game they led for more than 27 minutes.
Davis entered averaging 28.1 points per game and needed 26 points to surpass Maravich’s record of 3,667 career points, but was held to 22 points on 7-of-26 shooting against the Penguins, including 4-of-17 in the second half.
At 14-19 and without a conference title under their belt, the Titans are ineligible for the NIT and NCAA tournaments. However, Davis could break Maravich’s record if Detroit is invited to a postseason event like the CBI or The Basketball Classic, which allows teams with sub-.500 records to compete. Detroit competed in The Basketball Classic last season after exiting the Horizon League Tournament with a 14-15 record.
NCAA Division I career scoring leader
| Player, school | years (seasons) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Pete Maravich, LSU | 1967-70 (3) | 3,667 |
| Antoine Davis, Detroit | 2018-23 (5) | 3,664 |
| Freeman Williams, Portland | 1974-78 (4) | 3,249 |
| Chris Clemons, Campbell | 2015-19 (4) | 3,225 |
| Lionel Simmons, La Salle | 1986-90 (4) | 3.217 |
Davis averaged 26.5 points through the first 22 games of the season and passed Freeman Williams for second on the all-time scoring list on January 21. But it seemed unlikely that Davis could catch Maravich, the legendary former LSU guard who had held the record since 1970. Then he picked things up, averaging 34.4 points over his last nine games entering Thursday for to bring the record close.
As Davis’ production increased late in the season, the Titans improved, winning six of nine games entering the quarterfinals. Davis scored 38 points in Detroit’s 81-68 first-round win over Purdue-Fort Wayne on Tuesday, bringing his total to 3,642 points and giving him a realistic chance to surpass Maravich against Youngstown State, which he had already beaten Detroit twice in the regular season.
Maravich set the all-time mark of 3,667 points in 1970 before the arrival of the three-pointer in college basketball and with just three seasons’ worth of games since he spent his first season on the school’s freshman team at a time when freshmen were not eligible for university competition.
Instead, this is Davis’ fifth season in college basketball after being granted an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is no doubt that he is among the sport’s all-time great scorers. He is already the NCAA’s all-time leader in three-pointers.
Davis is the son of Detroit coach Mike Davis, who coached at Indiana, UAB and Texas Southern. After last season, Davis entered the transfer portal and even released the list of schools he considered finalists that included BYU, Georgetown, Kansas State and Maryland. Ultimately, he chose to return to Detroit to close out his storied career.
