Senior Day for two Horizon League Stars – Antoine Davis and Jalen Moore
By Ryan Kay
Detriot Mercy’s senior star guard Antoine Davis and Oakland’s senior leader and outstanding point guard Jalen Moore will participate in Senior Day activities this Saturday as the Titans take on Wright State at Calihan Hall and the Golden Grizzlies host Northern Kentucky at the O’Rena.
Game Match Up
Teams and Records: Wright State 16-14 (9-10) at Detroit Mercy 13-17 (9-10)
Date: February 25th
Time: 1 PM EST
Channel/Streaming: ESPN+
Team Profiles heading into this game
Wright State
Best Wins: At Louisville (73-72), Bowling Green (80-71), Weber State (87-65), Detroit Mercy (90-85), at Milwaukee (78-74), Northern Kentucky (83-65), and Abilene (77-61)
Notable Defeats: Davidson (102-97 2OT), UC Riverside (65-70), Youngstown State (77-88), at Western Kentucky (60-64), and at Akron (54-66), at Northern Kentucky (64-78), at Northern Kentucky (64-78), at Cleveland State (68-85), at Purdue Fort Wayne (75-77), at Youngstown State (89-91), at Oakland ( 68-75), and Cleveland State (77-85)
KenPom Ranking: 194
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 164
Sagarin Ranking: 184
Net Ranking: 197
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Zero
Quadrant 3 Wins: Two
Detroit Mercy
Best Wins: At Purdue Fort Wayne (75-66), Charlotte (70-49), Ohio (88-74), at Tulsa (76-72), Robert Morris (87-75), Cleveland State (85-67), Purdue Fort Wayne (85-52), and at Oakland (96-74)
Notable Defeats: At Washington State (54-96), At Florida Atlantic (55-76), and at Boston College (66-70), at Charlotte (80-82), at Cincinnatti (54-72), Youngstown State (79-84), at Robert Morris (77-85), at Youngstown State (63-73), at Milwaukee (89-94), and Northern Kentucky (64-67)
KenPom Ranking: 206
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 187
Sagarin Ranking: 215
Net Ranking: 206
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Zero
Quadrant 3 Wins: Three
Game Preview
Both teams are led by their starting point guards as Antoine Davis is the leading scorer for Detroit Mercy and Trey Calvini is the top scorer for Wright State. Davis this season became the second-all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history and has scored 30 or more points in 12 games this season. Davis is not only the Titans leading scorer but he has scored 22 or more points, an amazing 25 ten times this season. Detroit Mercy will need Davis to win this game and possibly clinch the No. 7 seed in the Horizon League tournament.
If Wright State defeats the Titans they at minimum secure the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament. The Raiders could get the No. 6 seed if both Youngstown State and Cleveland State both lose which is highly unlikely but if Oakland and Youngstown State lose with is still unlikely as the Penguins are big favorites in their game, they would also qualify and get the No. 6 seed with a win over Detroit Mercy. The worst-case scenario is if Wright State loses to Detroit Mercy and Green Bay upsets and defeats Purdue Fort Wayne, the Raiders drop to the No. 8 seed. There is another wild scenario where the Raiders drop all the way down to the No. 9 seed but that is highly unlikely to happen.
Detroit Mercy’s conference seeding scenarios are less complicated. If the Titans win, they at minimum get the No. 7 seed in the Horizon League tournament and host more than likely Green Bay Tuesday night. There also is an outside chance if they win and Youngstown State and Milwaukee both lose, they would slide into the No. 6 seed but it is very unlikely because the Penguins should defeat IUPUI on Saturday. If the Titans lose to Wright State, they slide to the No. 8 seed and would likely host Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday night.
This game should be a great one as both teams need a win to secure a decent seed in the Horizon League tournament. Davis is getting his jersey retired on Senior day at Calihan Hall and emotions will be high. The Titans will look to win this game at home against Wright State which would give Detroit Mercy six wins in their last eight games. The Raiders have lost three straight games in a row with all three of them being on the road and they will look to win this game to gain momentum heading into conference tournament play.
Rivalry History and Game Prediction
Last 10 games of this rivalry: Wright State has won eight out of the previous ten games against Detroit Mercy.
Current Win Streak: The Raiders have won the last game between these two schools, having a one-game winning streak in this rivalry.
The last meeting between both schools: Wright State defeated Detroit Mercy at home by a final score of 90-85.
Prediction: Detroit Mercy 73 Wright State 69
Game Match Up
Teams and Records: Northern Kentucky 18-12 (13-6) at Oakland 13-17 (11-8)
Date: February 25th
Time: 3 PM EST
Channel/Streaming: ESPN+
Oakland
Best Wins: Milwaukee (83-61), at Northern Kentucky (64-63), at Wright State (75-73), Robert Morris (69-65), at Detroit Mercy (76-67), Cleveland State (92-89), and Wright State (75-68)
Notable Defeats: Youngstown State (69-85), at Michigan State (54-67), at Boise State (57-77), at Syracuse (66-95), Missouri State (64-76), San Jose State (67-80), at Toledo (90-112), Oklahoma State (62-91), at Youngstown State (69-85), at Robert Morris (63-68), at Milwaukee (77-80), and Detroit Mercy (74-96)
KenPom Ranking: 268
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 253
Sagarin Ranking: 260
Net Ranking: 272
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Zero
Quadrant 3 Wins: Three
Northern Kentucky
Best Wins: Cincinnati (64-51), Youngstown State (77-73), Wright State (78-64), Detroit Mercy (78-76), Cleveland State (57-56), at Purdue Fort Wayne (63-50), and at Detroit Mercy (67-64)
Notable Defeats: Milwaukee (74-75), at Florida Atlantic (52-67), at Washington State (47-68), Toledo (69-82), Kent State (57-79), at Wright State (65-83), at Youngstown State (56-74), Oakland ( 63-64), and at Cleveland State (63-64)
KenPom Ranking: 183
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 165
Sagarin Ranking: 180
Net Ranking: 178
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Zero
Quadrant 3 Wins: Four
Game Preview
Jalen Moore is the leader of the Golden Grizzlies and has had two back-to-back outstanding games where he scored 37 points in a loss to Detroit Mercy and he put up 35 points in his last game in a win over Wright State.
Moore who had missed multiple games due to being injured and has not been 100% fully healthy throughout the season is Oakland’s leading scorer averaging just over 19 points a game and is the assist leader for the Golden Grizzlies averaging just under six assists a game. He was a Horizon Leagues’ Preseason All-League First Team member and he is on pace to once again be named to the first team all-league team.
Northern Kentucky is led by Marques Warrick who is their leading scorer averaging approximately 19 points per game. Chris Brandon is the Norse leading rebounder averaging just over nine rebounds per game and Xavier Rhodes leads the team in assists averaging three and a half assists per game.
The biggest unknown is how many minutes will Oakland’s starters play. Rather they win or lose this game, they are guaranteed to be the No. 5 seed in the Horizon League tournament. Northern Kentucky has an opportunity to earn the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament with a victory. Oakland’s head coach Greg Kampe values senior day so the Golden Grizzlies resting players for the conference tournament may not happen.
It is also possible that the Norse get the No. 4 seed and host Oakland on Thursday night. Both teams may be more focused on a possible rematch later this week than on this game which is a possibility. Either way, this game is hard to predict this outcome because both teams need to win the conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
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Rivalry History and Game Prediction
Last 10 games of this rivalry: Northern Kentucky has won six out of the previous ten games against Oakland.
Current Win Streak: The Golden Grizzlies have won the last game between these two schools, having a one-game winning streak in this rivalry.
The last meeting between both schools: Oakland defeated Northern Kentucky on the road by a final score of 63-64.
Prediction: Northern Kentucky 81, Oakland 75