Sophomore guard Rocket Watts (2) waits for an opening to pass to one of his teammates in the second half of the game. Michigan State triumphed over Notre Dame, 80-70, Nov. 28, 2020.
Coming hot off their narrow win in the Champion's Classic against No. 6 Duke (1-1) Tuesday night, the No. 8 Michigan State men's basketball team (3-0) is gearing up to take on the Detroit Mercy Titans (0-0) tonight at 5 p.m.
This game will serve as both a three-time historical marker and the kick-off for the Titans 2020-21 campaign. The last time the two teams met for a Detroit season opener was in 2001 and this will be the 62nd match-up overall between the in-state rivals.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Breslin Center and will be televised on Big Ten Network.
The Titans have struggled against the Big Ten conference in previous years, dropping 15-straight against teams in the league and are 30-121 all-time against current members.
Their last Big Ten win was during the 1997-98 season, where they edged the Spartans out with a three-point, 68-65, victory.
Their last Big Ten game was in 2017, where they were setback 32 points by Michigan in a 90-58 loss.
"You play a team like Detroit and they got one of the more prolific guard scores in the whole country, and yet they've got a bunch of transfers, a bunch of new people, we haven't seen the game yet," Head Coach Tom Izzo said in a press conference Thursday. "Those things all create problems, so what we're trying to do is worry a little bit more about ourselves and understand how good a coach Mike Davis is."
Davis is 6-7 all-time against MSU, with most of that coming from his time at Indiana and Texas Southern Universities.
Freshman guard and walk-on Caileb Brown is also no stranger to the green and white.
Brown is a native of East Lansing and attended DeWitt High School, while his father, Luke Brown, was a team manager for MSU and the video coordinator on the 2000 national championship team.
Similarly, junior guard and son of the head coach, Antoine Davis is someone to keep an eye on.
As a freshman, Antoine Davis' 3.88 three-point field goals per game put him at fifth all-time in NCAA history.
Antoine Davis' career high of 25.2 points per game is in the tops among all active players and his 1,513 career points, collected over just two seasons, is the 11th most among active players, 13th in his school history and the highest by any junior in division one.
He also has 44 career 20 point games, 15 career 30 point outings and three 40 point contests in just 60 collegiate games. He also scored double figures in all 60 games, reaching at least 17 points in 49 of them.
He's scored 233 three-pointers as well to tie for third in his school record book.
The Titans are 6-26 all-time on the road.
Last time on MSU hoops
"Watching the game against Duke, I wasn't quite as fired up as everybody else," Izzo said. "I thought we did a very average job offensively. In fact, it was poor. We dribbled the ball to death. ... I didn't like the way I coached because I don't think I had us as prepared for the pressure as I should."
Their goals tonight are to improve on the break, to move the ball with more ease side-to-side, to improve their defense and to shoot the ball like the Spartans are capable of, Izzo said.
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Izzo said he knows both he and his guys need to get better. It's easier to learn with a win, he said, and they're all in the same boat.
