fbpx

Davis Comes Up Short of Maravich’s Record

Davis Comes Up Short
Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy prepares to take a free throw | Image by USA Today

University of Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis came up just short of breaking Pete Maravich’s all-time college basketball scoring record as top-seeded Youngstown State eliminated his team in the Horizon League tournament quarterfinal round on Thursday.

Davis came into the game just 25 points behind Maravich’s 3,667 mark and finished with 22 points.

Davis gave Detroit a three-point lead with 4:19 left, but Youngstown managed an 11-3 run to take the game and advance to the conference semifinals. He got a look from the three-point line as time expired, which would have tied the record, but the shot glanced off the back of the rim.

“If we would’ve won, I know I’d have a chance to go and get it, so I wasn’t really thinking about it,” Davis said as he met with reporters after the game. “I was just trying to put us in the best position to win.”

Davis burst onto the scene as a freshman at Detroit in 2018 and became a star almost immediately — averaging 26.1 points per game during his first season.

The fifth-year senior averaged at least 23.9 points per game in each season with the team and currently holds a 25.4 career average, the 12th-best in NCAA history and the best in the Horizon League.

The loss means that Detroit’s season is likely over, and Davis may not get another chance to break the record. Detroit’s 14-19 overall record and 9-11 record in conference play will not be enough to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

However, Detroit may still be able to play in the postseason because the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) accepts teams that finish under .500.

ESPN reports that the CBI is “evaluating” Detroit as a candidate for the tournament.

The CBI began in 2008 and features a field of 16 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament in a four-day period. The tournament selects schools that did not make the NCAA tournament or the NIT and are willing to pay a $27,500 entry fee.

The CBI will be played in Daytona Beach, Florida, from March 18 through March 22.

Last season, Detroit played in the inaugural edition of The Basketball Classic, losing to Florida Gulf Coast in the first round.

When asked if his team would accept a bid to the CBI in a postgame media session, Detroit head coach and Antoine’s father, Mike Davis, said it would be considered.

“We played in an event last year,” he said. “We just need to win some games and play some games … We played really hard, and when you have a team like that, you don’t mind playing in another event.”

“If they want to play, we’ll play,” the coach added to ESPN. “If they don’t want to play, and it’s time to move on, we won’t play.”

Detroit has had a losing record in four of the five seasons with Davis on the team and has not made the NCAA tournament since the 2011-12 season.

If his college career is over, Davis finishes second all-time in scoring — 415 points ahead of Portland’s Freeman Williams — and as the career leader in made three-pointers.

Support our non-profit journalism

1 Comment

  1. JNW

    Maravich did not have the added advantage of the three point shot … all were twos. Not a fair competition but then again who cares about fair when boys compete as girls and some one from the modern era needs to break a 40+ year record by a skinny kid with baggy socks.

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Continue reading on the app
Expand article