Tulsa suffers home loss to Detroit Mercy

Facing one of the top scorers in college history, like TU was doing against Antoine Davis, can be too much for a young team.

However, it wasn't so much Davis who beat Tulsa as it was Tulsa's inability to grab defensive rebounds in the second half that doomed the Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa gave up a whopping 18 offensive rebounds, including 12 in the second half, as Detroit Mercy outlasted Tulsa 76-72 Wednesday night in front of 3,012 fans at the Reynolds Center.

Detroit Mercy (5-5) was led by Gerald Liddell's 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Davis matched his scoring average for the season with 23 points.

For Tulsa (2-6), it was the fifth consecutive loss in a tough stretch where nothing has seemed to go right.

"Very disappointing loss for us," said Tulsa coach Eric Konkol. "The number of transition opportunities we missed in the first half. The number of missed free throws. Overall, when you look at the box score, giving up 18 offensive rebounds. Really the difference in the game.

"Playing hard. They're giving it everything they've got. We've got to find a way to rebound the basketball better."

Sam Griffin had 20 points and 7 rebounds, while Bryant Selebangue had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead TU.

Selebangue, who was 8 of 10 from the field, was held in check the last part of the game due to the Titans going to a zone defense. He wasn't getting opportunities to score.

Tulsa led all first half, leading 39-36 at halftime, but Detroit Mercy took the lead 46-45 on a 3-pointer by Davis. Still, Tulsa got back out to a 53-48 lead until the Titans went on an offensive rebounding frenzy, taking a 60-56 lead.

Still, Tulsa fought back, and three-pointer by Brandon Betson, who finished with 13 points, with 2:02 remaining put Tulsa up 72-70.

But Tulsa's preoccupation with defending Davis, who they double-teamed, led to a wide-open Isaiah Jones, who drained a three with 49.6 seconds remaining on the assist from Davis. Jones had two points in the game prior to that shot.

Tulsa's Keyshawn Embery-Simpson's miss from three with 25 seconds, followed by two free throws by Davis, made it 75-72 with 12.9 seconds remaining. Betson missed a contested three-pointer with 6 seconds left, and a free throw by Jaden Stone (3 points) after missing the first with 2.5 seconds remaining iced the game.

Davis, who has a career average of 24.5 points a game, is currently 13th in NCAA history in scoring in his fifth year for Detroit Mercy. The former Houston commit is likely to finish in the top 3 all-time in NCAA history.

As good as the 6-foot-1 Davis is, it helps to play for your father, former Indiana and UAB coach Mike Davis. Just like NCAA record holder Pete Maravich played for his dad, Press Maravich, at LSU. Davis will probably end up about 200 points away from Maravich, who played only 3 seasons, in career points.

But Antoine Davis was only 8 of 20 from the field, including 5 of 14 on three-pointers. And he had 8 turnovers, including 6 in the first half, to go with 3 assists.

"Davis is a special scorer," Konkol said. "He's going to go down in history as one of the best. But for him to take 20 shots and score 23 points is a pretty good ratio."

Amazingly, the Titans won despite dishing out only 5 assists.

Besides losing the offensive rebounding battle 18-13 and overall rebounding 41-39, free throws were the biggest issue in the game. Detroit Mercy was 19 of 26 (73.1 percent) from the line, while Tulsa was only 6 of 12.

The Golden Hurricane couldn't get into the bonus in the second half, while the Titans were in the double bonus in the final half.

Mike Davis improved his Reynolds Center record to 3-2, having faced Tulsa 4 times in Tulsa while coaching UAB. He is 5-4 overall against TU. Yes, that Mike Davis who coached Indiana to the NCAA Championship game in 2002.

As was the case in Tulsa's home loss to ORU last Saturday when Tulsa had to face the great Max Abmas, guarding prolific scorers has not gone well this season.

In comparative scores this season, Detroit Mercy beat Charlotte at home 70-49 on Nov. 23, while Tulsa lost to Charlotte 68-65 five days earlier in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Tulsa next plays Central Michigan (4-5) Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Reynolds Center.