Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis missed four points to set the NCAA men’s basketball career record Thursday night as the Titans lost in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals to the head of Youngstown State series.
Going into the game, Davis needed 26 points to pass LSU star Pete Maravich, who set the record in 1970.
Davis scored 22 in the 71-66 loss, missing his last seven shot attempts, and finished 7 of 26 from the field and 4 of 16 from 3. The Titans had no field goal in the final 4:19 of the game to finish their season at 14-19, ending any hope of being invited to a post-season tournament.
Davis’ 3-pointer with 4:19 left gave the Titans a 63-60 lead, but Youngstown made a final 11-3 run to close it out.
The record is still held by Maravich, who scored 3,667 points in three seasons at LSU, averaging 44.2 points per game over his career.
The nation’s leading scorer with 28.4 points per game, Davis scored 30 or more points 14 times this season, ranking first in the NCAA in seven different offensive categories.
Who is Anthony Davis?
Davis is a 6-foot-1, 160-pound, fifth-year senior from Birmingham, Alabama. His father, Detroit Mercy coach Mike Davis, spent six seasons at Alabama-Birmingham before being fired and landing at Texas Southern in 2012.
Antoine Davis was home-schooled in Houston and, under the tutelage of former NBA player John Lucas, was on the University of Houston’s radar before Mike Davis took over Mercy’s job ahead of the 2018 season.
At 24, Davis is older than most of his contemporaries, and he took advantage of an extra year due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 to edge closer to the record.
Davis made an immediate impact upon arriving at Mercy, scoring 32 points in his college opener. He continued to tear up the nets, as he scored in double digits in each of his 144 collegiate games, setting NCAA records for total and consecutive games scoring 10 or more points. Davis is also the career-high 3-point holder with 588.
Davis was four 3-pointers away from breaking the NCAA record for 3-point field goals in a season set by Davidson’s Stephen Curry in 2008.
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Who was Pete Maravich?
Like Davis, Maravich played for his father, Press, at LSU. Maravich didn’t have the luxury of a 3-point line (implemented in 1986-87) or a stopwatch, which didn’t start in college basketball until 1985, but he still established seasonal averages that will probably never be approached again. .
In his three seasons beginning in 1968 (freshmen were ineligible to participate in games until 1972), Maravich averaged 44.2 points per game, shooting an average of 38 times per game . While Davis took 144 games to set the record, Maravich played in 83 collegiate games.
After leaving LSU, Maravich was drafted third overall in the 1970 draft by the Atlanta Hawks. He was a five-time NBA All-Star, twice made the All-NBA First Team, and averaged 24.2 points in his career. Maravich was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1987 and is a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. Maravich died in 1988 at the age of 40.
Who are the NCAA’s top career scorers?
1. Pete Maravich, LSU, 3,667 (1968-70)
2. Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy, 3,664 (2018-23)
3. Freeman Williams, Portland, 3,249 (1974-78)
4. Chris Clemons, Campbell, 3,225 (2015-19)
5. Lionel Simmons, La Salle, 3,217 (1986-90)
6. Alphonso Ford, Mississippi Valley State, 3,165 (1989-93)
7. Doug McDermott, Creighton, 3,150 (2010-14)
8. Mike Daum, South Dakota State, 3,067 (2015-19)
9. Harry Kelly, South Texas, 3,066 (1979-83)
10. Keydren Clark, St. Pierre, 3,058 (2002-06)
What is the future of Antoine Davis?
Although Davis has lit up the world of college basketball, his prospects for professional basketball aren’t as secure. Davis rarely appeared in most fictional NBA drafts, which are a measure of where prospects might be drafted. But Davis says he can succeed at the next level because he can just put the ball in the basket.
“I’m also a great teammate,” Davis told USA TODAY Sports. “I feel like I’ve heard that before, not just from my dad, but also from other people. They’ll have a great shot-stopper, and in my opinion, a goalscorer, and just someone who listens and knows the game.
“Most importantly, I’m someone with a chip on my shoulder.”