Mercy's Davis falls short of NCAA career scoring mark
Antoine Davis outscored them all — except for “Pistol” Pete.
Detroit Mercy’s star guard finished four points shy of surpassing Pete Maravich as the NCAA career scoring leader on Thursday night, scoring 22 in a 71-66 loss to host Youngstown State in the Horizon League tournament.
Davis came in needing 26 points to break Maravich’s hallowed mark that stood for over 50 years. But after picking up his fourth foul with 3:36 left, the 6-foot-1 guard didn’t drive to the basket and then missed four 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the intense game.
Unless Detroit Mercy gets an unlikely postseason bid, Davis finishes with 3,664 points in five seasons. Maravich amassed 3,667 points in just three years while playing for his dad, Press, and he did it before there was a 3-point line or shot clock.
That doesn’t diminish what Davis accomplished as one of the most prolific scorers in college history.
Davis had just seven points at halftime as the top-seeded Penguins harassed him all over the floor and made it tough for him to get a good look at the basket.
He began to find his range in the second half.
The rail-thin graduate senior finished 7 of 26 from the field, including 4 of 16 on 3-pointers.
Davis scored 38 on Tuesday night in a win over Purdue Fort Wayne to advance the Titans (14-18) and close in on the mark that Maravich set as an All-American for LSU from 1967-70.
While disappointed with the loss and falling short of Maravich, Davis felt pride afterward.
“It’s really special,” he said. “Maybe in 20 or 25 years somebody is going to be doing the same thing that I did, chase that record, maybe even sooner than that.
“It’s just a special feeling. I don’t take any of this for granted at all. I’m thankful for this. Blessed. I still feel like I’m the best scorer of my generation. Nobody can take that from me.”
Jamal Shead scored a career-high 25 points, Marcus Sasser added 24 and the host Cougars (28-2, 16-1 AAC) beat the Shockers (15-14, 8-9).
Shead shot 10 of 17 from the field. Sasser tied the school career record for most 3-pointers set by Robert McKiver with 261.
Zach Edey had 17 points and 19 rebounds as the visiting Boilermakers damaged the Badgers’ NCAA Tournament hopes.
Purdue (25-5, 14-5) already had clinched the Big Ten regular-season title outright before the end of this game by virtue of Illinois’ 91-87 double-overtime victory over Michigan.
But there was still plenty at stake in this game as Purdue sought to make its case for a No. 1 seed and Wisconsin (16-13, 8-11), which got 19 points from Max Klesmit, attempted to boost its postseason credentials.
Nathan Davis is out as the men’s coach at Bucknell, ending an eightyear tenure.
The Bison went 12-20 this season, finishing with a 64-59 loss to American on Tuesday in the first round of the Patriot League tournament.
Davis, previously a Bucknell assistant for five seasons, went 129-115 as the Bison’s head coach.