“Pistol” Pete Maravich.
Simply Antoine Davis.
Two players from two distinct generations.
They two played in vastly different college basketball eras. Maravich, an old-school run-and-gunner from LSU, didn’t benefit from a 3-point line or shot clock. Davis, a step-back trey artist from Detroit Mercy, elevated his game to match the modern trends.
As different as they were, they shared certain styles.
They liked to shoot. And score.
Meet us in Youngstown for the Quarterfinals as @DetroitMBB takes on No. 1 YSU! Antoine Davis enters the game just 25 points away from tying Pistol Pete Maravich. #GoTitans #HLMBB
🎟➡️ https://t.co/UPSwMDt3fg pic.twitter.com/pyzzKFC65w
— Detroit Mercy Titans (@detroittitans) March 1, 2023
Antoine Davis Chasing Pete Maravich’s NCAA Scoring Mark
Thanks to a years-long practice shooting philosophy, Davis has an opportunity to pass Maravich as the NCAA men’s basketball scoring leader. Maravich, who competed at the varsity level from 1967-70, finished his career with 3,667 points.
Davis, who leads the No. 11-seeded Titans into a Horizon League quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Youngstown State on Thursday, needs 26 points to pass Pistol Pete.
The two-time Horizon League player of the year, Davis scored 38 points, leading the Titans to an 81-68 upset victory over sixth-seeded Purdue-Fort Wayne in a first-round matchup Tuesday. The win put Davis in a position to make history. In nine career outings against the Penguins, Davis averaged 24.7 points.
Davis, who entered Wednesday leading the nation in scoring (28.4 points per game), notched at least 26 points in 75 of 143 career games. Four of those performances came against the Penguins.
Is Davis focused solely on the scoring record? Consider, he finished the first-round win with eight assists and eight rebounds.
“I can’t say that it’s not on my mind,” Davis said told NOLA.com. “My phone and Twitter feed are always blowing up about it.
“I don’t feel the pressure because I’m trying not to take anything but good shots. I’m really just trying to have fun and keep our season going as long as we can.”
More chances to shoot. And score.
Detroit Mercy retired Antoine Davis' number — while he’s still an active player!
The Titans standout is the NCAA’s second all-time leading scorer. pic.twitter.com/AEy2sahcAY
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) February 26, 2023
Davis Learned From Maravich’s Shooting Video
Whether he secures the all-time scoring mark or not, Davis is already immortalized by Detroit Mercy. His “0” was retired during a ceremony at Calihan Hall last Saturday. He’s already a local legend. Davis, under his father’s tutelage, was known to take 15,000 jump shots a week when he was a junior in high school.
“We were trying to get that shot together,” Detroit Mercy coach Mike Davis told Forbes.
At 6-foot-1, Davis obviously got it together. He benefitted from a fifth season because of COVID-19 restrictions. Unlike Davis, Maravich could not dress for the varsity team until he was a sophomore. At that time, freshmen players were ineligible.
Like Maravich, who played for his father, Press, at LSU, Davis competes for his father, the former Indiana coach. The elder Davis coached up his son by utilizing a Maravich tutorial video to teach his son the game’s proper fundamentals.
Davis focused on how to shoot. And score.
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