Detroit Mercy vs Wright State Basketball Prediction & Picks: Will Davis dazzle against the Raiders?

On a light night for college basketball, the most prominent nationally televised matchup features scoring sensation Antoine Davis, who will look to lead Detroit Mercy (6-9, 2-2 Horizon League) to a win at Wright State (8-7, 1-3 Horizon League).

Tonight’s game between the Titans and Raiders is set for a 7:00 pm tip, and it will be televised on ESPN2.

Wright State, who won the Horizon League tournament last season, isn’t off to a fantastic start this season after losing stars Tanner Holden (Ohio State) and Grant Basile (Virginia Tech) to power conference transfer opportunities.

But they picked up their first conference win last time out against IUPUI, and they will be aiming to have a .500 record in league play after back-to-back home games against Detroit and Oakland.

The Titans appear to be headed a fourth losing season in five seasons under Mike Davis, but this is a rare opportunity to see one of the top scorers in college basketball history on display for a national audience.

Read on for our Detroit Mercy vs Wright State basketball prediction, as well as our picks for tonight’s matchup between the Titans and Raiders.

Detroit Mercy vs Wright State Odds

Odds are via BetOnline as of Friday, January 6, 2023, at 1:27 pm ET. This article may also include odds from our other recommended legal sports betting sites.

Spread

• Detroit Mercy +4.5 (-110)
• Wright State -4.5 (-110)

Over/Under

• Over 154.5 (-110)
• Under 154.5 (-110)

Moneyline

• Detroit Mercy +168
• Wright State -205

Wright State Well Equipped to Negate Detroit’s Super Scorer

Antoine Davis enters tonight with 3,103 career points, which is seventh on the NCAA Division I all-time scoring charts.

With 48 more points, Davis will pass former Creighton star Doug McDermott for sixth, and if he stays healthy, he will finish his career trailing only “Pistol Pete” Maravich, whose record of 3,667 points is almost certainly out of reach.

Last time out, he had 31 points in an 84-81 loss at Milwaukee, his third 30-point effort of the season.

All three have come in his last five games, and all three have come in losses. Despite having Davis–who is shooting a career-best 39.4% from three–and Alabama State transfer Gerald Liddell, who is averaging 16.8 PPG and 12.8 RPG, the odds are not in Detroit’s favor for success tonight or this season.

Holden and Basile may have departed for greener pastures, but that has paved the way for senior guard Trey Calvin (18.4 PPG, 4.5 APG) to take his game to another level.

Calvin ranks 29th in the country in field-goal attempts per game (15.0), but he is one of just eight players to rank in the top 50 in the country in that stat category while shooting 50 percent or better from the field.

Calvin has gone off in his last three games, all of which were on the road.

Last Three Games for Trey Calvin

• Miami (Ohio): 27 points (10 of 13 FG, 2 of 3 3PT, 5 of 6 FT), seven assists
• Northern Kentucky: 31 points (10 of 17 FG, 4 of 7 3PT, 7 of 7 FT)
• IUPUI: 21 points (9 of 15 FG, 3 of 6 3PT, 0 of 1 FT)

No one else is averaging more than 11.9 PPG for Wright State–that would be third-year freshman Brandon Noel (11.9 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 60.0% FG), who missed the previous two seasons with a torn ACL before finally making his debut this season–but they have six players averaging at least 7.3 PPG.

Wright State, who ranks 31st at KenPom in adjusted tempo, is also part of a pretty select club nationally. Only four teams are currently shooting 50% or better from the field while ranking in the top 50 in the country in field-goal attempts per game: Wright State, James Madison, Missouri, and Gonzaga.

If you expand that to the 111 teams that went into today averaging 60 or more field-goal attempts per game, only six are also shooting 50% or better: that aforementioned quartet, along with Furman and Xavier.

Detroit Mercy vs Wright State Prediction and Picks

Detroit vs Wright State Prediction: Wright State to win

Detroit vs Wright State Picks: Detroit/Wright State over 154.5 (Best Value: BetOnline & BetMGM) & Detroit/Wright State first half over 73 (Best Value: Bovada Sportsbook)

Davis should have another big game, but as has been the case with many of his big games, it will go for naught.

The Titans have scored 75+ points in seven of eight games with Liddell after managing 75+ in only three of the seven games he missed to open the season.

But wins have still been hard to come by, as they have just as many wins with him as they do without him (three).

Wright State had a rough patch in the first half of December, when they lost four straight games. But since then, they have won three of four, losing only at Northern Kentucky, who is currently first in the Horizon League with a 4-0 record.

Detroit may have one of the nation’s supreme scorers, but Wright State is the superior team, and that will show tonight in what should be a high-scoring game.