Pregame Preview: No. 10 Detroit Mercy vs No. 7 Northern Kentucky

David Wassler

03 Mar 2025 — 4 min read

Photo Provided by NKU Athletics

The Horizon League Tournament is here and Northern Kentucky will face off against Detroit Mercy in the first round at Truist Arena on March 4th at 7 pm. These two teams enter the game on opposite streaks. NKU has won four straight and seven of its last nine, while the Titans have lost seven in a row. Let's take a look at the Detroit Mercy scouting report and the key stats ahead of this matchup.

Scouting Report

#5 Orlando Lovejoy: Junior Guard 6'3"
Season Averages (35.0 MIN, 16.1 PPG, 4.7 REB, 3.8 AST, 1.8 STL)
The leading scorer for the Titans is averaged 17.5 points on just 38.9 field goal percentage in the first two games against NKU. The Norse have done a solid job defending Lovejoy this season, even though he has averaged nearly 18 points against them. On the season, he is shooting 44.8% from the field but just 4-for-17 from three-point range. He rarely takes three-pointers, and when he does, they are mostly wide-open looks the defense allows.

Lovejoy is at his best when handling the ball off a high ball screen. The right-hander prefers to drive left (66.9% of his drives), where he either pulls up for a mid-range jumper or takes it all the way to the rim. He is very much an old-school guard who is either getting to the rim or getting to the free throw line where he is 86.2% on the season.

#1 Mak Manciel: Senior Guard 6'4"
Season Averages (21.4 MIN, 10.9 PPG, 2.4 REB, 1.5 AST)
Manciel missed both of NKU’s previous matchups this year but has been playing near his season average over the past couple of weeks. He is coming off back-to-back 10-point games, hitting three three-pointers in each. On the season, he has shot just 20-for-47 (42.6%) from three, due to missing 20 games to an injury. Despite limited games on the year he is a very good defender and has allowed opponents to shoot just 28.6% against him.

#33 TJ Nadeau: Freshman Guard 6'5"
Season Averages (24.3 MIN, 8.8 PPG, 3.5 REB, 0.6 AST)
TJ is one of several young players contributing to this Titans team. He was part of the starting lineup against Purdue Fort Wayne on January 11th where head coach Mark Montgomery started 5 freshman; Gondrezick, Johnson, Kalambay, Nadeau and Mitchell. This was the first time in over 50 years that Detroit Mercy started five freshmen, a move necessitated by injuries that left just eight players available.

Nadeau is a solid three point shooter at 34.1%, but struggles from inside the arc at just 38.6%. He dropped 17 points on 5-9 from 3 in the previous matchup along with 7 rebounds.

#10 Nate Johnson: Freshman Guard 6'5"
Season Averages (29.7 MIN, 8.8 PPG, 4.6 REB, 1.1 AST)
Johnson has been playing some of his best basketball over the last six games, averaging nearly 13 points per contest. Johnson thrives in transition and when left open on the perimeter.

#6 Emmanuel Kuac: Graduate Student Guard/Forward 6'7"
Season Averages (20.9 MIN, 7.1 PPG, 4.0 REB, 0.9 AST)
Kuac played in the second matchup this year, scoring 10 points on a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line while adding five rebounds and two steals off the bench. Kuac has struggled offensively this season and is only a slightly better defender. He will get some minutes for the Titans based on the current roster they have available.

#30 Ryan Kalambay 6'9" and #23 Stephen Okoro 6'9" are both freshman forwards and play a very similar role for this Titans team. They both are good defenders off the bench for Detroit Mercy. Neither is averaging more than 4 points on the year, and are just used to defend and rebound.

INJURIES:

#8 Grant Gondrezick II has missed the last nine games due to personal reasons and he averages 8.4 PPG, 3.1 REB, 1.7 AST.
#4 Legend Geeter has missed the last two games due to an injury and averages 8.2 PPG, 4.2 REB, 1.4 AST.

Key Stats and Notes

Truist Arena Struggles: Detroit is 2-10 on the road all time in this matchup.
Been Here Before: This marks the fourth postseason meeting between these teams, with NKU winning the previous three (2019, 2021, and 2022).
Young Squad: Detroit averages less than a year of Division I experience as a team and relies on several freshmen for significant minutes.
Offensive Struggles: The Titans are last in the conference in league play for the following offensive stats: 2 point % (45.8), 3 point % (31.2), and steal % (11.1). They are also 354th in the country in points per possession at 0.827