Antoine Davis

[Tom B.]

Antoine Davis is a 6'1" guard for Detroit Mercy, and he might be lining up to take a shot at one of the most storied records in sports -- Pete Maravich's NCAA men's Division I basketball career scoring record of 3,667 points.

Davis is currently sitting at 3,274 career points, 393 behind Maravich, and Detroit Mercy still has at least 11 games to play. A deep run in the Horizon Conference tournament could add games to that total. Detroit Mercy's record is currently just 8-13, so they'd likely need to win the conference tournament to go beyond that.

Assuming they play the minimum number of 11 remaining games, Davis would need to average 35.8 points per game to catch Maravich -- a tall order, but Davis has scored over 30 six times this season, and has topped 40 in two of Detroit Mercy's last three games.

Davis has already moved into the #2 spot on the career scoring list. If he keeps scoring at his current season average of 26.4 ppg, he'll finish with 3,564 career points, 103 points behind Maravich and 315 points clear of third place, held by Freeman Williams, who played for Portland State in the late 1970s. The closest modern-era player is Chris Clemons, who played for Campbell from 2015-2019, and sits in fourth place with 3,225 points.

To be sure, asterisks abound with Davis' record chase. He's currently playing his fifth season, thanks to the extra year of eligibility that athletes received due to the COVID-interrupted 2019-2020 season. And as we all know, Maravich set his record in just three seasons of play.

But it's still kind of fun to watch a guy chase one of the unthinkable records in all of sports.

[martydoesntfoul]

No three point line either.

[AGDukesky]

Maravich also averaged 38 FGA and 14 FTA which probably offsets some of the number of games played.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Maravich also averaged 38 FGA and 14 FTA which probably offsets some of the number of games played.

I seem to remember a few years ago that someone did a deep dive on "how many points would Pistol Pete have scored with a three point line." I don't recall the upshot, but yikes, what a project.

[kako]

I saw this. Of course, any comparison to Maravich favors Pistol Pete. But by comparing to Maravich, I think it does the guy a disservice. It's not Davis' fault he plays with a 3 point line and got an extra season due to COVID. He's getting a ton of buckets! It's quite amazing. I hope he passes Maravich. Records are made to be broken, and no one is going to think less of Maravich if he's second. In fact, all the benefits that Davis has had actually highlights how incredible Maravich's point total really is.

9F

[richmclean]

Apples to apples would only be appropriate.

Tough to compare eras. Pistol owned the SEC. Averaging in the 40s.

[CDu]

Davis had a clunker on Monday night, with 14 points on 3-16 shooting. That leaves him at 3288 points with 10+ games left.

So he will need to pick up the pace or get some help by Detroit making a longer postseason run.

380 points needed to break the record.

[kako]

Bumping the thread because Antoine Davis only needs 64 points to pass Maravich. Detroit Mercy will play Purdue-Fort Wayne tomorrow in the 1st round of the Horizon League tourney. They shouldn't play in any other post-season tourney as they have a losing record, so winning games in the Horizon tourney may determine if the record is broken.

Their game tomorrow overlaps with the Duke-State game, but it is on ESPN+.

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[CDu]

Bumping the thread because Antoine Davis only needs 64 points to pass Maravich. Detroit Mercy will play Purdue-Fort Wayne tomorrow in the 1st round of the Horizon League tourney. They shouldn't play in any other post-season tourney as they have a losing record, so winning games in the Horizon tourney may determine if the record is broken.

Their game tomorrow overlaps with the Duke-State game, but it is on ESPN+.

9F

Davis has been absolutely chucking it up over his last 8 games, averaging 34.0 ppg on 23.8 fga. If he continues at that pace, he'd need just 2 Horizon League games to reach the mark. Of course, averaging 34 ppg isn't exactly easy, and any one bad game now would likely do him in.

[kako]

Davis has been absolutely chucking it up over his last 8 games, averaging 34.0 ppg on 23.8 fga. If he continues at that pace, he'd need just 2 Horizon League games to reach the mark. Of course, averaging 34 ppg isn't exactly easy, and any one bad game now would likely do him in.

They have absolutely nothing to play for except get Davis points. But unless he absolutely catches fire and scores 64 tomorrow, they do need to win for him to have a shot. A win's not guaranteed at all, but just to be in a position to pass the mark is amazing.

This kind of reminds me of Bull Durham with Crash Davis breaking the minor league HR record. It's gotten so little press. Sure, Maravich's point total is "better", even if Davis passes it. But for the chase to get so little press is a bad look for ESPN and the other outlets.

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[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

They have absolutely nothing to play for except get Davis points. But unless he absolutely catches fire and scores 64 tomorrow, they do need to win for him to have a shot. A win's not guaranteed at all, but just to be in a position to pass the mark is amazing.

This kind of reminds me of Bull Durham with Crash Davis breaking the minor league HR record. It's gotten so little press. Sure, Maravich's point total is "better", even if Davis passes it. But for the chase to get so little press is a bad look for ESPN and the other outlets.

9F

Meh. Scoring those points in five years at Detroit Mercy in the era of the three point line is impressive. Maravich did it in three years with no three point line against the SEC with no shot clock.

The two records aren't even close to similar.

[cato]

Meh. Scoring those points in five years at Detroit Mercy in the era of the three point line is impressive. Maravich did it in three years with no three point line against the SEC with no shot clock.

The two records aren't even close to similar.

They aren’t. But then again, one reason Maravich’s record has held up is because of the early entry movements. Can you imagine how many points Kobe, KD, Kyrie, LBJ would have scored in three years of college ball?

[Edouble]

They aren’t. But then again, one reason Maravich’s record has held up is because of the early entry movements. Can you imagine how many points Kobe, KD, Kyrie, LBJ would have scored in three years of college ball?

KD averaged 26 ppg, Pistol averaged 44 ppg, and apparently 57 ppg with a 3 point line.

[AGDukesky]

KD averaged 26 ppg, Pistol averaged 44 ppg, and apparently 57 ppg with a 3 point line.

KD also only averaged 18 FGA and 7 FTA while only making 2.3 3-pointers/game

[cato]

KD averaged 26 ppg, Pistol averaged 44 ppg, and apparently 57 ppg with a 3 point line.

KD averaged 26 as a freshman, when Maravich was prevented from playing varsity. What would KD have averaged during his three years on varsity — all during the period when he was actually in the NBA? For reference, during his first three years in the league, KD scored 20, 25 and 30 ppg. A significantly older and more mature Maravich scored 23, 19 and 26.

I’m not saying KD would have beat the scoring record, but he could have. As could any one of a number of other people. Kobe and LBJ would have been completely unstoppable in the NCAA. The one time I met Grant Hill was at a documentary premier in LA and he excused himself early because he had to guard Kobe the next day. I thought it was a joke when he said that to the crowd, but he was dead serious. Only a handful of people in college could have even hoped to check Kobe.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

They aren’t. But then again, one reason Maravich’s record has held up is because of the early entry movements. Can you imagine how many points Kobe, KD, Kyrie, LBJ would have scored in three years of college ball?

I mean, we can imagine lots of things. But the reality is that Maravich's record is absolutely insane. It would be an astonishing stretch for the players you listed to beat his scoring record in a comparable number of games.

[cato]

I mean, we can imagine lots of things. But the reality is that Maravich's record is absolutely insane. It would be an astonishing stretch for the players you listed to beat his scoring record in a comparable number of games.

What do you think Kobe would have scored in the NCAAs playing for, say, Duke under Coach K? It is hard to imagine because Kobe was simply too good to play in the NCAA, but I ask you to imagine it all the same.

[CDu]

I mean, we can imagine lots of things. But the reality is that Maravich's record is absolutely insane. It would be an astonishing stretch for the players you listed to beat his scoring record in a comparable number of games.

Primarily because the era of basketball makes it so much harder to do it now. Defenses are MUCH better, and offenses take much better care of the ball. And as a result, teams take way fewer shots and are forced to distribute their shots with more balance.

Maravich took about half of his teams’ shots. That meant about 38 FGA and 14 FTA per game. He averaged 44 points per game. In today’s game, it would be virtually impossible for a player in a reasonable conference to take half his team’s shots. And even if he did, that would amount to about 7 fewer FGA and 6 fewer FTA per game than Maravich took simply due to differences in pace of play between the two eras.

That is not to say that Maravich wasn’t amazing. It is just that his stats are heavily inflated by virtue to era differences combined with the fact that he was being showcased playing for his dad on a team that had no bball history (so they were happy to have the show).

[ClemmonsDevil]

I mean, we can imagine lots of things. But the reality is that Maravich's record is absolutely insane. It would be an astonishing stretch for the players you listed to beat his scoring record in a comparable number of games.

Exactly. MJ played 3 years.

[kako]

Exactly. MJ played 3 years.

Well, you may know the old saying: the only guy who held MJ under 20 points a game was Dean Smith.

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