Scouting the Starting 5 of MSU's Next Opponent, Detroit Mercy

No. 17 Michigan State is rolling after it crushed No. 12 Kentucky, 83-66, on Tuesday night during the Champions Classic. The Spartans are 4-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season and already hold two victories over AP top-25 opponents.

MSU's next task is Detroit Mercy. Two-time former Michigan State and Tom Izzo assistant Mark Montgomery is the head coach of the Titans, who are 1-4 this season.

The lone win is against Cleary, an NAIA school. Detroit Mercy has played one power-conference opponent, Notre Dame, and lost by 32 in South Bend, Ind., on Nov. 7.

Here is a breakdown of all five of the Titans' starters, going off the five they rolled out on Tuesday versus Eastern Michigan in a 72-62 loss.

G Orlando Lovejoy (Sr.)

Season Stats: 13.8 pts, 3.3 rebs, 4.0 asts, 1.5 stls | Shooting Splits: 42/0/94

Detroit Mercy's best player is senior guard Orlando Lovejoy. He averaged the most points, rebounds, and assists on the team a year ago after transferring in from EMU, averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 boards, and 3.8 assists.

His numbers have not been quite as high so far this year, but that is mostly because Lovejoy is playing about seven fewer minutes per game than last year so far. He's actually averaging 1.1 more points and 1.5 more assists per 40 minutes he's on the court than last year.

What's intriguing about the 6-foot-3 guard is that he is not much of a threat from deep. He's only attempted 44 three-pointers in 87 career games, making eight of them. His free-throw shooting is just fine, just a tick under 80% for his career.

G Tyler Spratt (R-Fr.)

Season Stats: 4.6 pts, 3.6 rebs, 1.0 asts, 0.8 stls | Shooting Splits: 22/16/50

Tyler Spratt is a Farmington, Mich. native who has forged himself an early role as a starter during his first season with the Titans. He redshirted last season at Cleveland State. Spratt is also the cousin of Kay Felder, who was a star player at Oakland and reached the NBA.

As his shooting splits suggest, Spratt has struggled to hit his shots so far this season. Just over half of his field goal attempts have been three-balls so far, but he's only gone 3-for-19 from deep. He's not the only Titan struggling out there; Detroit Mercy has shot only 23.7% from deep this year, the seventh-worst percentage in Division I.

G T.J. Nadeau (So.)

Season Stats: 12.4 pts, 3.4 rebs, 1.2 asts, 0.6 stls | Shooting Splits: 45/35/75

Another one of Detroit Mercy's best players is sophomore T.J. Nadeau. He started half of the Titans' contests last year, but has started all five so far this season and leads his team in minutes played so far.

Nadeau also had a massive game against Notre Dame this season. The South Lyon, Mich. native scored a career-high 24 points with six rebounds. He also hit a career-high six threes in that game.

On the season, Nadeau has converted 12 three-pointers. Only one of his teammates, Lance Stone, has even half of that, and no one else has more than three.

G/F Ayden Carter (Jr.)

Season Stats: 12.4 pts, 5.4 rebs, 0.6 ast, 1.0 stl | Shooting Splits: 61/25/78

Ayden Carter is probably the most efficient scorer that Detroit Mercy has had so far this season. He scores 25.3 points per 40 minutes, the highest number on the team. His 60.5% mark from the field is also the highest on the team.

He also made his first D-I start on Tuesday against Eastern Michigan. Carter began his college career at Division II Walsh, where he averaged 19.0 points per game last season.

F Legend Geeter (R-Sr.)

Season Stats: 3.0 pts, 3.8 rebs, 1.3 asts, 0.5 blks | Shooting Splits: 31/0/44

Likely to play the five is 6-foot-8 forward Legend Geeter, who has started the Titans' last two games.

Geeter, a lot like Lovejoy, was once at Eastern Michigan and is now in his second season with Detroit Mercy. His career actually began at Providence, where he redshirted as a true freshman before transferring to Ypsilanti.

Defense has been Geeter's better side throughout his career, as he's had a better defensive box plus/minus than offensive BPM in all four years that he's played. He'll be at a height disadvantage at the five, though, since Michigan State usually runs 6-foot-11 Carson Cooper or 6-foot-10 Jaxon Kohler there.

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