Pete Maravich's NCAA Scoring Record Lives! Antoine Davis Finishes 4 Points Shy, And Then There Was A Fight

Pete Maravich lives! Or his record still does.

Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis scored 22 points Wednesday night to finish his five-year college career with 3,664 points.

Maravich of LSU scored 3,667 in three seasons from 1967-70. His record stands.

No. 8 seed Detroit Mercy lost to No. 1 seed Youngstown State, 71-66, in front of a raucous 5,584 at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio, in the Horizon League Tournament to fall to 14-19 on the season. Even the College Basketball Invitational usually takes teams with winning records, so it is doubtful that Detroit Mercy has another game to play this season so Davis can score four more points to break the record.

Antoine Davis Hurt His Shoulder Late In Game

Davis injured his shoulder with 8:02 to play in the game when he fell into some bleachers. He had 17 points at the time and did not leave the game. However, he missed most of his remaining shots, other than a three-pointer and two free throws.

Adrian Nelson scored 20 to lead Youngstown State (24-8), which advances to the Horizon League Tournament semifinals in Indianapolis. The Penguins will play Northern Kentucky (20-12) at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPNU. Dwayne Cohill added 17 for Youngstown State, which went to 3-0 versus Detroit Mercy. It held Davis to 15 in a previous game. He came in averaging 28 points a game.

Youngstown's 24 wins are the most since the Penguins won 24 in 1964. The 5,584 was the largest crowd at Beeghly since 2013.

Detroit Mercy led for most of the game but fell apart late as Davis struggled with his injured shoulder. Davis missed three-pointers with 38 seconds to play and with 28 seconds to go, with Youngstown State up 68-64. He hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to cut the Penguins' lead to 69-66. But Detroit Mercy got no closer.

Davis finished with 22 points on 7-of-26 shooting and missed 12 of 16 from 3-point range.

Antoine Davis Involved In Postgame Fight

Youngstown State's Cohill and Davis got into a shoving match during the handshakes after the game. Then other players started skirmishing before coaches tried to separate everyone. Police rushed the floor and kept back Davis, who was trying to fight several players. Fans from the Youngstown State student section also threw objects at the Detroit Mercy players. Davis had been talking trash for most of the game.

Davis struggled in the first half as he finished with just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field, including 1 of 4 from three-point range. The Titans led at the half, though, by 33-29.

Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis is in his fifth season after gaining an extra year due to the COVID-19 waiver that cut many athletes' seasons when all college sports stopped in March of 2020. (Photo by Frank Jansky/ Getty Images)

PETE MARAVICH'S SCORING RECORD WAS CONSIDERED UNATTAINABLE

Davis, 24, may have played 144 games over five seasons to 83 in three seasons by Maravich's 83 games in three seasons (1967-70), but he was extremely consistent throughout his career:

2018-19 - 26.1 points average in 30 games for 784 points

2019-20 - 24.3 in 30 games for 729 points.

2020-21 - 24.0 in 22 games for 527 points. (COVID-19 Shortened Season)

2021-22 - 23.9 in 29 games for 694 points.

2022-23 - 28.1 in 33 gamers for 930 points. (COVID-19 Extra Year Waiver)

Pistol Pete Maravich averaged 43 or more points a game for all of his three varsity seasons at LSU from 1967-70. (Photo by Rich Clarkson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Maravich, who finished his LSU career at age 22, died in 1988 at age 40 of a heart attack following a spectacular NBA career. He was later named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players. His year-by-year averages at LSU were as follows:

1967-68 - 43.8 in 26 games for 1,138 points.

1968-69 - 44.2 in 26 games for 1,148 points.

1969-70 - 44.5 in 31 games for 1,381 points.

Antoine Davis Previously Set Career 3-Pointers NCAA Record

Davis took full advantage during his career of the three-point shot, which was not available for Maravich. It was not put in the college game until the 1986-87 season. Davis is the NCAA career record holder in three-pointers made with 588. He set that record with his 510th on January 17 in a win over Robert Morris, breaking the mark of 509 set by Wofford's Fletcher Magee from 2015-19.

Davis inched close to the record by scoring 38 on Tuesday night in a home win over Purdue Fort Wayne.

He finished oh so close to history.