What is Pete Maravich’s NCAA scoring record and how close is Antoine Davis to breaking it?

The old saying goes that records are meant to be broken, and Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis is close to making it a reality. He's threatening to overtake Pete Maravich as the NCAA's career scoring king as the college basketball season wraps up.

Maravich set the scoring record in 1970 by tallying 3,667 points at LSU. "Pistol Pete" was a two-time national college player of the year and a consensus All-American in each of his three seasons. Throughout his career, he averaged 44.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Antoine Davis needs just 26 more points to secure the record. This is his fifth season playing in the Horizon League, and he holds career averages of 25.5 ppg, 4.1 apg and 3.2 rpg.

What are Antoine Davis' chances of breaking Pete Maravich's NCAA scoring record?

Davis is coming off a 38-point eruption against Purdue-Fort Wayne which puts him within striking distance of the record. The victory on Tuesday also advanced Detroit Mercy to the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament, keeping the season alive to give him a chance to break the record against top-seeded Youngstown State on Thursday.

This season, Davis is averaging 28.1 ppg, leading the country. This also puts him on pace to break Maravich's record if he can produce his average scoring outburst against Youngstown.

Detroit Mercy and Youngstown State have faced off twice this season with Davis' squad unable to get a victory in either matchup. The Alabama native scored 32 points in the game on Jan. 12, but scored just 15 points in a Jan. 29 road loss.

The quarterfinal is at 8 p.m. Thursday.

It should also be noted just how impressive Maravich's record is as he secured 3,667 points in just 83 games. This also came at a time when he had to sit out his first year due to freshmen being ineligible for varsity competition and with no 3-point line in the game.

In contrast, Davis will be suiting up for his 144th game as he looks to break the record. The standout guard was granted an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is an impressive feat nonetheless, and Antoine Davis should already be cemented as one of the greatest scorers in basketball history. He has already set the NCAA's 3-point record with 578, and Thursday will decide if he can further immortalize his name on another record.