GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Green Bay men's basketball head coach Linc Darner has announced the team's schedule for the upcoming 2017-18 season, which features 16 home games and a host of challenging road contests. The Phoenix will open the regular season on Nov. 14 at Northern Illinois and will begin Horizon League play at home on Dec. 28 with Detroit Mercy visiting the Resch Center.

For the first time in program history, Green Bay will host a Horizon League contest at the Kress Center on campus. The Phoenix will host UIC on Friday, Feb. 16, for an 8 p.m. tip with the game to be televised nationally on the ESPN Family of Networks. Working in conjunction with the Green Bay Alumni Association, "Krash the Kress" will serve as the Phoenix's final home game of the 2017-18 season. More information on the game and event, including promotions, activities and game details will be released at a later date.

NONCONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
The unofficial start to the season begins on Monday, Oct. 30, with the Phoenix hosting Ripon its only exhibition game of the year at the Resch Center. The Redhawks also visited Green Bay in exhibition play to start the 2014-15 season, and is coming off a strong 20-win season that saw the team make an appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The 49th season of Green Bay men's basketball officially starts on Tuesday, Nov. 14, when the Phoenix visits Northern Illinois. GB has enjoyed historic dominance over the Huskies, with the two teams competing together in the Horizon League from 1994-97, owning a 24-5 all-time record. This marks only the second time in eight years that Green Bay will open the season on the road.

The Phoenix will then take part in the 2017 Hoops in the Heartland benefitting Men Against Breast Cancer, playing three home games and one road game. The team will host Lakeland College on Friday, Nov. 17, its first official home game of the year, before traveling to Mississippi State on Monday, Nov. 20. Green Bay then returns home for a pair of games against two teams from the Sunshine State in Florida A&M (Friday, Nov. 24) and Stetson (Monday, Nov. 27).

After the two teams failed to play last year due to inclement weather, Green Bay will travel to Nashville to take on defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Belmont. The Bruins are coming off a strong 23-7 season, where it made the NIT and advanced to the Second Round. Belmont went 12-1 at home a year ago, with its lone defeat coming at the hands of recent mid-major power Middle Tennessee.

A home date with another former Horizon League school, Eastern Illinois, has Green Bay return home on Wednesday, Dec. 6. A challenging visit to SEC-foe Missouri is set for Saturday, Dec. 9, in Columbia, Mo. The Tigers will most likely earn a preseason Top-25 ranking, boasting a top-5 recruiting class for 2017 after landing the No. 1 player in the country and two other top 50 prospects. Missouri is led by Coach Darner's former teammate at Purdue, Cuonzo Martin, who is entering his first season as head coach in Columbia.

Indiana State is the next stop for the Phoenix on Tuesday, Dec. 12, during the nonconference season. It will mark only the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools, with Green Bay winning two of those three. A home date with Rockford University comes on Monday, Dec. 18, and another home contest against MAC-member Bowling Green is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 21. The Phoenix defeated BG last season as part of the Bill Frack Tournament in Ohio, and went 2-1 in its three games in Bowling Green.

The final nonconference game of the season will come on Saturday, Dec. 23 when Green Bay makes its trip to Madison to take on Wisconsin. Despite having never won at the Kohl Center or in Madison, the Phoenix has played two competitive games there of late under Darner, falling 73-59 last year and 84-79 in 2014-15. The two teams have met in every season dating back to 1999 and for the fourth-straight year, Green Bay will visit the Badgers.

HORIZON LEAGUE SLATE
Green Bay will be put the test to open league action, playing seven games in the first 15 days of the Horizon League schedule. The Phoenix will open at home with Detroit Mercy (Dec. 28) and Oakland (Dec. 30) before the New Year, and will host the league's newest member in IUPUI on Jan. 2.

The tough opening stretch continues on Jan. 4 and Jan. 6 when Green Bay travels to Cleveland State and Youngstown State, respectively. The sixth and seventh game in 15 days concludes with trips to UIC (Jan. 10) and IUPUI (Jan. 12). This means the Phoenix will play the Jaguars twice in a span of five games.

A five-game homestand follows the grueling open to the conference season, beginning with league-rival Milwaukee on Monday, Jan. 15. Wright State (Jan. 18) and defending tournament champion Northern Kentucky (Jan. 20) visit the Resch Center for the weekend. The following week has Cleveland State (Jan. 25) and Youngstown State (Jan. 27) visit Titletown.

The YSU game on that Saturday will serve as the program's annual Black Out Cancer Game, Varsity GB and Green Bay Athletics Hall of Fame Weekend, and will also represent the final home game at the Resch Center for the season. The NKU game on Jan. 20 will be Alumni Day at the Resch Center.

The Phoenix will finish the regular season with five of its six games coming on the road, starting with a Friday trip to Milwaukee (Feb. 2). The following week, Green Bay will travel to Wright State (Feb. 8) and Northern Kentucky (Feb. 10), before returning home for Crash the Kress and Senior Day against UIC on Feb. 16.

The final week of the season will include a trip to the Motor City to take on Oakland (Feb. 22) and Detroit Mercy (Feb. 24). A week later, Green Bay will return to Detroit for Motor City Madness, which is scheduled for March 2-6 at the brand new Little Caesars' Arena.

For a printable schedule in PDF format, click here.

To view the complete Horizon League release, click here. 

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Fans can purchase season tickets for the 2017-18 season now, which includes 16 total home games. Tickets can be ordered by calling the Green Bay Ticket Office at 920-465-2625 or by visiting the box office at the Kress Events Center. For more information on men's basketball season tickets, click here.

Individual game tickets will go on sale Monday, October 2.

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