GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - With a stinging loss on Friday put behind them, Green
Bay will move forward and look to bounce back Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Resch
Center. The Phoenix aim to get back above .500 in Horizon League play, hosting a
Detroit team with an identical record of 11-11 overall and 5-5 in Horizon
League play.
Green Bay has been playing
solid basketball of late, with a 5-3 record after the turn of the calendar
year. However, a good effort on Friday night was wasted when Wright State
scored the final eight points of the game to turn a six-point deficit into a
63-61 win and end Green Bay's five-game home winning streak.
The Phoenix shot 50
percent from the field Friday and got an impressive 12-point, nine-rebound and
six-block performance from freshman Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.), but the hosts were undone by 17 turnovers and a
Raider game-winning shot with 4.3 seconds left. Brown's six blocks helped him
break the program's single-season blocks record.
Detroit had a similar game
on Friday, watching an eight-point second-half lead evaporate at Milwaukee in a
72-67 defeat. Like Brown, the Titans' standout freshman Ray McCallum had a
strong game, scoring 16 points and dishing out six assists for his father's
Detroit team.
PHOENIX NOTES
-
INSIDE THE SERIES: Sunday's game will be the 41st meeting in the series
between Green Bay and Detroit. The Titans lead the close series 21-19,
including a 79-56 victory at Calihan Hall in Detroit on Dec. 30, 2010. The
Phoenix holds a 11-7 edge in 18 meetings in Green Bay.
- THE LAST MEETING: The
Phoenix trailed Detroit just 56-48 with 10 minutes to play on Dec. 30. However,
Green Bay struggled offensively down the stretch, hitting just 3-of-13 shots
from the field and committing five turnovers. Rahmon Fletcher (Kansas City, Mo.) and Jarvis Williams (Milwaukee,
Wis.) had 15 points each against the Titans, who were led by Chase Simon and McCallum,
who had 17 points apiece.
- TOP-10 OF ALL-TIME: Fletcher
continues to work his way up the Green Bay scoring chart. On pace to finish his
career in fifth place all-time, Fletcher passed Tom Anderson (1975-78) and went
over 1,500 points with his 18-point effort at Butler last Friday. He now has
1,534 career points and is the fourth active Horizon League player with 1,500
career points, joining Butler's Matt Howard, Cleveland State's Norris Cole and
Wright State's Vaughn Duggins.
- RECORD BREAKER: Brown totaled
six blocks Fridayto break the single-season block record at Green Bay. The
freshman has 50 blocks this season, averaging 2.3 per game, and browe the
record previously shared by Larry Hill (1991-92) and Terry Evans (2006-07). The
7-foot-1 freshman also holds the school records for block in a game, blocks in
a game at the Resch Center and blocks in a season by a freshman.
- DEFENSE, DEFENSE: Beginning
with its contest at Wright State, the Green Bay defense has been solid in 2011.
Green Bay has held six of its eight opponents this calendar year to below 40
percent shooting and under 70 points. The Phoenix is now 11-3 when opponents
score under 70 points, 9-2 when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent
and 11-4 when its opponent shoots below 50 percent, with two of the losses in
each category coming against WSU.
- BOARDWORK: Sunday's meeting
will be a meeting between the Horizon League's top-two rebounding teams. With a
30-26 edge over Wright State, Green Bay has now outrebounded nine of its 10
Horizon League opponents, with an even 36-36 rebounding battle against Butler
being the only exception. The Phoenix has a plus-3.5 rebounding margin this
season, ranking second in the Horizon League behind Detroit. The team also has
a plus-4.5 rebounding margin in Horizon League play, ranking first ahead of
Detroit. In the first meeting between the two teams, Green Bay held a slight
32-21 edge over the Titans on the glass.
For more information on individual game tickets
or season tickets or Pick 5 packages, please visit
GreenBayPhoenix.com/tickets or call the Green Bay ticket office at
920.465.2625.
