GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay men's basketball team heads to Chicago for a pair of contests this week, beginning Thursday night at 7 p.m. with a Horizon League contest at UIC. The Phoenix will be aiming to improve its overall and league record above .500 and stay in position for a high seed in a tight Horizon League race.

The Phoenix defeated the Flames by 24 points less than a month ago at the Resch Center. In that contest, Green Bay built a 20-point halftime lead and had 36 combined points from its seniors, Rahmon Fletcher (20 points) and Bryquis Perine (16 points). The Phoenix did an impressive job guarding Robo Kreps, who went just 1-for-9 from the field and scored just four points.

In the team's last outing, Green Bay fell at Milwaukee 88-75. In his return to his hometown, Perine scored 22 points and fellow Milwaukee native Jarvis Williams added 14 points and seven rebounds.

UIC enters Thursday's contest having dropped three-straight games, including a 72-65 loss at Butler on Monday night. Kreps scored 22 points in that contest to join Fletcher and three others as the active members of the Horizon League's 1,500-point club.

The two teams are the best offensive rebounding teams in the league. Green Bay won the rebounding battle in the first meeting, 39-37.

To access live stats for Thursday's game, click here. The game will also be carried in the Green Bay area on WDUZ The Fan. An internet stream of the broadcast with Matt Menzl handling the play-by-play duties and Andrew Gavin as the color analyst will also be available on thefan1075.com.

PHOENIX NOTES

• INSIDE THE SERIES: With 81 previous meetings against the Flames, Green Bay has met UIC on the basketball court more than any other school in program history. The Phoenix holds a 47-34 edge in the series and will be looking to even the record in games played in Chicago. The Flames hold a 19-18 edge on their home floor.
• THE LAST MEETING: Behind 31 combined points from Fletcher and Perine, Green Bay built a 42-22 halftime lead. The Phoenix rolled to a 74-50 victory in the game while holding UIC to just 39.2 percent from the floor. Fletcher finished with 20 points and Perine added 16 points. Freshman Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) posted a double-double, totaling 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• NOTHING FROM LONG RANGE: In the first meeting, Green Bay held UIC without a three-point field goal as the Flames went 0-for-12 from long range. It marked the first time since Feb. 20, 1999 at Butler that a Green Bay opponent failed to make a three-pointer.
• 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 is currently in seventh place on the scoring ledger. He has 1,574 career points and is one of five active Horizon League players with at least 1,500 career points, joining Butler's Matt Howard, Cleveland State's Norris Cole, Wright State's Vaughn Duggins and UIC's Robo Kreps.
• RECORD BREAKER: Brown continues to add to his single-season block record that he broke with six blocks against Wright State on Jan. 28. The freshman has 52 blocks this season, averaging 2.2 per game, and broke 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.
• HOMEBOUND: Head coach Brian Wardle is returning to the area where he grew up and played high school basketball. Wardle played his high school basketball at Hinsdale Central before continuing onto Marquette. Assistant coach Chrys Cornelius is also from the Chicago area while Green Bay has three players on its roster from the state of Illinois - Seth Evans (Seneca), Troy Snyder (Chicago) and Terry Johnson (Chicago).
• WHAT THE WIND'S BLOWIN' IN: Wardle has gone back to his roots in recruiting. In November, three Chicago area players signed to play at Green Bay, including Aaron Armstead (Hales Fransiscan), Greg Mays (Crete-Monee) and Kiefer Sykes (Marshall).

For more information on Green Bay tickets, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com/tickets or call the Green Bay ticket office at 920.465.2625.