GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Life away from home has certainly not been easy for Green Bay (7-12, 3-6 HL) in 2011-12, but the Phoenix hopes that the friendly confines of the Resch Center will be just what it needs as the team begins a three-game homestand Thursday at 7:05 p.m. against Valparaiso (14-7, 7-2 HL). Green Bay is 7-1 this season on its home floor entering the tilt against the Crusaders, who are tied atop the league standings at 7-2.

Green Bay Athletics will be honoring a number of student-athletics Thursday as part of Academic Achievement Night. The game will be the first of three at the Resch Center, a homestand which continues Saturday at 6 p.m. against Butler on Throwback Night and concludes next Saturday when Green Bay hosts Milwaukee at 1 p.m. for the Black Out Cancer Game.

Green Bay opens the homestand after a frustrating weekend which included losses at Cleveland State (78-68) and Youngstown State (77-47). Sunday's setback at YSU did come with the emergence of a couple of frontline players as junior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) had nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds and freshman Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.) had three dunks as part of an eight-point effort.

Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.), averaging 14 points per game at the Resch Center this season, is on the verge of Phoenix history as the 7-foot-1 sophomore needs just three blocks to break Green Bay's all-time blocks record of 132, set by Terry Evans (2005-09). He needs only five blocks to also break his own single-season blocks record of 67 that he set as a freshman. In his last home outing, Brown swatted 11 shots to break the program and Horizon League single-game marks.

Valpo is one of the hottest teams in the Horizon League after winning six of its last seven games, a stretch which began with a 90-87 home win over Green Bay on Dec. 31. The Crusaders sport the top offense in league play, averaging 69.7 points per game.

Thursday's contest will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Sports32, with Chris Roth serving as the play-by-play announcer and Phoenix Hall of Famer Jeff Nordgaard handling the color analyst duties.

• INSIDE THE SERIES: Green Bay leads the all-time series with the Crusaders 25-16, including a 14-4 mark in Green Bay. The Phoenix won a thriller against Valpo at the Resch Center last season, posting an 81-80 overtime victory. In the first meeting this season, on Dec. 31, Green Bay rallied from a large deficit before falling 90-87 on the road.

• THE FIRST MEETING: Despite falling to the Crusaders, Green Bay posted one of its top offensive outbursts of the season in the first meeting between the two teams. The Phoenix set season highs for field goal percentage (59.4), three-pointers made (12) and assists (20). The team also put five players in double figures.

• BROWN VERSUS VALPO: Including a 21-point, 11-rebound effort against the Crusaders this season, Brown has dominated Valpo in his Phoenix career. In three career contests against the Crusaders, Brown is averaging 19.3 points and 10 rebounds while helping Green Bay to a 2-1 mark.  He had 22 points and 12 rebounds in the contest at the Resch Center last year.

• MATCHUP TO WATCH: Brown will not be the lone all-conference caliber big man on the court on Thursday night. Valparaiso's Kevin Van Wijk has emerged this season as not only a potential all-conference player but also a potential player of the year candidate. The 6-foot-8 juniot leads the Horizon League in scoring at 16 points per game and also leads the conference in field goal percentage (62.7%, 111-177).

• STANDING TALL ABOVE THE REST: Brown has been blocking shots at an impressive 3.9 blocks per game clip in Horizon League play and ranks seventh nationally in blocks per game this season (3.3). The 7-foot-1 center is on pace to break both the single-season and career blocks this weekend. Brown needs just three blocks to surpass Terry Evans' school record of 132 career blocks and just five blocks to better the single-season record of 67 that Brown set as a freshman in 2010-11.

• CAN I SEE SOME ID?: Freshman point guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.), who played his first game as an 18-year old on Dec. 31 at Valpo, has been on a tear since scoring 17 points that afternoon against the Crusaders. The Chicago native is averaging a team-high 14 points and shooting 52.5 percent from the field in the six games since turning 18 on Dec. 30.

• HALF CENTURY: Last Friday's game at CSU was Brown's 50th career game and his 50th career start. In his 51-game Green Bay career, Brown has compiled 578 points and 325 rebounds to go with the 130 blocks.

###

Season tickets, Pick 5 packages and single-game tickets for both programs are currently on sale with the Green Bay ticket office. For more information on ticket packages and promotions, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com/tickets.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.

Follow us on Twitter: @GBPhoenix, @GBPhoenixMBB and @GBGavin.