GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- The Green Bay men's basketball team will play its final nonconference game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon, traveling south to Madison to face Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. The game will tip at 4:30 p.m. and can be watched on the Big Ten Network. 

CATCH THE ACTION at Wisconsin: Saturday, Dec. 23 - 4:30 PM CT  //  Madison, Wis. (Kohl Center)

Matchup: Green Bay Phoenix (5-7, 0-0 HL) at Wisconsin Badgers (5-7, 1-1 B10)

Game Notes: Green Bay Notes | Wisconsin Notes

Buy Tickets: Click Here

Where to Follow Stats: SIDEARM LIVE STATS

Where to Watch: TV - Big Ten Network  Online/Mobile: BTN2GO

Where to Listen: WNFL 101.9 FM, 1440 AM with Brian Kuklinski on the call

For Live in-game updates, follow: @gbphoenixmbb on Twitter and gbphoenixmbb on Instagram

GAME NOTES

RECENT RECAP
Green Bay fell 81-78 in OT to Bowling Green on Thursday night, being dealt just its second home loss of the season. It was the debut of local standout and Marquette-transfer Sandy Cohen III, who finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds I his first official GB game. BGSU scored 11 of the first 14 points in overtime and made 8-straight free throws to close it out. Khalil Small scored a team-high 19 points and finished a rebound shy of a double-double. GB led 53-45 with 9:03 left in the game, before missing its next 10 shots and going more than 6 minutes without a point. Cohen III made a free throw with 2:47 left in the game, after the Falcons went on a 12-0 run that saw them take a 57-53 lead.
 
SMALL IN LARGE
Senior Khalil Small continues to lead Green Bay in scoring this season, improving his season average to 16.2 PPG after scoring another 19 points on Thursday night against Bowling Green. Small has scored in double-figures in all 12 games this season and set a new career-high with 29 points in the team's win over Rockford. The Chicago native tied his career-high, which he set in the team's NCAA Tournament game in 2016, knocking down 5 3s in 26 minutes of action. Small ranks 6^th in the Horizon League in scoring. Small recorded double-figures in 17 games last year, well on pace to surpass that mark, along with passing the 1,000 career points threshold.
 
MADISON MATTERS
Green Bay has faced Wisconsin in every season dating back to 1999, but has never won in Madison in the 19 games played there. Over the last 7 meetings, Wisconsin has dominated the series, going 7-0 and winning by an average of 14.1 points per game. The closest Green Bay has come came on this exact same date (Dec. 23), two years ago, when the Phoenix erased a 30-point deficit to come within one possession late in the game. GB forced Wisconsin into 26 turnovers, a Kohl Center record, and put up 71 shots against the Badgers in the close-call 84-79 defeat.
 
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
GB leads the Horizon League in field goal percentage defense, holding its opponents to just 40.7 percent shooting. Beyond the arc, the Phoenix is even better, holding opponents to a low 27.0 percent shooting, which leads the HL and ranks 7^th in the NCAA. The NCAA leader is San Diego, which only allows 23.8 percent shooting from 3-point range this year.

THE PIPES IS RIGHT
Freshman PJ Pipes has now scored in double-figures in three-straight games, including a career-high 16 points against Rockford. Pipes also played a career-high 26 minutes in that game and had started in 8-straight games overall until the return of Sandy Cohen III. Pipes was however on the floor late in the game and in overtime, when it mattered most. The Lemont, Ill., native is second on the team in assists with 30, with one of those coming in alley-oop fashion to Cohen III in Thursday night's game.
 
USING YOUTH
With Sandy Cohen III officially on the active roster, the Phoenix has a combined 9 years of college basketball experience. That 9 years is spread out through its 12 active players, the least amount of experience in the Horizon League. Cohen III brings in 2 years of college basketball experience, while Small and Jesperson both own 3 years. Hankerson is the only other player on the roster to have a year of Division I basketball experience under his belt. Darner has deployed 8 newcomers this year, each of which own 0 years of D1 basketball experience. MOST NOTABLY, Green Bay is one of only 5 teams in the NCAA with 6 or more freshmen on the active roster.
 
CRIST-MAS
Freshman Hunter Crist has made the most of his minutes over his last four games, scoring in double-figures in three of those contests and racking up a career-high 16 points against Parkside. Crist scored 11 more points against Rockford, this after scoring 10 points on the road at Missouri. The Indiana native scored those 11 points against Rockford in only 14 minutes of action, after fouling out with over 11 minutes left in the game.

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