GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- The Green Bay men's basketball team will hit the road for back-to-back games, starting with a tough trip to Columbia against Missouri on Saturday night. The game will be televised live on the SEC Network, with the action tipping off at 8 p.m. CT from Columbia. The Phoenix is coming off a dramatic comeback win over Eastern Illinois on Wednesday night, while the host Tigers are 7-2 and ranked No. 2 in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings.
CATCH THE ACTION: Saturday, Dec. 9 - 8:00 PM CT // Columbia, Mo. (Mizzou Arena)
Game Notes: Green Bay Notes | Missouri Notes
Matchup: Green Bay Phoenix (3-4, 0-0 HL) at Missouri Tigers (7-2, 0-0 SEC)
Opponent Preview: Missouri Tigers
Where to Follow Stats: StatBroadcast Live Stats
Where to Watch: TV -
SEC Network Online:
WatchESPN
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
RP40 NOTES
- Green Bay led for all of 18 seconds in the second half of Wednesday night's 59-57 victory over Eastern Illinois, with Sukhjot Bains scoring the final basket of the game after driving by his defender and finishing at the rim. Bains scored a career-high 10 points and the Phoenix defense held EIU to just 3 points over the final 6 minutes of the game. Khalil Small led all scorers with 20 points and GB scored 20 points off 15 Panthers' turnovers. GB only led for 1:00 total over the entire 40 minutes of play and trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half.
- Senior Khalil Small enjoyed his best shooting performance of the season in his last game, going 8-for-10 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range on his way to scoring a season-high 20 points. The 20 points scored by Small are the most he has scored in a game since his 22-point performance in the team's 2016 NCAA Tournament game against Texas A&M in Oklahoma City. Small has scored in double-figures in all seven games this season, and his 15.6 PPG leads the Phoenix and ranks 5th among Horizon League scorers. Small ranks second in the HL in free throw percentage at 92.1 percent, going 35-for-38 from the charity stripe this season. Small has now started in 67-straight games overall, the longest stretch of any player in the Horizon League.
- GB's 59-57 dramatic comeback victory over EIU served as junior Sukhjot Bains' coming-out party, with the Canadian scoring a career-high 10 points, including the game-winner with 17.5 seconds left in the game. Bains also hit the 3-pointer the possession prior, which tied the game at 57-57, after he recorded his career-high fourth steal of the game. The forward played a career-high 24 minutes, leading Coach Darner to add "this was the Sukhjot (Bains) that we recruited and expected."
- Head coach Linc Darner has now rolled with the same starting lineup for four-straight games, with Green Bay going 2-2 over that stretch. Kam Hankerson, Khalil Small, PJ Pipes, David Jesperson and Manny Patterson comprise that starting five. To start the second half in the team's last game against Eastern Illinois, Darner deployed Hankerson, Small, Patterson, TJ Parham and Sukhjot Bains, a move that proved beneficial with the Phoenix then overcoming a 13-point halftime deficit.
- The 18-point deficit Green Bay overcame in its last win over Eastern Illinois are the most points overcome in a victory since the team came back from 15 points down to beat Northern Kentucky in conference play on Jan. 10 of last season. GB's largest lead on Wednesday night was two points, which was also the winning margin.
- Even though Darner has built his reputation and success on an up-tempo, high-scoring style of play, the 16-year veteran has watched his 2017-18 team now win TWO games this year only scoring in the 50s. Darner entered this year having never won a game in the 50s, but now has two on his ledger, which speaks high volumes to the effort his team has given defensively. In fact, this year's team has not allowed a Division I team to score 60 points in two games already, something Green Bay has done only twice combined in the last two seasons.
- Green Bay head coach Linc Darner and Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin are former teammates, playing three years of college basketball together at Purdue, from 1991-1994. Together, the two combined to win 65 games. The duo made 2 NCAA Tournament appearances with the 1994 team making it all the way to the Elite Eight. Saturday's game will be the first time the two will face off as head coaches.
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