DETROIT, Mich. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Looking to make some noise and beat the odds once again, the Green Bay men's basketball team will travel to Detroit as the No. 7 seed in the 2018 Little Caesars Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship at the new state of the art Little Caesars Arena.
Friday, March 2 - First Round (all times central)
4:30 p.m. - Game 3: (7) Green Bay def. (10) Detroit Mercy 93-81 | RECAP HERE
7:00 p.m. - Game 4: (8) Cleveland State def. (9) Youngstown State 72-71
Saturday, March 3 - Quarterfinals
4:30 p.m. - (2) Wright State vs. (7) Green Bay
7:00 p.m. - (1) Northern Kentucky vs. (8) Cleveland State
Sunday, March 4 - Quarterfinals
4:00p.m. - (3) UIC vs. (6) Milwaukee
6:30 p.m. - (4) Oakland vs. (5) IUPUI
Monday, March 5 - Semifinals
6:00 p.m. - TBD vs. TBD
8:30 p.m. - TBD vs. TBD
Tuesday, March 6 - Championship
6:00 p.m. - TBD vs. TBD
Tournament Links: #MotorCityMadness Tournament Central | Tournament Bracket (PDF)
LOCATION: Little Caesars Arena (Detroit, Mich.)
IN THE HL TOURNAMENT: The Green Bay program has an all-time record of 22-21 at the Horizon League Championship, winning the tournament title in 1995 and 2016. Green Bay won four games in four days to lift the trophy two years ago and was knocked out in the Quarterfinals to UIC last season. GB defeated Detroit Mercy in its First Round game this year.
WATCH:
vs (10) Detroit Mercy, W // vs (2) Wright State // vs. TBD, Semifinals (TV: ESPNU) // TBD, Championship Game (TV: ESPN)
LISTEN:
WNFL - 101.9 FM / 1440 AM
LIVE STATS:
StatBroadcast Live Stats
GREEN BAY GAME NOTES: vs. Detroit Mercy (PDF) | vs. Wright State (PDF) | Semifinals (PDF) | Championship (PDF)
About Green Bay (13-19, 7-11 HL)
SUCCESS IN DETROIT
Green Bay will return to the Motor City with confidence, fresh off the weekend sweep of Oakland and Detroit Mercy in Metro Detroit. The Phoenix downed Oakland 96-90, before pouring it on the Titans for a 107-97 win in the regular season finale. With those two victories, GB is 8-3 in Metro Detroit under the direction of Linc Darner and is an important 2-0 this season. Before losing to UIC in the Quarterfinals last year, the Phoenix won four games in four days at Joe Louis Arena to capture the 2016 Horizon League Championship in dramatic fashion. The team lost to Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament, but will forever remember the historic run that season as the No. 4 seed, once again needing four wins to raise the trophy in 2018.
SMALL HONORED WELL
Senior Khalil Small was recognized by the Horizon League voters on Wednesday, receiving Horizon All-League First Team honors and All-Defensive Team honors for his impressive 2017-18 season. Small was the only Horizon League player to earn both All-League and All-Defensive Team honors this season, and is just the third player in program history to do so in the same year. Small joins Alec Brown (2013-14) and former-teammate Carrington Love (2015-16) as the only three players to accomplish that feat, and he's also the fourth player in program history to receive All-Defensive Team honors in multiple seasons. Small was second in the HL in scoring this season, averaging 19.1 PPG in league play, and is known as of the league's premier lock-down defenders.
THREE-POINT PARADE
The Phoenix was raining 3-pointers in Metro Detroit last weekend, and has done so for the past few weeks as well. GB set the program-record for made 3-pointers in a game against Oakland, hitting on 15 of its 26 attempts. Two days later, the Phoenix made 14 3s against Detroit Mercy, and has now made 11 or more 3-pointers in five-straight games. GB now leads the HL in 3-pointers per game with 9.6 and had four players average over one made 3-pointer per game in HL play, led by seniors David Jesperson (34 made 3s) and Khalil Small (30 made 3s).
SLAMMING SANDY
Redshirt-junior Sandy Cohen III was named Horizon League Player of the Week on Monday (Feb. 26), the final weekly award this season for the HL. Cohen averaged 33.5 PPG and 9.5 RPG in two wins at Oakland and Detroit Mercy, while shooting 20-for-31 from the field. The high-flying guard scored a career-high 36 points against the Golden Grizzlies and went 12-for-13 from the free throw line in that game as well. Cohen is playing some of the best basketball of any player in the Horizon League, having scored 21 points or more in four of his last five games, while making 13 3-pointers in those five games as well. SCIII finished seventh in the HL in scoring with 17.1 PPG this season.
KAMMING AROUND
Sophomore Kameron Hankerson has stepped up big over the last five games, scoring in double-figures in each of those contests. Hankerson has made multiple 3-pointers in three-straight games and played 30-plus minutes in both games this past weekend in his hometown of Detroit. Hankerson is third on the team in scoring in HL play this year, one of three players averaging in double-figures with 10.4 PPG. The sophomore is second on the team in assists and leads the team in blocks, and has now started in four-straight games.
DIALED IN DAVID
Senior David Jesperson poured in a career-high 20 points in his team's win at Detroit Mercy, going 4-for-6 from 3-point range and 7-for-10 from the field overall. Jesperson has now reached double-figures in three of his last four games and is averaging 13.4 PPG over that stretch. The Merrill native has started and played in all 31 games this season and played a career-high 38 minutes in a win at Oakland last Thursday. Jesperson is fourth on the team in scoring and led the team in 3-pointers this season.
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