GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Starting a stretch of four-straight games on the road, Green Bay makes the trip to the mountains of Montana on Saturday, visiting Montana State for a 7 p.m. CT tip-off in Bozeman. The game will be streamed online via the WatchBigSky Network and can also be heard on The Fan 107.5 FM with Brian Kuklinski on the call.
CATCH THE ACTION: Saturday, November 30, 7 p.m. CT // Bozeman, Montana (Worthington Arena)
Matchup: Green Bay Phoenix (2-4) at Montana State Bobcats (5-2)
Buy Tickets: Purchase Here
Game Promotion: N/A
Giveaways: N/A
Where to Watch: WatchBigSky
Where to Follow Stats: www.msubobcats.com
Where to Listen: The Fan 107.5 FM WDUZ
Game Notes: Green Bay | Montana State
For Live in-game updates, follow the Phoenix on social media: Twitter - @gbphoenixmbb, Instagram - @gbphoenixmbb
LAST TIME OUT
- Green Bay ran into a hot-shooting Colgate side on Tuesday night at the Kress Center, playing in its second-straight game in the Legends Classic Subregional. The Phoenix fell 99-81 as the visiting Raiders knocked down 19 made 3-pointers. GB was led by Amari Davis with a career-high 19 points and JayQuan McCloud with 14 points. The loss snapped a streak of seven-straight wins by GB at the Kress Center.
LAST GAME'S STARTERS
SERIES HISTORY
- The two teams met back in both 2004 and 2005 with a home/home series, with the Phoenix winning both meetings. GB won 74-57 in the first meeting in Bozeman and 75-73 at home the following year.
ABOUT MONTANA STATE
THAT'S AMARI
- Freshman Amari Davis has been a tear to start his collegiate career, scoring in double-figures in all six games and now leading the team in scoring with 14.3 PPG. Davis netted a career-high 19 points in a loss to Colgate and scored 16 points in a defeat at Wisconsin. The Ohio native opened his career with 10 points at Purdue, and also leads the team in field goal percentage at 58.3 percent (35-60). Davis was the State Player of the Year in Ohio as a senior last year, and has stepped onto the college scene without missing a beat.
MR. McCLOUD
- Senior JayQuan McCloud has found his stroke from long range over the last two games, hitting 8 3s in the two games of the Subregional. He's averaging 14.2 PPG this year and has scored 10-plus points in all six games to date. The redshirt-senior was named to the Preaseason Horizon All-League Team and has also registered five or more assists four times this season.
PIPE IT UP
- Junior point guard PJ Pipes is averaging 15.0 PPG over his last two and is third on the team in scoring with 13.0 PPG. Pipes is tied with McCloud for the team lead in 3-pointers made with 14 and has also tallied 19 assists. He's gone 10-for-11 from the free throw line and is second on the team in minutes.
WORTH MENTIONING
- History repeats itself they say, head coach Linc Darner hopes that saying holds true this season. "Our first year we kind of started out like this. At Stanford, at East Tennessee State, at Georgia Tech. … One of my former players texted me earlier this week and said, 'Remember Coach, it's not how you start but how you finish.' We started out 0-3 (in 2015) and made the NCAA tournament. Right now, we are 1-3, but we have probably played the three toughest road games in the country." Facts. Green Bay has played in three of the toughest venues in the country, Purdue, New Mexico and Wisconsin. And a trip to Xavier still looms down the road.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
- Earning his first Horizon League Freshman of the Week honor, Freshman Amari Davis was the spark Green Bay needed in its season-opener at 23rd-ranked Purdue, scoring 10 points off the bench on a 5-for-9 shooting effort when the Phoenix was cold in the first half. Davis played 20 minutes in that contest, also grabbing a pair of rebounds and dishing out a couple of assists. The Trotwood, Ohio, native followed his collegiate debut with 15 points in a blowout win over UW-Stout, scoring all 15 in only 18 minutes. On the week, Davis went 12-for-18 from the field and had three steals, showing what looks to be a promising future under head coach Linc Darner.
SCORING IN RECORDS
- Thanks to the 115-point outburst against UW-Stout in its home-opener, GB now has six of the top 15 highest scoring games in program history under head coach Linc Darner. The 115 points are tied for the most in the Division 1 era, the same total scored by Darner's Phoenix against Detroit Mercy in January 2016.
CONNECTING WITH KENPOM
- After three games in the books, Green Bay has played at the 10th-fastest pace among all NCAA Division I teams, averaging 77.1 possessions per 40 minutes. In the four seasons under Linc Darner, here is where Green Bay has ranked in adjusted tempo:
- 2018-19: 13th
- 2017-18: 23rd
- 2016-17: 7th
- 2015-16: 6th
- As of Nov. 20, KenPom also ranks Green Bay's non-conference schedule as the 5th-toughest among all teams. This ranking would seem to be accurate, given the teams listed on GB's 2019-20 schedule. The Phoenix played at Purdue and visited New Mexico and Wisconsin with Xavier, UCF, Montana State, Eastern Illinois and Northern Illinois still to go. The also hosted Colgate this season, a mid-major projected to win their league and make it back to another NCAA Tournament.
PURDUE POSITIVITY
- Despite the final score in Green Bay's season-opening loss at 23rd-ranked Purdue on Wednesday night, the team and head coach Linc Darner had plenty of positives to take away. Save for a couple of lengthy runs by the Boilermakers, the Phoenix went toe-to-toe for much of the game with the defending B10 champions. GB trailed by just 12 with 7 minutes left, and was a shot away from cutting it to single digits in front of a hostile crowd at Mackey Arena. Most notably, freshman Amari Davis showed true promise, scoring 10 points and giving GB the spark it needed during a draught in the first half. Davis finished at the rim and knocked down mid-range jump shots. The program might have a star in the making.
SO LONG SANDY
- With the graduation of do-it-all guard Sandy Cohen III, GB will have to replace its leader in all major categories this season. Cohen led the Phoenix in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and minutes a season ago, and has now taken his talents to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, after trying out for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Summer League. Even with SCIII gone, GB still returns 75 percent of its scoring a season ago and returns four out of five starters. Playing a total of 38 games last year, Darner watched players earn valuable minutes and experience down the stretch in the CIT run. He will not be easy to replace, but Darner has five seniors and four juniors to look to.
TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
- Green Bay opens its season with three of its first four games on the road, and all 3 coming at hostile environments. GB will have its home-opener against UW-Stout on Nov. 9, but will follow that with trips to New Mexico (11/13) and Wisconsin (11/21) after that. GB will also play road games at Montana State, at No. 19 Xavier, at Eastern Illinois, at UCF and at Northern Illinois. The team will play 8 road games in the nonconference, compared to only five games at home.
GBonTV
- The Phoenix is scheduled to play five games on national TV this season, with a pair of games on BTN and ESPNU. GB will also play on FS2 against Xavier. Additionally, GB will play all of its home games on either ESPN3 or ESPN+, with the Legends Classic being aired on FloSports.
BASKETBALL IS BACK
- Seems like only yesterday, Green Bay finished its season with a deep run in the CIT that saw the team play into early April before falling in the CIT Championship game at Marshall. Finishing 21-17, it's the most games ever played by any Green Bay men's basketball team in its 50-year program history, and the longest a team has ever played. Prior to the four wins in the CIT, GB fell in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament to top-seeded Wright State, but after it finished 4th in the HL and earned a Quarterfinal round home game. GB will enter its 51st season in program history, and the fifth under head coach Linc Darner.
HORIZON HAPPY
- With its 10 wins last season, GB has now won 10 or more games in League play in seven of the last eight seasons, and the third time in four seasons under Darner. The team has finished fourth or higher in the HL in six out of the last seven seasons as well, earning a postseason appearance in each of those six seasons. The HL preseason poll has GB tabbed fifth, behind Wright State, NKU, UIC and Oakland.
SENIOR SZN
- The Phoenix boasts a strong veteran lineup in 2019-20, led by five seniors and a bevy of juniors. Seniors ShanQuan Hemphill, JayQuan McCloud, Josh McNair, Kameron Hankerson and Cody Schwartz have all played signficant minutes during their Green Bay careers, four of which started the bulk of games last season. The junior class, one of Darners first full recruiting classes, is led by PJ Pipes, Trevian Bell, Manny Patterson and Hunter Crist. Each of those players have also played significant minutes over the last two seasons, and will be leaned up again this season. Despite the departure of Sandy Cohen, GB will deploy a strong veteran side this season.
McCLOUD NINE
- JayQuan McCloud earned All-Horizon League Second Team recognition, serving as the team's returning leading scorer from a season ago. The Chicago native averaged 14.1 PPG in league play last season, playing in all 18 games and finishing with a team-high 35 made 3-pointers. Overall on the season, McCloud averaged 13.7 PPG and made 77 3-pointers, while ranking third on the team in minutes per game. He was also named to the CIT All-Tournament Team and was instrumental to the team's deep run in that postseason tournament.
FRESHMEN FOCUS
- Arriving on the UWGB campus for this season are four freshman, two scholarship players and two walk-ons. Amari Davis and Japannah Kellogg III were recruited by Darner and his staff and both come to GB after highly-successful high school careers. Davis comes Trotwood, Ohio, where he was named Ohio Division II State Player of the Year, leading his team to the Ohio DII State Title. He averaged just over 30 points per game his senior season and was named All-State. Kellogg III led his Ames High School team to its first State Tournament appearance since 2015, earning All-State recognition and All-Area and All-League First Team. Kellogg III stands at 6-8 and can play multiple positions for GB, giving Darner a pair of standout freshmen. Walking on for the Phoenix this year will be local standout Lucas Stieber and Novi, Michigan native Jiovanni Miles. Miles grew up with fellow-Phoenix Kam Hankerson, while Stieber has the honor of being GB all-time great Tony Bennett's nephew.
###
Follow us on Twitter:
@GBPhoenixMBB.
Like
Green Bay Phoenix men's basketball and
Green Bay Phoenix Athletics on Facebook.
