GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Riding a two-game winning streak and coming off a challenging non-conference season, Green Bay is set to open Horizon League play at defending regular season champion Wright State and defending tournament champion Northern Kentucky this coming weekend. The Phoenix will open at Wright State on Saturday (Dec. 28) before traveling further south to face Northern Kentucky on Monday night (Dec. 30). Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can also be heard on WDUZ The Fan.
CATCH THE ACTION:Â Saturday, December 28, 1 p.m. CT // Dayton, Ohio (Nutter Center)
Matchup #1:Â Green Bay Phoenix (5-8, 0-0 HL) at Wright State Raiders (10-3, 0-0 HL)
Where to Watch: ESPN+
Where to Follow Stats: www.wsuraiders.com
Where to Listen: The Fan WDUZ
Game Notes:Â
Green Bay |  Wright State
CATCH THE ACTION:Â Monday, December 30, 6 p.m. CT // Highland Heights, Ky. (BB&T Arena)
Matchup #2:Â Green Bay Phoenix (5-8, 0-0 HL) at Northern Kentucky Norse (8-4, 0-0 HL)
Where to Watch: ESPN+
Where to Follow Stats: www.nkunorse.com
Where to Listen: The Fan WDUZ
Game Notes:Â
Green Bay |  Northern Kentucky
For Live in-game updates, follow the Phoenix on social media: Twitter - @gbphoenixmbb, Instagram - @gbphoenixmbb
LAST GAME'S STARTERS
LAST TIME OUT (Green Bay 85, @Northern Illinois 84; December 21)
- Senior JayQuan McCloud poured in a career-high 32 points and Manny Patterson impressed again with 15 points of own, helping Green Bay steal the 85-84 win on the road on Saturday afternoon at Northern Illinois. The Phoenix (5-8) continued its hot shooting, hitting a season-high 13 3-pointers and finishing 47.6 percent (30-63) from the field against a Huskies (7-6) team that came in allowing only 61.7 PPG.
GB needed a defensive hold on the last possession, one that saw NIU get two looks at the basket only to come up empty. NIU was left with a wide open 3-pointer with 5 seconds left, but that shot was off the mark and so was the floater in the lane after the loose ball ended up in NIU's hands. It's GB's second true road game win this season, also winning at Montana State earlier this season.
Patterson was strong inside once again, netting 15 points on a 7-for-10 shooting effort. The junior has now scored in double-figures in each of his last three games, and earned the start as well. Fellow-forward Cody Schwartz had a strong game as well, narrowly missing out on a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds. He hit 3 triples.Â
SERIES HISTORY
- Wright State: The Phoenix and Raiders have met 63 teams in the all-time series, and are separated by only one game. GB leads 32-31, but WSU has won six of the last seven matchups. The two teams each won at home last season, with Wright State having the last laugh with a win in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals in Detroit. GB is 10-22 all-time at Wright State.
- Northern Kentucky: The first-ever meeting between GB and NKU came in the Norse's first season in the HL, and GB won that meeting. In fact, the Phoenix won the first three meetings, but NKU has won five in a row to grab the 5-3 edge in the all-time series. GB is 1-3 at the BB&T Arena.
ABOUT WRIGHT STATE & NORTHERN KENTUCKY
ABOUT GREEN BAY...
NONCONFERENCE WRAP UP
- Green Bay's win at Northern Illinois marked the final game of the nonconference season for the Phoenix, who finish 5-8 but challenged themselves with high-major competition. GB played 8 games on the road, including 5 against teams from power 5 conferences. The Phoenix also played strong mid-majors in Colgate and Evansville, both of which have scored wins over high major teams this season in Kentucky and Cincinnati. According to KenPom, Green Bay's nonconference schedule ranked as the 29th-toughest in the NCAA.Â
STARTING OFF RIGHT
- Under head coach Linc Darner, Green Bay is a perfect 4-0 in Horizon League openers. Each win came against a different opponent (MKE, DET, CSU, NKU), and this will be the first time they have opened up at Wright State under Darner. It's the second-straight season GB has opened up on the road to start league play, and the third time in five seasons. The Phoenix is averaging just over 87 PPG in season-openers under Darner, having scored 90+ in two of those games.
McCLOUD OF THE WEEK
- Sharpshooting senior JayQuan McCloud earned his first Horizon League Player of the Week award this season, after the best game of his career last Saturday, pouring in a career-high 32 points in his team's 85-84 win on the road at Northern Illinois. McCloud buried a careerhigh six 3-pointers and went for 8-for-9 from the free throw line, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists. GB went 2-0 on the week, behind McCloud's 23.5 PPG in the two games, and a 15-for17 effort at the charity stripe. The North Chicago native only needed 21 minutes to get 15 points in his team's record-breaking win over Concordia-Chicago, where they scored a program record 126 points. McCloud played limited minutes, with the game well in hand, but he was asked to play 37 minutes at NIU just three days later. He now ranks 8th in HL in scoring with 15.5 PPG.
POWER OF PATTERSON
- Junior Manny Patterson is enjoying the best stretch of basketball for his collegiate career, having scored in double-figures in three-straight games with a pair of double-doubles. Earning the start at NIU, Patterson poured in 15 points when GB needed them most, going 7-for-10 from the field. Over his last three games, the big man is averaging 15.0 PPG and 10.0 RPG, playing 26 minutes in each of those three games while shooting 72 percent form the field. Patterson had a career-high 20 points and 16 rebounds against Concordia, a game after netting 10 points and 10 rebounds against Evansville. He finished 12-for-15 from the field in those two games, also going 7-for-10 from the free throw line.Â
LEAGUE LEADERS
Where Green Bay stacks up among the 10 Horizon League teams, and nationally in some stats:
- 1st in scoring offense (82.6 PPG) **Ranks 13th in the NCAA
- 1st in field goal percentage (47.3%)
- 1st in 3-point field goal percentage (37.8%) **Ranks 33rd in the NCAA
- 1st in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35-1)
- 1st in assists per game (17.38 APG) **Ranks 13th in the NCAA
- 2nd in turnover margin (2.92-1)
- 2nd in steals (8.46 SPG)
NOTABLE NO. 900
- Green Bay set a pair of school records in the 126-64 win over Concordia Univ. Chicago on December 18 at the Kress Center, scoring the most points ever in a game and making the most field goals as well (51). All eight players had at least 10 points in the game, a product of the season-high 28 assists. GB shot a season-high 65.4 percent from the field, pouring in a program-record 72 points in the first half alone. GB also registered 19 steals, tied for fourth all time in a single game. The win marked the 900th win in program history, which started back in 1969, an average of around 18 wins a season.Â
FEELS LIKE THE FOURTH TIME
-  Making it three-straight weeks and a fourth time overall this season, Green Bay freshman guard Amari Davis was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week, the league office announced on Dec. 16. Davis continues to lead the way offensively for the Phoenix, earning his fourth weekly award in the six weeks of the season. Since the award began in the 2013-14 season, Davis is the first Phoenix player to earn the award multiple times in a season, and is just the 10th player in the history of the award to win four times. The weekly award started in the 2013-14 season.
Davis' week: Amari Davis continued his torrid pace to start a collegiate career, scoring 25 points at UCF before dumping another 17 points at home against Evansville. Davis led the Phoenix in scoring in both games, and went a sizzling 18-for-29 (62 percent) from the field in the two contests. He went 12-for-14 in a competitive loss at UCF alone, starting the game 7-for-7. The left-handed guard grabbed six rebounds against Evansville, averaging 5.0 for the week. In the two games against quality opponents, Davis averaged 21.0 PPG and has now scored in double-figures in 10 out of 11 games this year. He continues to lead the Phoenix in scoring with 16.4 PPG, ranking in the top 10 nationally among freshmen and standing 4th in points per game in the Horizon League.
CONNECT FOUR
- Green Bay has four players averaging in double-figures this season, with all four playing the guard position. Amari Davis (15.9 PPG), JayQuan McCloud (15.5 PPG), PJ Pipes (11.3 PPG) and Kameron Hankerson (10.9 PPG) are all averaging over 10 points per game to lead the way offensively. Davis and McCloud rank in the Top 10 of the Horizon League, with Pipes missing the last two games due to injury and Hankerson starting three games in a row now.Â
DAPPER DAVIS
- Green Bay and head coach Linc Darner boast what appears to be the best freshman in the Horizon League in Amari Davis. Davis leads the team in scoring with 15.9 PPG and ranks 5th in the HL, and in the top 10 of all freshmen in the NCAA. The Ohio native has scored in double-figures in 11 out of 13 games this season and was recently named Horizon League Freshman of the Week for a fourth time. He is also leads the HL in field goal percentage, shooting 56.8 percent on the season, and is coming off a week where he averaged 21.0 PPG. Davis has gotten off to the best start, statistically speaking, by any freshman in program history save for all-time great Tony Bennett. Bennett averaged 19.1 PPG as a freshman and scored 516 points in 27 games. Davis is currently on pace to score 524 points, if the team plays its scheduled minimum 32 (31 regular season, 1 tournament). Long way to go, but through 13 games this season, Davis has been the story of the league.
SHOOTING THE JAYQUAN
- Senior JayQuan McCloud continues to be a reliable and consistent scoring option for the Phoenix, having scored in double-figures in 12 of 13 games this year. He ranks 9th in the HL and scoring and is second on the team with 15.5 PPG. The Preseason All-Horizon League member is second on the Phoenix in rebounding with 4.5 RPG and leads the team in assists with 53 this season. He's made 42 of 48 free throw attempts and has hit a team-high 32 3-pointers.
CONNECTING WITH KENPOM
- After three games in the books, Green Bay has played at the 17th-fastest pace among all NCAA Division I teams, averaging 75.4 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                 Â
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.
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