GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Returning home for five games in a row after an impressive road win at Northern Kentucky, Green Bay will start its home stretch with a matchup against UIC on Friday night at the Resch Center for the annual Prevea Health BlackOut Cancer game for a 7 p.m. tip. GB will also host IUPUI on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on the ESPN family of networks and can also be heard on WDUZ The Fan.

CATCH THE ACTION: Friday, January 3, 7 p.m.  //  RESCH CENTER
Matchup #1: Green Bay Phoenix (6-9, 1-1 HL) vs. UIC Flames (6-9, 1-1 HL)

Promotion: Prevea Health BlackOut Cancer
Giveaway: Youth Jersey Giveaway
Where to Watch: ESPN3
Where to Follow Stats: www.phoenixstats.com
Where to Listen: The Fan WDUZ

Game Notes:  Green Bay  |   UIC

CATCH THE ACTION: Sunday, January 5, 1 p.m. // RESCH CENTER
Matchup #2: Green Bay Phoenix (6-9, 1-1 HL) vs. IUPUI Jaguars (4-11, 0-2 HL)

Where to Watch: ESPN+
Where to Follow Stats: www.phoenixstats.com
Where to Listen: The Fan WDUZ

Game Notes:  Green Bay  |   IUPUI

For Live in-game updates, follow the Phoenix on social media: Twitter - @gbphoenixmbb, Instagram - @gbphoenixmbb

LAST GAME'S STARTERS

• G – Amari Davis, Fr.
• G – JayQuan McCloud, rSr.
• G – Kameron Hankerson, Sr.
• F - Manny Patterson, Jr.
• F - Cody Schwartz, rSr.

LAST TIME OUT (Green Bay 73, @Northern Kentucky 59; December 30)

• Bouncing back impressively in the second game of its challenging Wright State-Northern Kentucky road swing, Green Bay cruised to a convincing 73-59 win at NKU on Monday night at BB&T Arena, returning home for its next five games at the Resch Center. The Phoenix (1-1 HL, 6-9 overall) held the Norse (1-1 HL, 9-5 overall) to 5-for-26 from beyond the arc, including an 0-for-11 effort in the first half alone. Offensively, GB assisted on 17 of its 27 made field goals, finishing 27-for-57 (47.4 percent) from the field.
  
  GB jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, and never looked back, leading by as many as 24 points in the second half. Shooting 50 percent (13-for-26) in the first half gave the Phoenix a nice cushion over the Norse, which had won 47 of its last 53 games at home. 
  
  Manny Patterson registered his third double-double in his last five games, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Patterson was 6-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe, earning another start. Fellow-junior PJ Pipes had the best game of his collegiate career, pouring in a career-high 20 points.
  
  Senior sharpshooter JayQuan McCloud narrowly missed a triple-double with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. The reigning HL player of the week went 4-for-4 at the free throw line, playing all but two minutes in the game.

SERIES HISTORY

• UIC: The border rivals will face off in the 103rd meeting all-time on Friday, with GB holding the 63-39 edge including a 36-15 mark at home. GB has won three-straight in the series after winning both meetings last year before knocking off the Flames in the Quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament. The first meeting came back in 1971 and the teams have competed in the same conference ever since. 
• IUPUI: The Jaguars have been Green Bay's kryptonite since joining the Horizon League two seasons ago, with IUPUI winning all four matchups since then. IUPUI leads 6-3 all-time and has won five in a row overall. In HL games, three of the four matchups have been decided by 6 points or less.

ABOUT UIC & IUPUI

• Click here for info on the Flames  |  Click here for more info on the Jaguars

ABOUT GREEN BAY...

OPENING WEEKEND RECAP

• Opening Horizon League play with the toughest road trip of any on the league schedule this season, Green Bay had Wright State on the ropes before breaking through with an impressive road win over Northern Kentucky in the second game of the HL season. Selected as the top two teams in the preseason poll this season, with both claiming the regular season and tournament championships last season, the Wright State - NKU double dip road swing is certainly the most challenging, but GB was up to the challenge. GB led Wright State by five with under five minutes to play before falling late, but used that effort to open up a 10-0 lead at NKU en route to a convincing win at BB&T Arena. NKU went 17-1 at home last season and had won 47 of its last 53 games at home before the Phoenix upset the Norse in Kentucky. GB opens the HL season at 1-1, and can put the toughest road trip behind them. 

UIC REUNION

• Green Bay and UIC will meet for GB's annual BlackOut Cancer game for the second-straight season, with the Phoenix winning last year 90-85. That victory began a stretch of three wins in a row by the Phoenix over the Flames, including its dramatic 82-77 win at the Resch Center in the Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinals. GB was the No. 4 seed and UIC was the No. 5 seed, thanks to the Phoenix sweeping the season series with a 63-62 exciting road win in Chicago. Head coach Linc Darner is 7-3 all-time against UIC and is 3-1 at home. The last three matchups between the two teams have been decided by five points or less. Additionally, GB has won its last 15 games against UIC at the Resch Center.

HOME ON THE HORIZON

• The Phoenix will play its next five games in a row at home in league play, tied for the longest stretch by any HL team this season. GB hosts UIC/IUPUI, Milwaukee and Oakland/Detroit Mercy all at the Resch Center over the month of January. Under Darner, Green Bay has gone 27-10 in home games in HL play, including an 8-2 mark last season alone. The Phoenix has played only one game at the Resch Center so far this season, its fewest in program history, a five-point loss to Evansville back on Dec. 14. At 1-1, GB has a chance to gain some ground in the  HL standings with five games in its own backyard.

McCLOUD CONSISTENCY

• Sharpshooting senior JayQuan McCloud has been the consistent and reliable option for the Phoenix offensively, scoring in double-figures in 14 of 15 games this season and is coming off a weekend where he netted 16 and 13 points to open HL play. He ranks ninth in the HL in scoring with 15.4 PPG and his second on the team, knocking down a team-best 37 3-pointers. McCloud was named Horizon League Player of the Week two weeks ago, after dumping a career-high 32 points in a road win at Northern Illinois. The Preseason All-Horizon League selection is on pace to score 1,000 career points in only two seasons on the team.

PATTERSON POWERBALL

• Junior Manny Patterson is enjoying the best stretch of basketball for his collegiate career, having scored in double-figures four of his last five games with three double-doubles in that stretch. The power forward dumped 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his team's win at NKU on Monday night, two games after pouring in 15 at Northern Illinois. Patterson's impressive play started at the Resch Center against Evansville, when he scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds. He came back the next game with the best game of his career, scoring a career-high 20 points and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds as well. Starting in the last three games, the Chicago-native played a career 30 minutes at NKU. He has shot 26-for-37 over his last five games and has gone 11-for-15 at the free throw line. In this strong stretch, he's averaging 12.8 PPG and 8.8 RPG.

CAREER-HIGH PIPES

• The team's impressive road win at NKU would not have been possible if not for the career-high 20 points by junior point guard PJ Pipes. Pipes was on fire, shooting 8-for-10, hitting four 3-pointers and playing 35 minutes of action for his first 20-point game of his career. Pipes' previous high was 17 points, which he scored twice earlier this season. The Woodridge, Illinois native is now third on the team in scoring with 11.7 PPG and has reached double-figures in three of his last five games. He has connected on three made 3-pointers in five games already this year.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Where Green Bay stacks up among the 10 Horizon League teams, and nationally in some stats:

• 1st in scoring offense (82.1 PPG) **Ranks 15th in the NCAA
• 1st in field goal percentage (47.2%)
• 1st in 3-point field goal percentage (38.0%) **Ranks 27th in the NCAA
• 1st in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.38-1)
• 1st in assists per game (17.0 APG) **Ranks 21st in the NCAA
• 1st in turnover margin (3.13-1)
• 3rd in steals (8.2 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. 

THAT'S AMARI x4

• 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 4^th 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 (15.5 PPG), JayQuan McCloud (15.4 PPG), PJ Pipes (11.7 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 coming off a career-high 20 points at NKU. 

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 15.5 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 14 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 54.4 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 14 games this season, Davis has been the story of the league.

CONNECTING WITH KENPOM

• After three games in the books, Green Bay has played at the 21st-fastest pace among all NCAA Division I teams, averaging 74.7 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                                   

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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