GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- The Green Bay men's basketball team is set to take the court for the first time in the Will Ryan era on Wednesday night at Minnesota. The Phoenix tips off against the Golden Gophers at Williams Arena on BTN+ at 6 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION
at Minnesota // November 25, 2020
Williams Arena // Tipoff at 6PM
Stream on BTN+ ($15 monthly subscription)

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Minnesota finished just shy of .500 last season at 15-16 with an 8-12 record in the Big Ten. The Gophers' are led my redshirt junior Marcus Carr, who was named to the 2020 Preseason All-Big Ten Team after a record-setting sophomore campaign.

B1G BATTLES
The Phoenix owns a 3-46 record against current big ten programs, with its lone three victories coming against Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.
Overall Record: 3-46
Last win: vs Wisconsin (12.9.09)
W, 88-84 (ot)
 
OUR REIGNING ROOKIE
Sophomore Amari Davis was named the Horizon League freshman of the year last season and also earned an all-league third team nod. Davis was named to the preseason all-league first team and will look to build upon last year's success.

PIPES PRODUCTION
Pj Pipes ranked 11th in the horizon league in steals last season, totaling 39 and averaging 1.26 per game. he also ranked 10th in three-pointers made with 55. Pipes also finished second on the team in assists with 73 while only surrendering 30 turnovers, 

DOMINANT DAVIS
Amari broke the program's freshman scoring record last season which was previously held by Virginia head coach and Hall of Famer, Tony Bennett. Davis also left his mark from a league-wide standpoint when he accumulated 10 HL freshman of the week honors, breaking Dikembe Dixson's record of eight in 2015-16.

WELCOMING WILL RYAN
Head coach Will Ryan joins the phoenix after a year at Wheeling University where he improved the Cardinal's record from 9-21 to 14-13.

FRESH PHOENIX FACES
Green Bay welcomes a total of 11 new members to the squad in 2020-21 and returns only two players with in-game experience from last season.

JEFFERSON JUMPING IN
Josh Jefferson, a transfer from Illinois State in 2019-20, is eligible for the 2020-21 season after sitting out last year due to NCAA division I transfer rules. Jefferson averaged 8.7 ppg with the redbirds and buried 41 triples in 21 games.

RETURNING MINUTES
Green bay returns two starters from last season, senior PJ Pipes and sophomore Amari Davis, who also happen to be the only players returning to the roster who donned the green and white for the Phoenix. Pipes averaged 27.1 MPG and Davis logged 28.6 MPG, totaling 55.7 of the possible 200 minutes.

RYAN'S RECORD ON STAFF
Will Ryan joined his father's staff at Wisconsin in 2002 and has made stops at North Dakota State (2007-14), Ohio (2014-19) and Wheeling (2019-20) before taking the helm at Green Bay. His record on staff at previous stops is an impressive 352-221.

#HLMBB NEWS & NOTES

The Horizon League added two institutions to the conference beginning this season in RMU and Purdue Fort Wayne. The Colonials are coming off a NEC tournament title and are led by head coach Andy Toole and Preseason Horizon League All-Second Team selection AJ Bramah. Head coach Jon Coffman is at the helm for the Mastodons and leads a very talented group into year one in the Horizon League that includes Jared Godfrey who averaged 15.7 points and 3.3 assists per game in The Summit League last season.

Wright State has been selected as the #HLMBB favorites after capturing its first outright regular season title with a 15-3 HL record last season. The Raiders are led by Preseason Player of the Year Loudon Love who was named the Player of the Year last season and was tabbed to the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, given to the top center in men's college basketball.

Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis once again comes into this season as one of the biggest offensive threats in the country. He enters the 2020-21 season as the active career leader in scoring average at 25.2 points per game and second in 3-pointers made per game at 3.88. He was named to the Preseason All-HL First Team and the Jerry West Award watch list, recognizing the top shooting guards in the country.

Many predict Youngstown State to take a big leap forward this season as they were picked to finish second in the #HLMBB Preseason Poll after finishing 10-8 in League play last season. The Penguins were the only team to place multiple players on the preseason all-League teams with Darius Quisenberry earning first team and Naz Bohannon being tabbed on the second team.

Northern Kentucky claimed its third Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship in four seasons and the first for head coach Darrin Horn in 2019-20, but will need to do replace some offensive production after losing its top-three scorers from last season. Junior Trevon Faulkner will look to lead the Norse as they look to become the first team since 1989 in win three-straight #HLMBB tournament crowns.

#HLMBB has a pair of first-year coaches in UIC's Luke Yaklich and Green Bay's Will Ryan. Yaklich inherits a Flames team that reached their first Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship Game since 2004, but graduated its top-four scorers from that team. Ryan, son of hall of fame coach Bo Ryan, welcomes back #HLMBB Freshman of the Year and preseason all-HL first team selection Amari Davis and a Phoenix team that has reached the semifinals of the HL tournament in back-to-back seasons.

IUPUI's Marcus Burk looks to lead the Jags this season as he was named to the preseason All-League first team after being named to the All-Horizon League Second Team in 2019-20 finishing second in the points during League play with just over 23 points per game while hitting 2.7 3-pointers per contest.

Rounding out the Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team are Algevon Eichelberger of Cleveland State, Milwaukee's Te'Jon Lucas and Rashad Williams of Oakland. In 2019-20, Eichelberger finished top-10 during HL play in scoring at 15.2 points per game, top-10 in field-goal percentage at 45.9 and top-15 in rebounds at 5.5. Lucas ranked top-15 during Horizon League play last season in scoring at 15.1 points per game and first in assists at 5.3 in his first season with the Panthers. Williams played in only 15 games last season for the Golden Grizzlies due to the NCAA transfer rule but made an immediate impact averaging 19.5 points and four triples per game.



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