GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Sitting in a tie for third-place in the current Horizon League standings, Green Bay will cross Lake Michigan for a pair of games in Metro Detroit this weekend, looking to keep hold in third and the postseason home games that come with it.. The Phoenix came back to knock off rival Milwaukee last Saturday 94-90, improving to 8-6 in league play in a tie with Youngstown State, which hosts the top two teams in the HL this weekend with Wright State and Northern Kentucky coming to town. GB will visit Detroit Mercy on Friday night before facing Oakland on Sunday afternoon at the O'rena. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can also be heard on WDUZ The Fan with Brian Kuklinski on the call.
CURRENT HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS
CATCH THE ACTION: Friday, Feb. 21, 6 p.m. CT // Detroit, Mich. (Callahan Hall)
Matchup #1: Green Bay Phoenix (13-14, 8-6 HL) at Detroit Mercy Titans (6-21, 4-10 HL)
Where to Watch: ESPN+
Where to Follow Stats: www.detroittitans.com
Where to Listen: The Fan WDUZ 107.5 FM
Game Notes: Green Bay | Detroit Mercy
CATCH THE ACTION: Sunday, Feb. 23, 2 p.m. CT // Rochester, Mich. (Athletics Center O'rena)
Matchup #2: Green Bay Phoenix (13-14, 8-6 HL) at Oakland Golden Grizzlies (10-17, 5-9 HL)
Where to Watch: ESPN+
Where to Follow Stats: www.goldengrizzlies.com
Where to Listen: The Fan WDUZ 1400 AM
Game Notes: Green Bay | Oakland
For Live in-game updates, follow the Phoenix on social media: Twitter - @gbphoenixmbb, Instagram - @gbphoenixmbb
PROJECTED STARTERS
LAST GAME (Green Bay 94, @Milwaukee 90; Feb. 15)
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Amari Davis tied his career high with 28 points, Kameron Hankerson scored four of his 20 points in the final 19 seconds, and Green Bay rallied to beat Milwaukee 94-90 on Saturday night. Davis made 11 of 15, and Hankerson 7 of 12, from the field. JayQuan McCloud finished with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting for Green Bay. Milwaukee (12-14, 7-7) trailed by as many as nine points in the first half but opened the second with a 10-2 run and then used an 18-6 spurt to take a 76-67 lead when Darius Roy hit a 3-pointer with 10:23 to play. The Phoenix trailed until Hankerson and Josh McNair made back-to-back baskets to make it 89-88 with 45 seconds to go. Te'Jon Lucas answered with two free throws but Hankerson hit a jumper in the lane and made a pair of foul shots to cap the scoring with four seconds to go. It was Green Bay's 8th win against Milwaukee in the last 10 meetings.
SERIES HISTORY
- DETROIT MERCY: The Phoenix has now won six of its last seven against the Titans following the home win earlier this season, and leads the all-time series 33-26. The first meeting came back in 1987, and GB has won an impressive 13 of the last 15 overall in the series. GB is 12-14 all-time in Callahan Hall.
- OAKLAND: The season series currently gives Green Bay the 11-8 all-time series edge, with the Phoenix having won four of the last five games including GB's 73-69 win earlier this year. GB is 4-5 all-time at Oakland.
ABOUT GREEN BAY...
RECORD-BREAKING DAVIS
- Amari Davis tied his career-high with a game-high 28 points on a scorching 11-for-15 shooting from the field in a 94-90 win at Milwaukee. Davis played 37 minutes and went 6-for-7 at the free throw line as well, grabbing four rebounds and netting his eighth 20-plus point performance of the season. It's the third time this season Davis has scored 28 points, and the second time he has done so against Milwaukee. The Trotwood, Ohio-native played a key role in the run that pushed GB back in front of MKE after falling down by nine, scoring six-straight points at one point for the Phoenix. With his ninth selection this year, Davis now holds the Horizon League's record for most Freshman of the Week awards in a single season, passing Dikembe Dixson of UIC who had eight during the 2015-16 season.
HANKERSON HEATIN' UP
- Over the last six games from the Phoenix, senior Kam Hankerson has scored 10 or more points in four of them. Additionally, in the past four games, the guard has scored 20+ points twice and 18 in another. Over the weekend against Milwaukee, Hankerson was 7-12 from the field, 2-4 from 3, 4-4 from the line and scored the game winning bucket for the Phoenix in his 20-point performance. He recently scored his 1,000th career point at Green Bay, becoming the 30th player in program history to hit the 1K mark. The Phoenix will need the senior to stay hot with only four Horizon League matchups left before the conference tournament.
ON McCLOUD NINE
- Sharpshooting senior JayQuan McCloud continues to pile up points, now averaging 16.5 PPG this season to rank 3rd in the Horizon League and lead the Phoenix. McCloud is averaging just over 20 points per game over his last three, pouring in 26 in a win at Milwaukee. He has scored in double-figures in 25 of 27 games this season, and has seven games with 20+ points and three games with 30+, making a strong case for First Team All-League honors this season. McCloud is just 62 points away from becoming the 31st player in program history to net 1,000 career points, and could be the second this season joining Kam Hankerson.
TOP OF THE STATS
Green Bay leads the Horizon League and ranks nationally in multiple key categories. Here is where Green Bay stacks up among the 10 Horizon League teams, and nationally in some stats:
- 1st in assists per game (16.3 APG) **Ranks 15th in the NCAA
- 1st in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.28-1) **Ranks 18th in the NCAA
- 1st in turnover margin (2.07-1)
- 2nd in scoring offense (81.4 PPG) **Ranks 6th in the NCAA
- 2nd in field goal percentage (45.9%)
- 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage (36.9%) **Ranks 34th in the NCAA
- 2nd in free throw percentage (75.0%) **Ranks 47th in the NCAA
- 3rd in steals (7.15 SPG)
MAKING THE EXTRA PASS
- Green Bay leads the Horizon League in total-assists at 442 and in assists per game at 16.4. From a national standpoint, the squad ranks 6th in the country in total-assist and 15th overall is assists per game. From an individual perspective, senior JayQuan McCloud leads the conference in total-assist with 124 and ranks third in the HL in assists per game at 4.6. Junior PJ Pipes and senior Kam Hankerson are top-20 as well in the league in both of those categories as well.
DON'T SLEEP ON McNAIR
- Josh McNair does a little bit of it all for the Phoenix. The senior is averaging 5.4 PPG on 58% percent from the field, and 3.8 RPG. Despite suffering a knee injury midway through nonconference action, the forward has done whatever is asked of him during Horizon League play. Coach Darner trust him as well, as McNair came up big late in the second half against Milwaukee. He grabbed a critical offensive rebound and putback, and then had the game-winning assist to Kam Hankerson in squad's road victory.
METRO DETROIT DOMINANCE
- Green Bay and head coach Linc Darner have had much success against the Metro Detroit schools, having won 10 of the last 12 games combined against Detroit Mercy and Oakland. The Phoenix lost both games on the road in Detroit last year, but came home and won both at the Resch Center in 2018-19 and 2019-20, a season after sweeping all four games in 2017-18. That marks the most successful run GB has had against any pair of travel partner schools over the last three seasons.
PROTECTING THE ROCK
- The Phoenix continues to rank as one of the best teams in the NCAA in both sharing the basketball, and taking care of it. As of Feb. 19, GB ranks 15th in the NCAA in assists per game with 16.4 and ranks 18th in the NCAA in assist to turnover ratio, with both numbers leading the Horizon League. Additionally, GB is first in the HL in turnover margin with 2.07 to 1, continuing to value possessions despite its uptempo pace of play. The Phoenix, which has been standard under head coach Linc Darner, ranks 9th in adjusted tempo according to KenPom. GB is averaging 74.3 possessions per 40 minutes, which also leads the Horizon League. The team has six games with 21 assists or more as a team this year.
3X3U: McCLOUD AND HANKERSON
- Guards JayQuan McCloud and Kameron Hankerson are two of 10 Horizon League seniors named to the Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship Midseason Watch List, which was announced on Tuesday. The 2020 event is scheduled for April 3-5 at Atlanta's Atlantic Station, where it will be contested outdoors for the first time.
- In what is the single-largest gathering of draft-eligible talent in the months leading up to the NBA Draft, the Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship features 128 seniors from all 32 Division I conferences vying for one of the biggest purses at any FIBA-sanctioned 3x3 event. Teams will compete for $150,000, with $100,000 going to the tournament champions. The winning team will once again earn an automatic berth to the 2020 USA Basketball 3x3 Open National Championship in May.
- Both players are averaging in double-figures for the Phoenix this season, with McCloud averaging a team-best 16.0 PPG and Hankerson averaging 10.2 PPG. Both players have started in all 11 Horizon League contests this season, making up a formidable backcourt with freshman Amari Davis. McCloud and Hankerson have combined to score over 1,700 points in their GB careers.
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.
CONNECTING WITH KENPOM
- After three games in the books, Green Bay has played at the 9th-fastest pace among all NCAA Division I teams, averaging 74.3 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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