Men's Basketball 1/7/2021 12:00:00 PM

Green Bay Continues League Play this Weekend, Welcomes Oakland

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- Green Bay returns home this weekend as it continues its league slate, welcoming Oakland to the Kress Center for matchups on Friday and Saturday. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+ and will have no in-person attendance.

GAME INFORMATION
Friday vs Oakland // January 8, 2021
Kress Center // Tipoff at 4PM
Watch Live on ESPN+
No in-person attendance

Saturday vs Oakland // January 9, 2021
Kress Center // Tipoff at 4PM
Watch Live on ESPN+
No in-person attendance

BEASTS IN THE BACKCOURT
With league officially underway, Green Bay is pleased with the performance of its guards. Amari Davis (17.1PPG), Josh Jefferson (13.9PPG) and PJ Pipes (15.2PPG) lead the Phoenix in scoring and all rank inside the top 20 in the Horizon League. Lucas Stieber is coming off the bench and providing quality minutes as well, ranking third in the conference with a 2.4 assist/turnover ratio.

TAKING ON THE TOP
Green Bay made the trek to Ohio on consecutive Holiday Weekends to close out 2020 and open 2021, battling league-favorite Wright State on Dec. 26/27 before taking on the team picked to finish second in the conference, Youngstown State, on Jan. 1/2. GB battled with both programs and either led or was tied at some point in the second half of all four games.

PERFECTION FROM PIPES
PJ Pipes has started the season a remarkable 25-for-25 from the free throw line and leads the NCAA in free throw percentage. Pipes is one of two players in the nation to have shot at least 20 free throws and made all of them. The other is Mekhi Lairy from Miami (OH) who is 21-21.

NOT BACKING DOWN
Green Bay is averaging over 12 lead changes per game in its last three contests, a stat which bodes well for a team who was taking on the teams picked to finish first and second in the league's preseason poll.

BATTLING ON THE BOARDS
The Phoenix faced deficits on the glass in each of its first four games this season but has since 'rebounded' and bested some of the top teams in the league on the boards. Wright State (+9.4), Youngstown State (+2.3) and Milwaukee (+0.8) lead the HL in rebound margin, an impressive stat considering the Phoenix won the battle on the boards in at least one matchup with each program.

THAT'S (AMARI)
Amari Davis is playing some of the best basketball of his young career, recently scoring a career-high 35 points in his return to Dayton. The sophomore has scored in double figures in six-straight games and currently ranks 3rd in the Horizon League in scoring with 17.1 PPG.

NO TIME FOR TURNOVERS
The Green Bay men's basketball team has really been taking care of the rock recently. The Phoenix surrendered only five turnovers at Marquette, a team which ranks atop the Big East in numerous defensive categories. The last time a team had such few turnovers against the Golden Eagles was on March 7, 2018, when Creighton yielded only four.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE
It's no secret PJ Pipes is a leader on the GB men's basketball team, and he took his leadership to new heights this past weekend at Youngstown State. Pipes led the Phoenix in scoring in both contests and willed Green Bay to victory with a career-high 30 points in game two against the Penguins. Pipes has led the Phoenix in scoring three times this season.

WE WANT MOORE
Toledo transfer Donavan Moore is now immediately eligible after the NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to grant a blanket waiver allowing all Division-I transfers to play immediately this year.

ANSONG ELIGIBLE
Forward Emmanuel Ansong had his NCAA waiver request officially granted on Tuesday, Dec. 22 receiving immediate eligibility to play this season for the Phoenix. Ansong didn't technically qualify for the blanket waiver the NCAA Division I council approved, as he transferred from Wheeling University (a Division II institution) with the waiver only applying to those who transferred from a NCAA Division I institution to another. Ansong played under Coach Ryan at Wheeling.

FINDING HIS RANGE
It may come as a shock considering Amari Davis was the HL Freshman of the Year and broke the program's freshman scoring record set by Hall of Famer Tony Bennet in 1989, but he sank his first career three-pointer in the second half of GB's matchup at #4 Wisconsin this season. Davis has since added shots from deep to his repertoire, shooting 37.9% (11-29) from long range this season.

YOUNG PHOENIX FLYING
Three Phoenix graced the starting lineup in Green Bay's first win of the season at Youngstown State. Lucas Stieber, Ryan Claflin and Terrance Thompson earned the starting spots and combined for 72 of GB's 200 minutes in the game.

THOMPSON HANGING TOUGH
Freshman Terrance Thompson received has made three starts for the Phoenix in his first season and recently notched a career-high 11 points in GB's win at Youngstown State.

BATTLES WITH B1G PROGRAMS
The Green Bay men's basketball hasn't shied away from tough competition to open the season, taking the floor against back-to-back opponents from the big ten. One of those matchups included the #4 ranked Wisconsin Badgers. The Phoenix also took the hardwood against Marquette after their upset over the Badgers, battling the Golden Eagles to the end before falling 82-68.

OUR REIGNING ROOKIE
Sophomore Amari Davis was named the Horizon League freshman of the year last season and earned an all-league third-team nod. In result, Davis was named to the preseason all-league first team and will look to build upon last year's success.

JEFFERSON FINDING HIS STRIDE
Redshirt Senior Josh Jefferson saw in-game action at Minnesota for the first time in 628 days. Although it seems like the guard hasn't missed a step, securing double-figure scoring in all six of Green Bay's games this season. Jefferson is coming off a career-high 21-point performance against Milwaukee and is tied for the team lead in scoring with 15.3 PPG.

RYAN'S FIRST RECRUITING CLASS
Head coach Will Ryan completed his first recruiting class at the helm of the Green Bay basketball program in early November, as three in-state standouts inked national letters of intent to play for the Phoenix during the signing period. Kamari McGee (Racine, Wis.), Brayden Dailey (Cuba City, Wis.) and Cade Meyer (Monroe, Wis.) will all join the roster next season. McGee, Meyer and Dailey are widely considered three of the top-10 players from Wisconsin in the 2021 class.

DAVIS' DOMINANT FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN
Not only did Amari Davis cement his name in the Phoenix record books, he 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 set 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. The Phoenix has eight freshmen on the roster.

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. That's 28% of the team's minutes from last season.

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.

Overall Record before GB: 352-221
Wisconsin: 123-42
North Dakota State: 134-84
Ohio: 81-77
Wheeling: 14-13

KRASHING THE KRESS
Since the inception of the Kress Events Center in November 2007, the men's basketball program has taken the floor in official game action 19 times. The Phoenix owns a 12-7 record in those contests.

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Players Mentioned

#2 PJ Pipes: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#1 Amari Davis: G; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#0 Josh Jefferson: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Senior

#5 Lucas Stieber: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Freshman

#13 Ryan Claflin: F; 6' 6"; Freshman

#21 Terrance Thompson: F; 6' 8"; Freshman

#32 Donavan Moore: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#23 Emmanuel Ansong: F; 6' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#2 PJ Pipes
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#1 Amari Davis
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: G

#0 Josh Jefferson
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#5 Lucas Stieber
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#13 Ryan Claflin
: 6' 6"; Freshman
: F

#21 Terrance Thompson
: 6' 8"; Freshman
: F

#32 Donavan Moore
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#23 Emmanuel Ansong
: 6' 4"; Junior
: F