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Men's Basketball

Phoenix Welcomes Milwaukee to Town for Saturday Showdown

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay men's basketball team will host fellow Wisconsin Horizon League squad Milwaukee at the Resch Center tomorrow at 6 p.m. Green Bay split the series with Milwaukee last season, with both teams emerging victorious on the road.
 
Saturday, Dec. 2 – Green Bay, Wis. – Resch Center
Milwaukee (3-4) at Green Bay (3-4, 0-1 HL)
6:00 PM CT
Follow the action: Watch (ESPN+) | Listen (WDUZ The Fan) | Live Stats | Tickets


 
ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee enters the contest with a record of 3-4, with the upcoming matchup against the Phoenix being their first Horizon League game of the 2023-24 season. Milwaukee captured wins over UW-Stout, Luther, and most recently, over Siena by a score of 61-59.
 
The Panthers are averaging 76.6 points per game as a team, which is fifth in the Horizon League, and are shooting 30.5 percent from three-point range. Milwaukee is tied for the lead in the HL with 3-pointers made per game with 9. The Panthers are led by BJ Freeman, who averaged 19.5 points per game, the third-most in the Horizon League. Freeman is a threat from deep, shooting 37.8 percent from deep.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Green Bay men's basketball team went toe to toe on the road with the red-hot Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday night. The Phoenix fell to the Mastodons by a score of 75-71. Three Phoenix tallied double digit point totals, with Noah Reynolds leading the squad with 16 points while also dishing out eight assists. Clarence Cummings III chipped in with 12 points in his return, and Elijah Jones finished with 11. Green Bay finished the game with more rebounds, assists, and three-pointers than PFW, but the hosts made that up, going 19-for-25 at the free throw line while GB was just 6-for-9.
 
RISE FOR THE REBOUND
The Phoenix have dominated on the boards so far this season, winning the rebound total in five of their seven games. Green Bay leads the Horizon League in defensive rebounds per game with 28.3 and allow the second-fewest rebounds per game in the HL with 31.4.
 
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
Green Bay stands atop the Horizon League, allowing the lowest opponent field goal percentage at 39.1 percent. Additionally, Green Bay leads the HL in fewest points allowed per game this season with 65.4. The Phoenix trail only Oakland in the lowest allowed three-point percentage in the Horizon League with 30.1 percent.
 
 
SETTLING THE SCORE
Despite a close loss, Green Bay had their second-best scoring performance of the season last time out, putting up 71 points against a very strong Purdue Fort Wayne team. Green Bay faces a Milwaukee team that has allowed 70 points in five of their last seven contests. Despite dropping their first HL contest, the Phoenix look to hand the Panthers their first conference loss of the season.
 
EFFICIENT ELIJAH
Elijah Jones spent 31 minutes on the court in the Phoenix last outing, where he went a perfect 4-4 from the field and led the Phoenix in both rebounds (7) and steals (2). The game prior against St. Thomas, Elijah Jones was the Phoenix leading scorer with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Jones is currently ranked third among all Horizon League players in rebounds this season, with 7.6 per game.
 
SWEET STREAKS
Green Bay's last six victories against the Panthers all occurred following a loss in the game prior. On the contrary, Milwaukee's last six victories against Green Bay have followed a Panther victory. With Green Bay coming off a win, and Milwaukee coming off a loss, one of these streaks will improve to seven following Saturday's game.
 
REYNOLDS ON A MISSION
Noah Reynolds has been a leader on the court for the Phoenix this season. He is currently fifth in the HL in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game. Reynolds also leads the Horizon League in assists with 5.4 per game and a conference best 38 total assists across seven games.
 
OFFSEASON RECAP
A lot happened during the 2023 offseason, let's get you caught up:
 
 March 14 - Sundance Wicks was named the ninth head coach in Green Bay men's basketball history.
 March 30 - The rest of the coaching staff is announced. Pat Monaghan, Zach Malvik, and Nic Reynolds are added as assistant coaches and Adam Owens is retained as the Director of Basketball Operations.
 April 19 – Will Eames, David Douglas Jr., Preston Ruedinger, and Rich Byhre are added to the roster.
 May 1 – Noah Reynolds, Elijah Jones, and Foster Wonders join Green Bay.
 June 2 – Rahmon Fletcher joins the staff as the Director of Player Development.

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN GB
Green Bay hired Sundance Wicks as the program's next head coach on March 14, 2023. Wicks comes to the Phoenix after three seasons as an assistant coach at Wyoming. In his first season with the Cowboys, Wicks helped revamp an offense that led the Mountain West in scoring at 76.5 points per game. Prior to his time with the Cowboys, he spent two highly successful years as the head coach at NCAA DII Missouri Western State in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Gillette, Wyo., native, led the Griffons to 18 wins in 2019-20, which was the most by the program in 10 years. In his first season at the helm of the program, his team doubled their win total from the year before. In his two seasons, Wicks mentored six All-MIAA players and an NABC All-District selection. Coach Wicks' first win at Green Bay came on Thursday, Nov. 9 against St. Francis (Ill.).
 
NEW LOOK ROSTER
The Phoenix underwent a roster transformation this past offseason. Of GB's 15 rostered players, three are returners, six are transfers, and six are incoming freshmen.
 
FAMILIAR FACES
Two of Green Bay's six transfers have played for coach Wicks prior to his time in GB. Will Eames played under coach Wicks at Missouri Western State in 2019-20 when he was the MIAA Freshman of the Year and All-MIAA honorable mention. Another Phoenix that has played for coach Wicks is Wyoming transfer Noah Reynolds. Reynolds was the second leading scorer on Wyoming last year, averaging 14.5 points per game in 19 games played. 
 
 PRESEASON #HLMBB POLL
 PL. Team (1st-place votes) – PTS.
 1. Northern Kentucky (18) - 435
 2. Milwaukee (10) - 397
 3. Wright State (12) - 392
 4. Cleveland State (1) - 362
 5. Youngstown State (3) -342
 6. Oakland - 280
 7. Robert Morris- 186
 8. Purdue Fort Wayne- 166
 9. Detroit Mercy- 132
 10. IUPUI - 116
 11. Green Bay – 96
 
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 ---GreenBayPhoenix.com---
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Players Mentioned

Clarence Cummings III

#3 Clarence Cummings III

F
6' 5"
Redshirt Junior
David Douglas Jr.

#15 David Douglas Jr.

G
6' 5"
Freshman
Will Eames

#23 Will Eames

F
6' 7"
Graduate Student
Preston Ruedinger

#2 Preston Ruedinger

G
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Rich Byhre

#34 Rich Byhre

F
6' 8"
Redshirt Senior
Foster Wonders

#0 Foster Wonders

G
6' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
Elijah Jones

#1 Elijah Jones

F
6' 7"
Junior
Noah Reynolds

#21 Noah Reynolds

G
6' 3"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Clarence Cummings III

#3 Clarence Cummings III

6' 5"
Redshirt Junior
F
David Douglas Jr.

#15 David Douglas Jr.

6' 5"
Freshman
G
Will Eames

#23 Will Eames

6' 7"
Graduate Student
F
Preston Ruedinger

#2 Preston Ruedinger

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Rich Byhre

#34 Rich Byhre

6' 8"
Redshirt Senior
F
Foster Wonders

#0 Foster Wonders

6' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Elijah Jones

#1 Elijah Jones

6' 7"
Junior
F
Noah Reynolds

#21 Noah Reynolds

6' 3"
Junior
G