By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Keeping its strong season at the Resch Center going, Green Bay improved to 8-1 at home and enacted revenge on Valparaiso on Thursday night. When Butler visits Green Bay on Saturday for Throwback Night at 6:05 p.m., the Phoenix will look to do the same against the Bulldogs.

The Phoenix players will be wearing retro jerseys modeled after a late 1970s/early 1980s version of the Green Bay uniforms, and promotions will include throwback ticket and concession prices. The first 1,000 youth fans in attendance will also get replica throwback jerseys courtesy of Prevea Health. For more about Throwback Night, click here.

The contest will be televised nationally on ESPNU, with Justin Kutcher handling the play-by-play duties and Dickey Simpkins serving as the color analyst. The game will mark the third time this season that Green Bay has been on ESPNU. To vote for Green Bay appear on ESPNU again on Feb. 10 against Wright State, click here.

Sophomore Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) has been effective at the Resch Center, averaging 14.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game. On Saturday, he will have a chance to break the all-time Green Bay blocks record that he tied with two swats on Thursday. With three more blocks, Brown will also break the single-season record of 67 that he set as a freshman in 2010-11.

Sophomore Kam Cerroni (Sussex, Wis.) highlighted Thursday's 75-60 win with a career-high 23 points. The Horizon League leader in three-point percentage made five triples and added a 6-of-7 performance from the line to lead the Phoenix to a 75-60 victory.

On Dec. 29, Green Bay led for much of a road contest at Hinkle Fieldhouse, but the Bulldogs were able to pull out a 53-49 win in a defensive struggle. The Phoenix shot just 27.8 percent from the field that night.

Butler comes to the Resch Center after another defensive battle. The Bulldogs made just 1-of-16 three-pointers Thursday and fell at Milwaukee, 53-42. Junior big man Andrew Smith led Butler with 11 points.

• INSIDE THE SERIES: Green Bay trails the all-time series with Butler 31-14, with the Bulldogs winning the last five contests. In last season's game at the Resch Center, Butler posted won the game 64-62 when Matt Howard scored on a dunk in the final seconds. The three meetings in the past two seasons have been decided by just 11 points.

• THE FIRST MEETING: When these two teams met on Dec. 29 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, it was a defensive battle throughout. Green Bay held Butler to just 31 percent from the field, but the Phoenix itself shot just 27.8 percent (15-54). Green Bay led throughout the first 30 minutes before Butler sealed the win late with a Kameron Woods' three-pointer.

• MATCHUP TO WATCH: With Green Bay's Cerroni and Butler's Chase Stigall, Saturday's game will feature two players that live and die with shots from beyond the arc. Cerroni, who is 36-77 from three on the season, leads the Horizon League in three-point percentage (46.8%) and has taken 81 percent of his field goal attempts from long range. Stigall takes 78 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, where he is 38-for-131 this season. He averages six three attempts per game, third most in the league.

• STANDING TALL ABOVE THE REST: Brown swatted two shots on Thursday night to move into a tie with Terry Evans (2005-09) for first place on Green Bay's all-time shot blocking list with 132. He also needs just three blocks Saturday to break the single-season record for blocks, which he set with 67 as a freshman in 2010-11. Brown is second in the Horizon League and tied for ninth nationally in blocks per game this season, averaging 3.2 per game.

• KAM CATCHIN' FIRE: Since being inserted into the starting lineup, Cerroni has consistently been providing the Phoenix with an outside scoring threat. In his 10 starts, including the last nine games, Cerroni is averaging 11.2 points per game and shooting 50.9 percent (28-55) from long range.

• HALF CENTURY: Green Bay's game at CSU was Brown's 50th career game and his 50th career start. In his 52-game Green Bay career, Brown has compiled 594 points and 333 rebounds to go with the 132 blocks.

• CAN I SEE SOME ID?: The last time freshman point guard Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) played as a 17-year old was at Butler on Dec. 29, when Sykes had eight points. Since turning 18 the next day, Sykes is averaging 13.6 points and 3.7 assists per game.

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