By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Looking to improve on an unblemished record (10-0) within the confines of the Resch Center, Green Bay (18-5, 7-2 HL) welcomes in-state rival Milwaukee (9-14, 4-5 HL) at 7 p.m. on Thursday night for Horizon League action. The Phoenix enters with a 7-2 mark in conference play, tied with three other teams in the loss column.

Green Bay returns home after splitting decisions in the state of Ohio, where the Phoenix dropped the duel with Cleveland State (76-62) before bouncing back with a dominant victory over Wright State (71-58). It was the 16th-straight time Green Bay had bounced back from a regular season loss with a win, a streak spanning back to 2012-13.

Led by freshman Daeshon Francis (Indianapolis, Ind.), the matchup with Wright State was the first time this season that the Phoenix had five players score in doubles figures. However, it is not the first time the Phoenix has shown offensive balance. In the past three games, Green Bay has been led by five different members of the team in scoring.

This will be the second time that Green Bay has faced Milwaukee in the 2014-15 season, with the Phoenix controlling the tempo from start to finish in the first meeting on Jan. 9, routing the Panthers 79-63. Senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) scored 22 of his 34 points in the first half as Green Bay built a huge lead.

GREEN BAY PROBABLE STARTERS
G – #24 Keifer Sykes, Sr., 6-0, 180
G – #12 Carrington Love, Jr., 6-1, 171
F – #4 Jordan Fouse, Jr., 6-7, 225
F – #15 Greg Mays, Sr., 6-9, 222
F – #34 Alfonzo McKinnie, Sr., 6-8, 215

LIVE COVERAGE: Thursday night's game will be televised live by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and also be found online on ESPN3. Chris Roth (play-by-play) and Cordero Barkley (analyst) will be on the call. Fans can also tune into WNFL 1440 AM and 92.1 FM, where Matt Menzl (play-by-play) and Mark Daniels (analyst) will bring fans a radio broadcast of the game.

INSIDE THE SERIES: Thursday night will be the 55th meeting between Green Bay and Milwaukee, with the Phoenix holding a 31-23 edge in the series and an 18-9 record in games played in Green Bay. In the 11 meetings in the rivalry under Wardle, the Phoenix has a 6-5 mark against the Panthers. 

REACHING FOR THE SYKES: Sykes has been climbing the ranks in numerous statistical categories all season long. He heads into tonight's matchup with the Panthers sitting fourth on Green Bay's all-time scoring list (1,910), needing just seven points to propel himself past both Jeff Nordgaard (1,911) and Dennis Woelffer (1,916) into second place in program history.

REVEL IN THE RIVALRY: Sykes has totaled a career-high 34 points on two occasions in his career, with both coming against Milwaukee, and the senior is averaging 22.7 in nine career games in the rivalry against the Panthers. The senior has been especially effective after halftime, averaging 13.8 points.

HOME SWEET HOME: In five seasons under head coach Brian Wardle, Green Bay has compiled a 57-13 record (.814 winning percentage) at home. In Horizon League play at home during that span, the Phoenix is 24-5, winning 12 of its past 13 games.

ATTACKING FROM ALL ANGLES: For the first time since the 2011-12 season, Green Bay has had six different players lead the team in points in at least one game, exhibiting the tremendous amount of depth gracing the Phoenix roster in the 2014-15 campaign. This bodes well for Green Bay as it continues to trudge its way through the seven remaining regular season Horizon League games.

A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN: Enjoying another impressive season, Sykes finds himself among the nation's best players as a member of the Wooden and Naismith Award Watch Lists for National Player of the Year. The Phoenix point guard is the lone player on those lists that can boast having 1,500 or more points (1,910), 400-plus assists (487) and 400-plus rebounds (416).

MOVIN' ON UP: Sykes continues to climb the ranks among the best players in program history. Sykes ranks fourth all-time on Green Bay's all-time scoring list with 1,910 career points. He is also 16th in Horizon League history. The senior is also the program's all-time leader in free throws made (520). Sykes also ranks fourth in assists (487), fifth in scoring average (16.3), sixth in field goals made (645) and eighth in steals (141).

DOUBLE-DIGIT DEJA VU: Sykes has scored in double figures in 35-straight games against Horizon League opponents. The senior has scored in double figures in 62 of the past 64 contests overall, and since the beginning of his sophomore season, he has scored 10 or more in 82 of 87 games. Sykes scored 10 or more just twice in his first 13 career games but has reached the mark 97 times in 104 games since turning 18 on Dec. 30, 2012.

SECOND-HALF SYKES: In the second half of the first nine league games of 2014-15, Sykes has scored 115 points (12.8 per half) and is shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 90.3 percent from the line. Sykes has reached double figures in the second half of 18 of the last 26 games against league opponents. During Horizon League play in 2013-14, Sykes averaged 13.5 second-half points and scored double digits after halftime in 13 of 16 games.

FULL FOUSE: Junior Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) continues to fill up the stat sheet and also climb up the all-time charts for Green Bay. The two-time Horizon League All-Defensive selection is having the best season of his career, averaging 7.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. He now ranks third in Phoenix history in blocked shots (123) and fourth in steals (168). Fouse recently entered the program's top-10 in career rebounds (674) and is now ninth all-time.

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