By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) arrived on the UW-Green Bay campus as a 17-year old from Chicago, not knowing what his college career would bring. The point guard took the reins of the Phoenix program immediately, starting in his collegiate debut.

His career has been marked by star power, highlight reel dunks and records, but it has been built on consistency, hard work and improvement. On Thursday night, those things came together for a memorable game in his hometown of Chicago. Sykes scored a career-high 36 points, and in the process became the second player in program history (Tony Bennett) to reach 2,000 career points.

Not only is the Phoenix senior the only active player nationally with 2,000-plus points, 400-plus rebounds and 400-plus assists, he is the first player in the 35-year history of the Horizon League to reach those marks.

In recent weeks, Sykes has moved into tenth place on the Horizon League's all-time scoring list, passing the likes of Butler's Matt Howard, Saint Louis' Anthony Bonner, Cleveland State's Norris Cole and Youngstown State's Kendrick Perry. He is 80 points shy of fifth place and has scored more points than any league player in the past decade.

Despite constantly looking at defenses designed to minimize his impact, keep him out of the lane and off the free-throw line, Sykes has once again put himself in the conversation as one of the nation's best players.

The senior has earned spots on the Wooden Award and Naismith Award Watch lists among the nation's top players, and this month was named a finalist for the 2015 Bob Cousy Award, presented annually to the nation's top point guard. On Jan. 12, Sykes was named the Naismith Award's National Player of the Week.

Averaging 18.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, Sykes has reached 500 points for the third-straight season, becoming the second Phoenix player in school history to accomplish that feat. He has also dished out 100 or more assists for the fourth-straight season. He leads the Horizon League in scoring at 18.4 points per game, and has upped that scoring average to 19.6 in league play.

The point guard has also put together his best season on the defensive end of the floor, totaling a career-high 50 steals while creating countless five-second counts. In his career, he has tallied 150 steals to sit eighth in program history.

Sykes will be in action on Saturday afternoon at the Resch Center when Green Bay hosts Oakland at 1 p.m. Sykes and fellow seniors Josh Humphrey, Greg Mays and Alfonzo McKinnie will be honored prior to the game at approximately 12:40 p.m. for Senior Day, and the first 2,000 fans will receive Keifer Sykes bobbleheads.

#

For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.

Follow us on Twitter: @GBPhoenix and @GBPhoenixMBB.