GREEN BAY, Wis. – Following a 2-2 homestand the past two weeks, the Green Bay men's basketball team will embark on a four-game road trip that begins Thursday night at Youngstown State and Saturday night at Robert Morris.

Thursday, Jan. 27 – 6 p.m. – BEEGHLY CENTER
Green Bay (4-14, 3-6 HL) vs. Youngstown State (10-10, 4-6 HL)
Links: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
 
Saturday, Jan. 29 – 6 p.m. – UPMC Events Center
Green Bay (4-14, 3-6 HL) vs. Robert Morris (3-16, 1-9 HL)
Links: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
 
ABOUT THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State is just half a game up on the Phoenix in the Horizon League standings, sitting at 4-6 in league play. They are coming off of back-to-back losses to Cleveland State and Purdue Fort Wayne. The Penguins boast a balanced scoring attack, paced by Michael Akuchie and Tevin Olison, who averages 12.8 and 12.7 points per game respectively. Overall, there are four scorers on YSU who average in double-digits. Dwayne Cohill averages 11.8 points and Garrett Covington averages 10.3 points per game. Youngstown State has the fourth-best scoring margin in the HL at 3.0, and is just one of six teams with a positive scoring margin.
 
Defensively, YSU is among the league's best at crashing the boards, pulling down 36 rebounds per game, good for second-best in the HL. They're also second with 25.4 defensive rebounds per game. Akuchie is fifth in the league with a 7.4 RPG.
 
The Penguins came to Green Bay earlier this season and got a decisive 82-58 win over the Phoenix. Olison led the way with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Akuchie posted 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
 
ABOUT THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris is one of the top shooting teams in the Horizon League, good for third-best in the league at 46.0-percent. However, the Colonials have struggled on the defensive end, yielding the second-highest opponent shooting percentage, which sits at 46.3-percent. Their opponent's 37.4-percent shooting from beyond the arc is dead last in the league.
 
Despite some of their struggles, Kahliel Spear and Rasheem Dunn have been bright spots for the Colonials. Both average 12.8 points per game, part of a similar balanced offensive attack that YSU boasts. Like the Penguins, the Colonials have four players who average double-digit scoring, with Kam Farris and Micheal Green III rounding out the offense. Spear is also one of the top rebounders in the HL, tied for sixth in the league with 7.2 RPG, and is second in field-goal percentage at 52.4-percent.
 
The Phoenix got their first Horizon League win earlier this season against Robert Morris on Dec. 2. Manny Ansong led the way in the 70-58 win with a season-high 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting in just 27 minutes. Donovan Ivory chipped in with 11 and Japannah Kellogg III finished with 10. The Colonials were led by 17 points from Rasheem Dunn in the contest.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Phoenix has played only one game against Robert Morris all-time, which came earlier this year on Dec. 2, 2021. Green bay defeated the Colonials, 70-58. Meanwhile, GB has a long history against Youngstown state, with the series dating back to January of 1993. The Phoenix has a 35-14 record against the Penguins, but dropped their last game against them on Dec. 4, 2021. Manny Ansong led the way for Green Bay, scoring 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 22 minutes.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Green Bay split a four-game homestand the past two weeks, first by grabbing a win over IUPUI and falling to UIC. The Phoenix followed the UIC loss up with a win over Detroit Mercy, but wasn't able to hold off a tough Oakland team this past Saturday. The Phoenix played a strong game against Oakland, and got double-digit scoring efforts from Donovan Ivory (18), Cade Meyer (16), and Manny Ansong (13). GB made it a five-point game with 30 seconds left, but Jamal Cain iced the game with a pair of free throws.
 
MINUTE MADE
Cade Meyer, one of three true freshmen for the Phoenix, has seen a large uptick in playing time recently. In the last four games, Meyer has recorded 30 or more minutes while averaging 13.5 points and 6.3 rebounds. His two best performances this year have come in the last two games. Against Detroit Mercy, Meyer scored 16 and grabbed five rebounds, and followed that up with a 16-point, eight rebound performance against Oakland. In those two games, he shot a combined 60.0-percent from the field.
 
KAMARI KRUSHIN' IT
A two-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week, Kamari McGee has been one of the focal points of the Green Bay offense this season. McGee is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.4 points per game. McGee had his best stretch of the season to this point from December 12 to January 15. During that span, he averaged 14.4 points per game, including a career-high 23 points against UIC. Overall, he shot 44-percent (48-of-109), and was 25-of-30 (83.3-percent) from the charity stripe during that stretch.
 
MAKE WAY FOR MANNY
Manny Ansong transferred to GB prior to the 2020-21 season, following head coach Will Ryan from Wheeling University. Despite missing two games this season due to health and safety protocols, Ansong still leads the Phoenix in a multitude of categories. The junior paces GB in:

• Points (12.3 PPG)
• Field goal percentage (55.6-percent on 79-of-142 shooting)
• Steals (15 total, 0.9 SPG)
• Tied for first in rebounds with Japannah Kellogg III (5.0 RPG)
• Minutes (28.4 MPG)

 
STEADY STIEBER
Lucas Stieber has been prolific in the assist department, recording 68 of them in just 16 games this year. Stieber boasts a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is good for second-best in the Horizon League.

NEW PHOENIX FACES
Green Bay welcomes eight new members in 2021-22, including five transfers and three true freshmen.
 
Transfers
Mitch Listau (6-4, G | Belmont)
Randy Tucker (6-4, G | Vincennes)
Donovan Ivory (6-6, G | Boise State)
Tutu Majok (6-8, F | Bossier Parish CC)
Nate Jenkins (6-2, G | Iowa)
 
True Freshman
Kamari McGee (6-0, G | Racine St. Catherine's)
Cade Meyer (6-8, F | Monroe)
Brayden Dailey (6-7, F | Cuba City)
 
PRESEASON #HLMBB POLL
Pl. School (1st-place) – Votes
1. Cleveland State (30) – 502
2. Wright State (9) – 463
3. Northern Kentucky (1) – 406
4. Milwaukee (2)– 396
5. Detroit Mercy (2) – 350
6. Oakland – 340
7. Youngstown State – 214
8. UIC – 204
9. Purdue Fort Wayne – 169
10. Robert Morris– 157
11. Green Bay – 146
12. IUPUI – 85

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