The 3rd Man In

In-state rivals will square off

Green Bay Phoenix (12-3, 2-0) vs. Milwaukee Panthers (12-5, 2-1)
Location: U.S. Cellular Arena – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Time: 1:00 p.m. CST
Broadcast: TV: Time Warner Cable SportsChannel & HLN; Radio: WISN-AM1130

Sunday the Milwaukee Panthers will be playing only their fourth Horizon League game of the season, but it could very well be their biggest conference game of the season. Preseason conference favorite, Green Bay, will take the quick trip down to Milwaukee to face the Panthers in a hostile environment.

Last season the Panthers were swept by the Phoenix including a defeat in the Horizon League Tournament, but this year is a new season. The Panthers are coming in on a roll after beating Oakland earlier in the week, and have had success at home against the Phoenix in recent years winning 12 of the last 15 games in Milwaukee.

The Phoenix will be coming into play on a seven game winning streak, but five of those wins have come at home. Green Bay has only three true road wins this season, with two of their losses coming away from home against Harvard and Eastern Michigan.

Overall this season Green Bay has done an outstanding job on both sides of the ball. They are averaging 77.9 point on 48.2 percent shooting per game. Their defense is only allowing 63.8 points per game, as their opponents are shooting 37.1 percent from the floor.

Guard Keifer Sykes has been the Phoenix’s top player, and arguably the best player in the Horizon League so far this season as he is averaging 19.6 points while making 51.3 percent of his shoots and grabbing 3.1 rebounds per game.

Joining Sykes in the starting lineup will guards Vince Garrett and Jordan Fouse, forward Greg Mays, and center Alec Brown.

Milwaukee will counter with their usual lineup featuring guards Steve McWhorter and Jordan Aaron, and forwards Austin Arians, Matt Tiby and Kyle Kelm.

Milwaukee has struggled against better teams this season, and if they want to make some noise early on in the conference season, upsetting their in-state rival would be huge. This will be one of the Panthers toughest games of the year, and they will need to play smart, fundamental basketball if they want to have a chance at winning this game.

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