Pregame Preview: Northern Kentucky (11-14,6-8 Horizon) at Green Bay (2-23,0-14 Horizon)
Northern Kentucky starts the Wisconsin trip with a matchup vs Green Bay on February 14th at 7 pm EST. Take a look at a quick recap from the January 4th matchup, where Northern Kentucky won 78-60 before we dive into the scouting report.
First Half:
The first half of the game between Green Bay and Northern Kentucky at Truist Arena was closely contested, with several lead changes and momentum swings. Green Bay started strong with efficient three-point shooting, hitting 7 of 15 from beyond the arc. Northern Kentucky, however, responded with solid ball movement and contributions from Josh Dilling, who scored 11 points in the first half. Despite Northern Kentucky's struggles from the free-throw line in the first half (6-of-11), they managed to take a narrow 33-31 lead into halftime.
Second Half:
Northern Kentucky came out strong after the break. They hit 13-of-25 field goals (52%) and capitalized from three-point range with 8-of-15 shooting (53.33%). Josh Dilling continued to excel, hitting crucial shots that widened the gap. Northern Kentucky also dominated second-chance points and forced turnovers, scoring 25 points off Green Bay's mistakes. Green Bay could not keep pace with NKU's offensive efficiency.
Overview:
Northern Kentucky's balanced attack and dominant second-half performance secured their 78-60 victory. The team's ability to capitalize on turnovers and hit key three-pointers was pivotal. Green Bay's Marcus Hall led all scorers with 19 points, but the team's lack of bench production and struggles with rebounding proved costly, losing that battle 38-25.
Green Bay Scouting Report:
#13 Marcus Hall 6'6" Sophomore Forward
Season Averages (33.3 MIN, 12.5 PPG, 4.1 REB, 2.4 AST)
Marcus Hall is the only active player for the Phoenix averaging double figure scoring on the season. The sophomore from Schofield Wisconsin is at his best shooting when he does not have to dribble, where he is 38.3% from three on the season. Despite being a reliable spot up shooter, the Phoenix trust his ability to dribble and will use him in pick and roll situations where he can either be the ball handler coming off a screen or the screener, where he will then pop for a jump shot.
#34/40 Yonatan Levy 6'9" Freshman Forward
Season Averages (26.2 MIN, 9.9 PPG, 6.3 REB, 2.3 AST)
Levy was a mid season acquisition for the Phoenix after playing the previous two seasons for Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. His second career game for the Phoenix was in the first matchup against Northern Kentucky where he only played 9 minutes and scored just 2 points. In the seven games since, he has scored 15 or more points in 4 of those games and has become a much more reliable player for Green Bay. Yonatan does most of his best offensive work out of post ups where he shoots almost 52%, but is a capable shooter from three, going 7-17 in his nine games played. Unlike Hall, Levy is not a player that is going to take defenders off the dribble very often and when he does he often turns the ball over or struggles to get clean looks at the basket. He is not very gifted athletically, so it is not a surprise that he struggled against the fast and athletic Mastodons in Green Bay's last game only coming away with 3 points on 1-7 shooting.
#3 Jeremiah Johnson 6'3" Freshman Guard
Season Averages (22.7 MIN, 9.6 PPG, 4.4 REB, 1.1 AST)
The 6'3 guard for the Phoenix is having a solid freshman campaign and is at his best coming downhill off of ball screens or in transition offense. He is shooting over 54% when driving off of ball screens and he is going to grow more in this role as his career progresses. Johnson is a capable shooter at 22.5% from three, but not nearly as efficient as some of his other teammates at the guard position.
#2 Preston Ruedinger 6'2" Redshirt Junior Guard
Season Averages (33.8 MIN, 8.0 PPG, 3.6 REB, 3.0 AST)
Ruedinger is a 6'2 guard who nearly has a 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio while also shooting 38.7% from three. Preston feels most comfortable getting up three pointers, with almost 50% of shot attempts this year coming from behind the arc. Despite being known for his shooting and his average size at the guard position, he is a capable defender for this Phoenix team.
#0 Foster Wonders 6'5" Redshirt Junior and #6 Ben Tweedy 6'2" Freshman are both guards off the bench that provide a possible offensive threat but are major weak points defensively that Northern Kentucky will look to expose.
Historic Season and Road Struggles
The Green Bay Phoenix are currently in the midst of a program record 20 straight losses. They are losing by an average of 15 points a game during this streak and have rarely led in the late moments of games to put themselves in a position to break the streak. First year head coach Doug Gottlieb had this to say about the streak:
"Look, there has been some tough moments, I am not going to lie to you. It weighs on you, it's hard to deal with it. I can't imagine being 18, 19, 20 years old and taking this beating."
The Phoenix have historically struggled against Northern Kentucky, and recently only winning one of the last ten head to head matchups. They will however face an NKU squad that is just 2-8 on the road this season with the two wins coming at IU Indy and Oakland. The Norse are also looking to right the ship defensively after giving up 81 in a late loss to Robert Morris. Green Bay is a great opportunity for NKU to do that with the Phoenix averaging just 67.6 points per game, which is good for 321st in the country. Green Bay's offense is also 354th in the country in half-court turnover percentage at 18.3% which in the last matchup led to a massive 25 points off of turnovers for Northern Kentucky.
