First Place on Line at The Cell on Thursday

Horizon League Men's Basketball Schedule - Thursday, Jan. 12
Wright State at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. (Horizon League Network)
Detroit at Green Bay, 8 p.m. (Horizon League Network)

The Horizon League weekend schedule gets rolling with first place on the line on Thursday night, when Milwaukee (11-6, 4-1 Horizon) welcomes Wright State (9-9, 4-2 Horizon) to the U.S. Cellular Arena. Up I-43, Green Bay (6-9, 2-3 Horizon) puts its perfect home record on the line when Detroit (8-10, 2-4 Horizon) visits the Resch Center.

Wright State is one of three teams within a game of first place in the Horizon League, sitting just behind the three-way tie for first currently held by Milwaukee, Cleveland State and Youngstown State. The Raiders have earned the perch with wins in five of their last six games, with Julius Mays carrying the load.

Mays was injured in the second half of Wright State's Dec. 14 loss to Cincinnati, suffering a concussion that kept him out of a subsequent loss to Ohio. Since returning on Dec. 20, Mays is averaging 21.5 points per game; not coincidentally, Wright State is 5-1 in that stretch, including wins in three of four League games.

That lone loss came when Mays barely missed a runner at the horn that would have sent the Raiders to a one-point win over Butler; undeterred, Mays scored 21 points in a 73-55 victory over Valparaiso on Sunday that put WSU within a half-game of Milwaukee.

Tasked with stopping Mays will likely be Milwaukee's Ryan Allen. One of the most athletic players in the conference, Allen's defensive prowess is one reason the Panthers enter the night ranked 28th in the country, allowing just 59.1 ppg. On the perimeter, Milwaukee has displayed lockdown defense, holding the opposition to 24.2 percent shooting from three-point range, the best mark in the country.

Offensively, Kaylon Williams will be counted on to break down the Wright State defense and provide scoring opportunities for Tony Meier, James Haarsma and Allen. Williams leads a balanced Milwaukee attack with 11.7 ppg, adding 6.3 assists per game to easily lead the League. Meier's three-point shooting has fluctuated throughout the year, with the senior still working his way back from a calf injury suffered before the season.

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Coming off one of its best performances of the season, Detroit hits the road for the grueling Wisconsin road swing, beginning in snowy Green Bay. Like their neighbors across Oneida Street, the Phoenix have not dropped a home game this season, going a perfect 6-0 at the Resch Center.

The problem for the Phoenix has been on the road, where Green Bay has spent the last two weeks. After a 63-61 win over Idaho on Dec. 22, Green Bay hit the road for three League games, losing at Butler, Valparaiso and Milwaukee by a combined eight points. The last may have stung the most, as the Phoenix led most of the way over in-state rival Milwaukee, only to have Kaylon Williams hit a three as the horn sounded to send the Phoenix to a 64-63 defeat.

Still, the 13th-youngest team in the nation has had promising signs throughout the year, with Keifer Sykes providing the latest. The youngest player in the country, Sykes has started all 15 games for Green Bay and has developed as a scoring threat of late, scoring 17 or more points in three of his last five games. Sykes' finest performance came last week versus Milwaukee, when he finished with 20 points to lead all scorers.

The development of the diminuitive point guard has enabled Alec Brown to flourish in the post, where the 7-foot-1 center needs just four blocks to jump from fourth to second in Green Bay history. On the offensive end of the court, Brown is pacing the Phoenix in scoring (13.7 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg) and free-throw percentage (81.3). In just 47 career games, Brown has put up 532 points.

Another of the sophomore stars of the Horizon League, Detroit's Ray McCallum has tallied 712 points in 51 career games, including 12 in a potentially season-saving 76-65 victory over Butler last Sunday. Coming off a last-second loss to Valparaiso on Friday, the Titans were backed into a corner at 1-4 in League play.

Detroit came out with intensity on both ends of the court, racing out to an 8-0 lead and putting five players into double figures in the victory. McCallum, one of 20 finalists for the Cousy Award and the 2011 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, matched his season high with seven assists as Detroit went 25-for-47 from the floor.

The Titans will be out to accomplish something not done by a Detroit squad in five years: win at the Resch Center. The last Detroit win in Green Bay came on Jan. 2, 2007, before Ray McCallum and Brian Wardle were leading their respective squads.