Pack chasing No. 18/16 Green Bay as weekend slate begins

INDIANAPOLIS –With seven games remaining in the season, Horizon League teams look to move up the standings, as No. 18/16 Green Bay sits three games ahead in the lead.

Thursday, Green Bay (22-1, 11-0 Horizon) will head to Chicago to battle UIC (10-11, 5-5) in a 5:30pm ET contest. 

Green Bay is coming off of a 2-0 week, posting an 84-25 win over Youngstown State, its largest margin of victory (+59) in program history since moving to Division I in 1987.  The Phoenix also downed Cleveland State, 87-63, a week ago.

The Flames fell to cross-town rival Loyola (62-47) on Feb. 5, slipping to fifth in the conference standings. It was their second consecutive loss at home and only contest of the week.

Green Bay took the first contest against the Flames (60-51) on Jan. 16, even after being held to a season-low 25 percent shooting in the second half.

But the last time the Flames were at home against the Phoenix on Jan. 23, 2010, they came away with an 81-72 victory over the nationally-ranked team.

Tonight’s game is part of a double-header featuring the Green Bay and UIC men, which tip off at 7 pm.  

Also in Chicago, Loyola (10-11, 4-6) will host Milwaukee (9-13, 6-5) at 5:45pm ET.

Coming off of the win at UIC, Loyola looks to avenge the 72-58 setback at Milwaukee on Jan. 15.  The Ramblers have lost the last six at home against the Panthers.

Milwaukee has won three of the last four contests and two consecutive, picking up victories over Youngstown State (81-66) and Cleveland State (73-64) at home last weekend.

Loyola will then host Green Bay on Saturday for a 1:30pm ET contest, while Milwaukee will head to UIC at 6:30pm.

Valparaiso (6-17, 3-8) will travel to Cleveland State (12-10, 5-6) for a 7pm ET contest tonight.

The Crusaders are coming off of a 2-0 week, winning two in a row for the first time this season.  They defeated Wright State on Thursday (73-64) before downing Detroit (57-46) on Saturday.

The Vikings struggled in Wisconsin last week, falling to Green Bay and Milwaukee, but defeated Valpo in the first meeting this season on Jan. 15 (68-58).

Also tonight at 7:05pm, Butler (14-9, 8-3) will square off with Youngstown State (3-19, 1-10).

Butler has held on to its second place position in the standings even after losing back-to-back games last week.  The Bulldogs fell to Detroit (55-51) and Wright State (70-68) at home after defeating both teams earlier this season.

Youngstown State is looking to break its six-game losing streak that dates back to its first meeting with the Bulldogs on Jan. 15, when it fell 88-69 on the road.  Most recently, the Penguins lost both games in Wisconsin last week.

Youngstown State will then host Valparaiso on Saturday at 1:05pm ET, while Butler will travel to Cleveland State for a 4:30pm tipoff.

Also on Saturday, Wright State (14-8, 7-4) will head to Detroit (10-12, 4-7) for its only contest this week.   Both teams went 1-1 on the road last week, defeating Butler and falling to Valpo.

The Titans have won two of the last three meetings against the Raiders, but Wright State defeated the Titans, 63-62, on Jan. 15.