GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The Green Bay men’s and women’s basketball teams will host first-round games in the Horizon League tournament this week at the Kress Center, entering postseason play with conference accolades and renewed expectations.
Men’s team riding turnaround into postseason
Green Bay (17-14, 12-8 Horizon League) finished fifth in the league standings and will host No. 6 seed Purdue Fort Wayne (17-14, 11-9 HL) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The winner advances to the quarterfinals at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis on March 8 or 9.
The Phoenix’s fifth-place finish marks a significant turnaround. At this point last season, Green Bay was 4-27 overall and 2-18 in league play. This year’s team added 10 conference wins and matched last season’s win total in just nine games.
Green Bay enters the tournament coming off an 85-63 Senior Day win over Youngstown State. Justin Allen led the way with 22 points, while Preston Ruedinger added 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. C.J. O’Hara scored 16, and Caden Wilkins chipped in 10 as the Phoenix outrebounded Youngstown State 40-24 and held it to 28.6 percent shooting from three-point range.
All-League honors
The Horizon League announced its postseason awards Monday, with two Phoenix guards recognized.
Preston Ruedinger earned All-League Second Team honors after averaging 11.6 points and 5.3 assists per game, ranking third in the league in assists and second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.7. He has started all 31 games and leads the team in minutes at 35.1 per contest.
C.J. O’Hara was named to the All-League Third Team. He leads Green Bay in scoring at 14.1 points per game and has reached double figures in 26 of 31 starts.
Head coach Doug Gottlieb said he believed more players deserved recognition.
“Obviously really happy for both of them. I thought Rudy should have been 1st team,” Gottlieb said. “I thought CJ should have been 2nd team. I thought Justin Allen or Marcus Hall should have been on that list as well.”
Marcus Hall, a preseason first-team selection, is averaging 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds and surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season. Allen, one of the team’s most dynamic scorers, has topped 20 points nine times and scored a season-high 34 points against Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 12.
Gottlieb said advancing will come down to fundamentals.
“Three things every game. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter if you play fast, you play slow — guard the ball, rebound the ball, value the ball,” he said. “If you want to keep playing, you got to dig in at the defensive end.”
Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne
The Mastodons are led by 12th-year head coach Jon Coffman. Corey Hadnot II leads the Horizon League in scoring at 20.6 points per game and also averages 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals. DeAndre Craig Jr. and Mikale Stevenson each average 14.1 points.
The two programs have met once before in the Horizon League tournament. During the 2020-21 season, Purdue Fort Wayne defeated Green Bay 89-84 in double overtime at the Kress Center.
Green Bay ranks among the most efficient offensive teams in the league, shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from three-point range.
The roster also features one of the most unique stories in Division I basketball. Ramel Bethea, 29, served five years in the U.S. Navy before beginning his collegiate career and is currently the oldest player in Division I basketball.
Women collect major league honors
The Green Bay women also earned significant recognition when the Horizon League announced its awards Monday in Indianapolis.
Jenna Guyer was named Horizon League Player of the Year and earned First Team and All-Defensive Team honors. Head coach Kayla Karius was named Coach of the Year.
Despite missing five games to start the season, Guyer led the team with 14.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures in 23 of 25 games, including 19 straight to end the regular season, and recorded five double-doubles.
Karius said Guyer’s recognition reflects the respect she earned across the league.
“This program has had a ton of very, really, really good players come out of it that have not been Conference Player of the Year. That’s a really impressive group for her to be a part of,” Karius said.
She added that Guyer’s impact goes beyond scoring totals.
“The respect from the league when you’re not even in the top three in leading scorers in the league says a lot. It says that they saw her hard work and they respected her game and they respected her leading the way for a team that came out on top in the regular season,” Karius said.
Karius earned her first Coach of the Year award after leading Green Bay through a major roster transition. The Phoenix graduated seven seniors and more than 85 percent of their scoring from last season. This year’s roster featured eight newcomers. Through two seasons, Karius holds a 51-14 overall record and a 36-4 conference mark.
Maddy Skorupski was named All-League Second Team for the second straight year. She ranks second in the league in assists at 4.3 per game and averages 11.0 points and 5.6 rebounds while also ranking fifth in the league in steals at 1.9 per game.
Meghan Schultz earned All-League Third Team honors after averaging 12.6 points and shooting 57.8 percent from the field. Kamy Peppler was named a Sportsmanship Award finalist.
Green Bay will host the winner of the play-in game between IU Indy and Milwaukee at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Kress Center.
Both first-round games will stream on ESPN+, with later rounds of the tournament airing on ESPNU, ESPN2 and ESPN.
