The Green Bay men's basketball team raced out to 12-0 advantage over the first six minutes and held Morehead State to 33 percent from the field en route to a 66-50 non-conference win on Wednesday evening (Dec. 17) at the Resch Center.
The Phoenix, which competes in the Horizon League, improves to 8-2 overall and 4-0 at home with its seventh victory in eight contests. The Eagles, who play in the Ohio Valley Conference, slip to 4-9 overall and 1-6 on the road with their fifth consecutive defeat.
Green Bay, which won its 2014 regular-season league championship, entered the day seventh in the NCAA's official RPI. It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Morehead State missed its first 10 field-goal attempts and didn't score until the 13:34 mark of the opening half. The Eagles were limited to 27 percent from the floor before intermission. MSU hit 8-of-30 before the break and 9-of-21 in the second period.
"We had another pretty solid effort on the defensive end, but we must find a way to become more efficient on the offensive end," Head Coach Sean Woods said. "Our offensive execution was lacking again tonight, and that needs to get better in a hurry."
MSU was whistled for 28 fouls, while UWGB committed just 16 infractions. The Phoenix was +14 on free-throw attempts and +8 on makes from the charity stripe.
"Our first five or six shots from the field were bunnies," Woods said. "We fell behind by 12 right away because we missed lay-ups, tip-ins and easy jumpers. We battled down the stretch, but you can't fall behind like that against a quality opponent on the road."
Senior Keifer Sykes paced Green Bay with a game-best 17 points on 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, while junior Carrington Love added 12. Junior Jordan Fouse pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for UWGB, while Love distributed a team-best four assists.
Junior Brent Arrington led Morehead State with 13 points on 6-of-6 from foul line, while senior Kareem Storey added nine points. Junior Marcus Fuggins registered a team-high seven rebounds for the Eagles, while Storey was credited with a club-best four helpers.
Green Bay tallied advantages of 38-20 in the paint and 20-7 off turnovers. The Phoenix led from start to finish with its biggest cushion of 19 points coming at the 5:59 mark.
"I'm disappointed from a mental perspective and hustle standpoint," Woods said. "I'm not one to make excuses, but our team appeared to hit a wall for the first time this season. We've had a very difficult schedule so far, but we need to push through that."
Morehead State returns to Johnson Arena on Friday (Dec. 19) when it entertains Atlantic Sun Conference opponent Northern Kentucky at 7 p.m.
