A nearly dormant rivalry between two schools with a long basketball history against each other was renewed when the Green Knights joined the NACC in July 2021. Lakeland and St. Norbert have met five times since then, with SNC winning all meetings, including a 79-67 win in De Pere earlier this season as the Green Knights shot 51.7%, held the Muskies to 41.1% shooting and outrebounded Lakeland 38-30. The teams' last meeting at the Woltzen Gymnasium was Dec. 6, 2023, with St. Norbert prevailing 84-66.

Before the last four seasons, the teams had met just once in the previous 27 years, when St. Norbert topped the Muskies 69-58 in December 2010. Lakeland hasn't defeated St. Norbert since a 76-59 victory Nov. 28, 1994 in the Wehr Center fieldhouse. The Muskies' rivalry with the Green Knights dates back to Lakeland's first season of playing basketball in 1933-34, when the school was known as Mission House College and St. Norbert prevailed 20-18 in the first matchup Jan. 10, 1934. The teams played at least twice a season most years from 1934-83, but St. Norbert joined the Midwest Conference in 1983 and Lakeland the Lake Michigan Conference a year later and the teams have played just five times since.

Lakeland last time out: Defeated Dominican 88-78 Saturday
The Muskies hosted the Stars for Senior Day and rallied in the second half to complete a sweep of Dominican this season. Lakeland trailed muchof the first half and went into halftime trailing 36-33, but shot 62.8% in the second half, making 22 of 35 shots. Lakeland finished shooting 53.8% and Asanjai Hunter lead the Muskies with 24 points and 10 rebounds to post a double-double, and Isaiah Hammond was secured a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Lakeland snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the third time this season at home, and also moved into a tie for eighth in the NACC standings with four regular season games remaining.

St. Norbert last time out: Defeated Edgewood 65-51 Saturday
The Green Knights extended their winning streak to six games with a win over the Eagles on Saturday. St. Norbert held Edgewood to just six points over the final 16:42 of the first half, taking a 28-12 lead into halftime as the Eagles made just 4 of 30 shots (13.3%) in the first 20 minutes. SNC went on to lead by as many as 23 in the second half before Edgewood made a run to within 12 points late. Cole Uhlenbrauck led the Green Kngihts with 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Jamison Nickolai added a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

St. Norbert holds a 16-6 overall record and enters the night second in the NACC with a 12-3 record. The Green Knights are led by Gary Grzesk, a former Lakeland head coach from 2003-06 who led the Muskies to their first and only NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 2004 before departing for St. Norbert in 2006. Grzesk is in his 18th season at St. Norbert, tying him with Concordia Wisconsin's Shawn Cassidy for longest-tenured coach with a school in the NACC. Last year St. Norbert finished second in the league with a 22-6 overall record and 15-3 in the NACC, making it to the NACC Tournament championship game before falling short to Wisconsin Lutheran.