Russell sets GCU DI record in nail-biter to Louisville

Saturday, December 3

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

3-4, 0-0

Louisville

7-1, 0-0

Louisville

Grand Canyon

Russell sets GCU DI record in nail-biter to Louisville

12/3/2016 9:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX – In front of a record breaking 7,493 fans at GCU Arena, the Grand Canyon men's basketball team fell to No. 14 Louisville, 79-70 on Saturday night. DeWayne Russell set a GCU DI single-game record and tied a Western Athletic Conference single-game record with a career-high 42 points.

"This was an unbelievable crowd," head coach Dan Majerle commented. "It doesn't shock me though because we see it most times when we come here in this building. It was magnified a little bit because of Louisville and the great program they have and coach (Rick) Pitino. We have one of the best student sections in all of the country. I truly believe it. I think a lot of people saw that tonight. It's a pleasure and a great atmosphere to work in. Our guys really appreciate it."

In front of a packed GCU Arena, the Lopes battled against one of the most dominate teams in Division I. Energized in front of the home crowd and sound-deafening Havocs, Grand Canyon proved to have one of the best student sections in the nation.

"First thing I want to say is that was an awesome performance," Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. "Second thing I want to say is this is, in my 40 years of coaching college basketball this is the toughest crowds that I've had to face. Awesome. You've got something special really special. Whether we go to Duke, Kentucky, nothing was as tough as that environment tonight. So I'm just extremely grateful we won, but just really, really impressed with what you have here. As soon as you get eligible for this tournament, you're going to have something really, really special."

Tying a single-game conference record, Russell scored a career-high 42 points off 14-of-27 shooting, including 3-of-6 from the 3-point mark. The last time a WAC student-athlete scored 42 points in a game was on Feb. 15, 2014 by Stephen Madison (Idaho) at Utah Valley.

"My teammates were just finding me the ball," Russell commented on his performance. "Coach Majerle drew up some great plays for me. Just following his lead to keep playing and never get down helped me a lot."

The Cardinals got off to a quick start, making their first two FG attempts of the game. The Lopes started 0-of-3 from the field but took a 5-4 lead at the 16:06 mark after a block and FT from Oscar Frayer jump started the Grand Canyon offense.

With the biggest crowd in GCU Arena history, Louisville was forced to take two early time outs, and committed four fouls and four turnovers in the first four minutes of competition. Before heading into the locker room the Cardinals totaled 10 personal fouls and six turnovers. Defensively for the Lopes, Frayer shined as the true freshman recorded two blocks.

At the 7:04 mark, Grand Canyon took their largest lead of the game after two successful free throws from Keonta Vernon put the Lopes up 18-14.

The first half consisted of 26 lead changes as the two teams turned up their offenses. Grand Canyon out-shot Louisville 42 percent (11-26) to 40 percent (12-30) heading into the locker room. With 2:30 left in the game, Russell scored nine points, including six straight points for the Lopes to cut the Cardinals' lead to 32-31 with 1:24 to go and a 3-point half-time buzzer beater to put the Lopes up 37-36 at the break.

Playing every minute in the first half, Russell led all scorers with 18 points (6-of-13). For the Cardinals, junior Matz Stockman recorded 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting.
To begin the second half, the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to go up 41-37. The Lopes quickly responded after two Darion Clark layups evened the score, 41-41 at the 17:21 mark.

Louisville took a 64-51 lead, their largest lead of the game after a 9-0 run at the 8:47 mark, making 10-of-12 of their shot during that span. The Cardinals continued to battle and never looked back as they held the lead for the rest of the game.

Next up, Grand Canyon will host San Diego State on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. MST at GCU Arena. The game will be televised on CW6 and aired on 910 AM FOX Sports Phoenix.

End of Game Notes

Russell's 42 points set a GCU single-game record since the university transitioned to Division I. 42 points is the 2nd most scored by an individual against Louisville all-time.
Following scoring-leader Russell, Clark and Vernon recorded eight points each. Russell, Clark and Vernon accounted for 58 of GCU's points on the night.
Louisville's Deng Adel led the Cardinals with 15 points (7-of-16) in 29 minutes. Senior Mangok Mathiang led all players with eight rebounds on the night, adding three points.
From the 3-point line, Grand Canyon out-shot Louisville, 50 (6-of-12) to 33.3 percent (5-of-15). From the free throw line, the Lopes were 18-of-24 as the Cardinals hit 16-of-19.

Additional Quotes

Grand Canyon G DeWayne Russell on the record-breaking crowd:
"It was amazing, the Havocs do such a great job every game. Especially tonight against a Top-25 team, they brought the energy tonight for us."

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino on Russell:
"For us to overcome this crowd, overcome the best guard performance I've seen in the last 10 years. It's been a long time since I've seen a guard performance like that against our defense, so it was very, very impressive."