GCU falls at Utah State

Friday, November 5

Logan, UT

7:05 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Utah State (exhibition)

Grand Canyon sophomore Brad Carroll had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists at Utah State Friday.

11/5/2010 8:32:27 PM | Men's Basketball

Regular season begins Friday at Utah

By: Steve Heath

Grand Canyon’s exhibition season came to a close with a 76-46 loss to Utah State in Logan Friday.

It was GCU’s second preseason contest against a top Division I opponent, the ‘Lopes played UNLV earlier in the week.

“We’ve got to learn to play a tougher game mentally,” said GCU coach Russ Pennell of his team’s performance against the Aggies. “We can’t let non-calls or bad calls bother us.

“I think in the second half, we played more with our heads and I thought we found a rhythm on offense and did a better job executing on defense, though they shot the ball extremely well.”

GCU had a second-half stretch where it made six straight field goals; the first three were 3-pointers from sophomore Steven Morin (Scottsdale, Ariz., Saguaro). Sophomore Barret Robbins (Phoenix, Ariz., Desert Vista) hit a pair of field goals and Chris Johnson (Phoenix, Ariz., Highland) added a nice finish for two.

Unfortunately for the Antelopes, the Aggies answered most of their makes. Utah State shot 62 percent from the field led by All-American candidate Tai Wesley, who hit 10 of 11 field goals and had 23 points.

“We knew coming up they have an incredible basketball team,” praised Pennell of Friday’s opponent. “They’ve won three straight WAC championships and they have over 200 starts out of their starting five. We knew it’d be a tall tale to win the game.”

Morin led GCU in scoring in each of its exhibition games. He had 13 points against Utah State, after scoring 11 at UNLV. Brad Carroll (Chandler, Ariz., Corona del Sol) had 12 points. Robbins and Johnson each had four rebounds. Guard Kyle Speed (Seattle, Wash., Lake Washington, Johnson County CC) had three steals and guard Nick Witherill led the team in assists with three. Johnson and Braylon Pickrel (Mesa, Ariz., Red Mountain, Mesa CC) each had two blocked shots.

Off the bench, sophomore Robbins gave the ‘Lopes a first-half boost, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in a stint that saw GCU cut the Aggies lead from nine to four. Carroll’s 3-pointer made it 13-9. At the half, Carroll’s five points led GCU.

Grand Canyon returns to Utah next week for its season-opener at the University of Utah on Nov. 12

Box Score