Hoops Set to Host Master's College

HOME SWEET HOME: GCU opens its regular season home schedule tonight when The Master’s College visits Grand Canyon University Arena. Tonight will be the first of eight consecutive home games, taking the ‘Lopes to end of 2011. GCU will not hit the road again until Jan. 3, when it plays at Dominican.

VS. THE MASTER’S COLLEGE: Tonight will be the first match-up between the two schools. The Master’s College is off to a 4-0 start to begin the season. The Mustangs have won their first four games by an average of 20.7 points, including a 63-40 win over Arizona Christian. ACU will play at GCU Arena on Dec. 30. The Master’s College is a member of the NAIA and compete in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

LAST TIME OUT: GCU put a valiant effort in their opener, losing to UNLV, 83-66 on Nov. 11. The Antelopes trailed by only one, 39-38 at the half. Grand Canyon shot 41.8% from the floor, improving from the mid-30’s in which the team had shot in its first three exhibitions. Braylon Pickrel led the ‘Lopes with 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting in just 16 minutes of action. Transfer Blake Davis had 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.

FOR OPENERS: The Antelopes have won their last eight straight home openers. Last season, GCU defeated Minnesota-Duluth 72-54 behind Chris Johnson’s 13 points.

THE BIG “O”: Brad Carroll enters his junior season after averaging 9.2 points per game last year, third-best on the team. Carroll led the team with a .418 shooting percentage (38-for-91) behind the arc. He was clutch from the line, sinking 46-of-51 shots attempted for a .902 average. Carroll scored 31 points on 9-for-33 shooting in GCU’s three exhibition games. He was recently named to the 2011-12 PacWest Preseason All-Conference team.

SPEED TRAP: Senior Kyle Speed finished the 2010-11 season leading the PacWest in assist/turnover ratio (3.37). He ranked fourth in the nation. Speed was second in the league in steals (1.3), fifth in assists (3.5) and 10th in 3-point field-goal percentage (38.0). He led GCU in scoring at 10.0 per game and was named to the All-PacWest Second Team in 2010-11. Speed, along with Carroll, was recently named to the 2011-12 PacWest Preseason All-Conference team.

QUITE A SHOWING: Junior Braylon Pickrel made an early impact on the season, scoring 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting with four rebounds in 16 minutes against UNLV. For his efforts, he was named to the PacWest Honor Roll for last week. Pickrel played limited minutes last year after returning from a church mission. He missed the Oregon game and played limited minutes in the ASU game due to sickness. He started to recover during the San Diego Christian game, scoring eight points in 16 minutes.

LOOKING BACK: GCU went 14-12 last season, finishing fourth in the PacWest. The Antelopes jumped out to an 8-3 conference mark, before falling in five of their last six contests. GCU was second in the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to 68.1 points per game. They were third in PacWest 3-point percentage with a .369 average (155-for-420).

IN THE HUNT: GCU was recently picked to finish second in the PacWest Conference Preseason Poll. The ‘Lopes received two first-place votes. BYU-Hawai’i was picked first by the conference coaches and received eight first-place votes. Dixie State was also picked second, along with GCU, with Chaminade tabbed for fourth. PacWest newcomer Cal Baptist rounded out the top five.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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