GCU Defeats Mississippi Valley State

Monday, November 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-0

Mississippi Valley State

0-4

Mississippi Valley State

Grand Canyon

11/23/2015 9:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

PHOENIX – In its best defensive performance of the season, the Grand Canyon men's basketball team held Mississippi Valley State to 36.7 percent shooting from the field as the Antelopes improved to 4-0 after a dominating 94-60 victory over the Delta Devils. Grandy Glaze led GCU with a double-double, scoring 18 points along with a team-high 10 rebounds.

"Great win for us. I was a little worried about this game—right before break," head coach Dan Majerle said. "I thought we played hard for the most part and did really well. I couldn't be happier."

DeWayne Russell was able to orchestrate the offense at a high-level, recording a career-high 12 assists, surpassing his previous high (8) dating back to Feb. 6, 2015 at Chicago State. Russell also scored 11 points for his first career double-double.

Grand Canyon was able to dominate the game by making early runs to start the game and also to kick off the second half. The Lopes could not have asked for a better start to the game going on a 17-0 run, not allowing Mississippi Valley State to score a bucket until eight minutes into the game. GCU then started the second half with a 21-0 run. The Delta Devils made 18 field goals throughout the game and in the first half, GCU shot 51.4 percent from the field, making 18 field goals.

Glaze was able to make an impact on both ends of the court, shooting 90 percent from the floor, scoring 10 points in the first 20 minutes along with five rebounds on offense and five on defense. Joshua Braun continues his hot scoring streak with a team-high 22 points along with eight rebounds. GCU was efficient with the basketball as the starting backcourt (Braun, Russell) only turned the ball over one time in the game.

Majerle continued to rotate his big men, using the size advantage over Mississippi Valley State by outrebounding the Delta Devils 94-60 throughout the game. The Lopes had seven players record at least four rebounds and in the second half, GCU's defense only got better as they allowed just six made shots from the field. Matt Jackson provided a spark off the bench, shooting 50 percent for the game with seven points while also pulling down eight boards.

"Rebounding, that's huge for us. Everybody out there except for maybe DeWayne (Russell) is probably pretty good sized at their position, even DeAndre (Davis) who is a terrific offensive rebounder," Majerle said. "We usually have four or five guys on the court that can really rebound and that's going to be a focal point of what we want to do all year, not only offensively, but defensively."

The Lopes will now take a week off from play before playing at GCU Arena on Monday, Nov. 30, against Hampton at 7 p.m.