Lopes struggle in Louisville, fall to Cardinals

Saturday, December 5

Louisville, Ky.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

6-1

111

Louisville

6-1

GRAND CANYON

LOUISVILLE

111

Photo by: Darryl Webb

12/5/2015 2:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team suffered their first loss of the 2015-16 season as they fell to the No. 24 Louisville Cardinals 111-63 at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday.

"We started off a little soft and guys just continued making shots," head coach Dan Majerle said. "When they did happen to miss a few shots, we couldn't rebound, which is another one of our strengths."

Joshua Braun led the Lopes with 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal while Gerard Martin added 8 points.

Grand Canyon played Louisville close in the opening minutes of the game as they led 10-7 early thanks to a 3-pointer from Martin and three free throws from Braun. The Cardinals were then able to break a 12-12 tie wide open, going on a 26-3 run to open up a 23 point lead over the Lopes. Damion Lee led the Cardinals with 10 points during that stretch. Lee finished with a game-high 24 points.

The usual stout Lopes defense struggled against a long and athletic Cardinal team that shot 63.6 percent from the field in the first half, including a 54.5 percent from 3-point range. It was the first game in which Grand Canyon did not win the battle of the boards as they struggled with Louisville's size up front with the Cardinals outrebounding the Lopes 55-20, including a 26-5 edge in the first half. That size helped contribute to a 31-6 edge in second-chance points and a 46-24 advantage of points in the paint. Louisville also blocked 9 shots.

"I was disappointed and shocked with the effort and just the lack of rebounding and doing the things that we talked about," Majerle added. "I have no explanation for it. It was just one of those things that just snowballed. It started bad and got worse."

Grand Canyon committed 15 turnovers to Louisville's 10, but the Cardinals did a better job of converting those turnovers into points with a 25-8 edge include 19 fast break points.

The Lopes return home on Tuesday, Dec. 8 as they play host to the Southern University Jaguars at Grand Canyon University Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm.