Lopes head to Chicago looking to extend hot streak

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team looks to extend their winning streak to 10 games and improve to 4-0 in WAC play as they travel to Chicago, Ill. to take on the Chicago State Cougars on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. The game will tip-off at 6 p.m. MT from the Jones Convocation Center. Thursday's game will be broadcasted live on the WAC Digital Network.

The Lopes will aim to avenge two losses to the Cougars in the 2014-15 season. The two schools have split their four matchups all-time, 2-2. The last time they met, the Lopes started slow and found themselves in a 19-point hole early in the second half, before mounting a furious comeback that brought them within two points with just over a minute to go. Chicago State capitalized on two offensive rebounds in their final possession to maintain their lead and come away with a 75-70 victory. Joshua Braun led GCU with 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field and tying for the team lead with 5 rebounds.

Braun has been on a torrid pace as of late, having scored 20-plus points in five of his last six games, including all three of the Lopes' conference games to date. Last Saturday night, the reigning WAC Player of the Week set a career-high with 34 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and a ridiculous 17-of-19 mark from the free throw line as GCU held off the Wolverines of Utah Valley 99-88 at GCU Arena to improve to 16-2 on the season.

"Josh is a beast—I'm here to tell you—he's a beast," head coach Dan Majerle said after the win over Utah Valley. "He does whatever I ask. He posts up, he shoots threes, he gets to the free throw line, rebounds, plays defense. He's having a heck of a year. He's just got to keep it going. When he has games like that, you just throw him the ball and let him go."

The Lopes had five players score in double-figures and their 99 points in regulation was the highest total since GCU transitioned to Division I play. Grandy Glaze recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Matt Jackson scored a career-best 13 points on 5-of-7 from the field, including hitting three of his five three-pointers. Dominic Magee and De'Andre Davis both came off the bench to contribute 14 and 10 points respectively, while DeWayne Russell directed the offense and led the team with 6 assists.

Chicago State has struggled as of late, entering Thursday's matchup with a 4-17 having lost 16 of their last 17 games. Clemmye Owens V leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 10.6 points per game while Fred Sims Jr. is close behind with a 10.3 average on the season. Trayvon Palmer has been the leading rebounder, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, a mark that currently ranks second in the WAC. Chicago State fell 99-66 to Green Bay on Tuesday night despite 19 points and 15 rebounds from Palmer.

"It'll be a test for us," Majerle said of the matchup with the Cougars. "Especially conference games, they're all hard. Chicago State beat us twice last year. [Our guys] understand that. We have a little bit of mojo going and I'm anxious to see how we got out and perform on the road."

Following Thursday's game, the Lopes will head to Kansas City for a Saturday night contest with Missouri-Kansas City. Lopes fans will be able to watch from home on the American Sports Network or Cox 7 Arizona. Michael Potter and Dan Nichols will also be broadcasting both road contests this week live starting 15 minutes before the tip on the GCU Radio Network, 1010 KXXT AM.

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Players Mentioned

Joshua Braun

De'Andre Davis

Grandy Glaze

Matt Jackson

Dominic Magee

DeWayne Russell

Grand Canyon University Athletics