GCU falls to Penn State 85-76

Tuesday, November 15

State College, Pa.

5:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

0-2

Penn State

2-1

Grand Canyon

Penn State

11/15/2016 9:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score GCU_PSU_Box Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team dropped their second straight game, falling to Penn State 85-76 at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa., on Tuesday night.

"We knew this was going to be a tough game," head coach Dan Majerle said. "Penn State, after losing that first game, we knew they were going to come back. They were really wanting to go play hard and get that win."

Joshua Braun led the Lopes with 25 points, including five 3-pointers, to go along with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Graduate-transfer Darion Clark recorded his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.

"Josh played great," Majerle added. "He's been our MVP and he's faced all kinds of coverages. As a coach, I'm going to try to get him as many shots as I can but it's up to him to figure out how they're playing him and find ways to get good, quality shots. "

After falling down 8-2 quickly to start the game, GCU turned to Braun, who scored the next 8 points for the team including a pair of 3-pointers. The junior from Anthem, Ariz., hit four 3-pointers and had 16 points in the first half. The Lopes were within three with five minute to play, but let Penn State stretch the lead to seven at the half, 48-41.

Having given up a run to end the first half and start the second on Saturday at Duke, the Lopes came out and got back in the game with 7-0 run to start the second half to take a 50-48 lead with layups from Clark and Shaq Carr, paired with five free throws from Braun.

Penn State responded back with a 15-4 run to go back up by 9 points with just under 10 minutes to play in the second half. GCU was able to cut the Nittany Lion to six with the ball with just over a minute left in the game but Shep Garner stole Oscar Frayer's inbound pass and took it the other way for a layup to stretch the lead to eight with under a minute to play. Carr promptly hit a 3-pointer to pull within five with 42 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as the Lopes would get.

"I should have probably put Gerard (Martin) in the game but I want Oscar to grow," Majerle said. "He's going to be a big part of this program for this year and the next three years. He has to get better at making passes and making decisions. He has to learn by fire. He's going to be a really good player for us so he's got to learn. He's going to be in there."

After managing only 31 rebounds in the season-opener, the Lopes were able to win the rebounding battle, 44-38 in large part to Clark's 14 boards. It was the first loss Grand Canyon has had since Dan Majerle began coaching when they recorded at least 40 rebounds. The Lopes were 20-3 last season when they won the rebounding battle.

Turnovers were an Achilles heel for the Lopes, turning the ball over 16 times, following their 21 turnover effort against the Blue Devils. Penn State had 9 steals and turned GCU's turnovers into 20 points, where the Lopes were only able to manage 6 points from the Nittany Lions' 11 turnovers. Penn State also held the edge in fast break points, outscoring GCU 15-2 on the break.

"We did a poor job of securing rebounds and turnovers have plagued us," Majerle said. "We had 22 turnovers at Duke and we had 16 here tonight. They're just kind of careless turnovers. We know with traps and everything like that. We have to do a better job of handling and finishing around the basket."

For the contest, five different GCU players scored in double figures. Frayer had 13 points and 7 rebounds, Carr had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and Keonta Vernon scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 24 minutes of play.

The Lopes will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 19, as they take on Albany from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Ct., as part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.