Defense comes to life in 70-37 victory

Friday, November 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

3-2

Coppin State

0-7

Coppin State

Grand Canyon

11/25/2016 9:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon men's basketball team defeated Coppin State 70-37 on Friday night. In the first home game of the season, the Lopes' defense held the Eagles to only 24.5% shooting from the field. DeWayne Russell led the Lopes with 18 points off 8-of-13 shooting.

"I was very happy, you know, any time you win 70-37, you're happy," head coach Dan Majerle commented. "This is a team that was 0-6 but I said that they played a really hard schedule, so you don't know what to expect. I thought our guys came out and gave it the proper respect that was deserved, especially defensively. We held them to just four baskets in the first half."

The Lopes got off to a quick start after Oscar Frayer scored the game's first points off a 3-pointer. The GCU lead would continue to grow as a pair of blocks from Keonta Vernon and Russell gave the Lopes a 14-2 lead. Coppin State did not score a field goal in the first 10:59 of the game. Coppin State's Lucian Brownlee hit a 3-pointer to cut the Lopes lead to 15-5.

Grand Canyon's defense played a strong first half, forcing 11 Coppin State turnovers. Holding the Eagles to only 4-of-26 shooting in the first half, the Lopes allowed only 14 points on defense, the fewest points allowed by Grand Canyon in a first half since transitioning to Division I in 2014. Before tonight, GCU's lowest first-half opponent output was 18 vs. Montana State on Nov. 11, 2014.

In the first half, Russell led all scorers with nine points (4-7), adding three rebounds. Shadowing Russell, Joshua Braun added seven points (2-4), including a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws.

"In the first half I thought we were good defensively, not very good offensively," Majerle commented. "The second half we really picked it up offensively. For the most part, defensively, we still did pretty good. I thought we got a little lax on the rebounding. Too many offensive rebounds for them. I understand that there were a lot of misses, but we just have to get in the mindset that we're going to box out every play, everybody's going to do it, and it's going to be important for 40 minutes."

After a commanding 29-14 first-half lead, the Lopes kept the momentum going in the second half, shooting 15-of-28 from the field and held the Eagles to 9-of-27, including 11 turnovers. Grand Canyon's defense stood out on the night, holding Coppin State's offense to only 24.5% shooting from the field. Forcing 19 turnovers, the Lopes' defense added 10 steals and five blocks on the night.

Russell finished the game with 18 points (8-13) in 31 minutes, adding five rebounds and five assists.

"I thought we had some careless turnovers in the first half," Russell added post game. "We missed some shots but we were solid on defense, which is what kept us ahead. In the second half, we came out and made a couple of shots. Coach Todd Lee has really been getting on us about defense so that was the emphasis tonight. We made sure we had high hands on the ball and sliding over in the right positions."

Braun finished the night with 14 points (4-8), including 5-of-5 shooting from the free throw line. Frayer followed with nine points (4-10).

Next up, the Lopes will host SIU-Edwardsville on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. MST at GCU Arena. The game will be televised on Cox 7 Arizona and KFYI 2 1230 AM.