GCU remains winless on road, falls to UC-Riverside

Saturday, December 31

Riverside, Calif.

3:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

9-6

UC Riverside

2-9

Grand Canyon

UC Riverside

Photo by: Darryl Webb

12/31/2016 6:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's basketball lost their fourth straight road contest to start the season, falling 76-56 to UC-Riverside on Saturday afternoon at SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.

Keonta Vernon led the Lopes with his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and game-high 11 rebounds, but GCU fell victim to a hot-shooting first half from UC-Riverside as they trailed the entire game. DeWayne Russell, who entered the contest as the nation's second-best scorer, managed only 12 points on 4-of-25 shooting from the field, including 1-of-9 from behind the arc.

The Highlanders took an early lead 14-6 with an 8-0 run, benefitting from a pair of three-pointers from Gentrey Thomas and a tip-in from Brandon Rosser. GCU missed their first seven 3-point attempts before Russell ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 13:45 to go in the first half.

Riverside would open up a 17-point first half lead. Kerwin Smith hit a hook in the lane to start an 8-2 run over the next four minutes but the Highlanders answered right back to end the half and head into the locker room with a 17-point lead over GCU, 39-22.

The Lopes only shot 24.2 percent from the field for the first half, including making just 2-of14 3-point attempts. Their 22 points were a season low for a half, three points less than their first half output against SIUE on Nov. 28. Riverside, typically a .369 shooting team from the field, was on fire in the first half, shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range.

While the Lopes switched to a zone defense in the second half to try and slow the Highlanders down, it only worked for a few minutes as an 8-2 run by GCU was quickly erased and Riverside pushed the lead up to as many as 23 late in the second half.

Thomas came off the bench for the Highlanders to score a game-best 15 points, contributing much to a 37-16 edge over GCU in bench points. While the Lopes forced 20 turnovers, it wasn't enough as Riverside continued to shoot well in the second half, finishing shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 46.7 percent on 15 attempted threes. The Lopes on the other hand shot a season-worst 31.3 percent from the field and 13.0 percent from behind the arc.

Gerard Martin, who entered the contest leading the WAC in steals at 1.9 per game, collected five more steals on the afternoon, but managed to hit just 1-of-5 shots. Kerwin Smith provided 10 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting from the field to go along with 3 rebounds and a steal.

GCU will be back in action to start the new year on Saturday, Jan. 7, as they open up WAC play by hosting Utah Valley at GCU Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.