Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Northern Illinois on November 10, 2025 , Win , 88, to, 59
M Basketball
vs Northern Illinois
W 88-59
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Monday, March 14
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 P.M.
Grand Canyon
vs
South Carolina State
Photo by: Darryl Webb
Lopes host South Carolina State in inaugural McLendon Classic, CIT first round
3/14/2016 3:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Grand Canyon men's basketball team looks to claim its first postseason win since transitioning to Division I as they host South Carolina State in the inaugural Coach John McLendon Classic, a first round game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), on Monday, March 14, 2016 at Grand Canyon University Arena. CBS Sports Network will be broadcasting the game to a nationwide audience with tip-off scheduled for 7:05 p.m. MST.
The Lopes and the Bulldogs will be facing off for the first time. Grand Canyon is making its third consecutive appearance in the CIT, having dropped their first round matchup with Northern Arizona in 2015 and Pacific in 2014.
GCU wrapped up its most successful Division I season, winning 25 games, an eight-game improvement over their 17 regular season wins in 2014-15. They finishing second in the Western Athletic Conference standings with an 11-3 conference record, including their first-ever win over conference rival New Mexico State in school history on Jan. 9.
All season, the Lopes have been led by All-WAC first-team selection Joshua Braun, who averaged 16.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 31 contests this season. The Anthem, Ariz. finished second in the WAC in scoring and 3-point field goal percentage (.417) while leading the conference in free throw percentage (.873). GCU also picked up a second-team All-WAC selection in graduate transfer Grandy Glaze, who led the team with 12 double-doubles and was named WAC Player of the Week a team-high three times this season. Only WAC Player of the Year Pascal Siakam from New Mexico State won more weekly honors than Glaze, who averaged 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game after transferring from Saint Louis.
Due to their four-year transition period to Division I, Grand Canyon was unable to participate in the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., but will be well-rested having not played a game since winning the season finale on the road vs. Utah Valley on March 5. In that matchup with the Wolverines, Braun snapped out of a recent shooting slump and scored 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and hitting 12-of-14 free throw attempts. The Lopes controlled the glass, grabbing a season-best 53 rebounds, six more than their second-best effort this season. Keonta Vernon led the Lopes with a career-best 14 rebounds and added 15 points of his own.
South Carolina State enters Monday's game about to play their fourth game in five days as they advanced all the way to the finals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament before falling to Hampton 81-69 on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs were led Eric Eaves who scored a game-high 25 points and landed on the All-Tournament team. South Carolina State led by as many as nine in the second half, but were unable to hold off the defending MEAC Tournament champs as Hampton used a 19-6 run to take the lead for good.
The Lopes look to take advantage of playing in front of their home crowd at GCU Arena, where the team went 16-2 on the season. Grand Canyon had the highest home attendance among WAC teams, averaging a home attendance of 5,139 for the season.
The winner of Monday's matchup will be crowned the McLendon Classic champion and will move on to the second round of the CIT, to be played later in the week. For more information on the CIT, visit the tournament page at CollegeInsider.com.
The Lopes and the Bulldogs will be facing off for the first time. Grand Canyon is making its third consecutive appearance in the CIT, having dropped their first round matchup with Northern Arizona in 2015 and Pacific in 2014.
GCU wrapped up its most successful Division I season, winning 25 games, an eight-game improvement over their 17 regular season wins in 2014-15. They finishing second in the Western Athletic Conference standings with an 11-3 conference record, including their first-ever win over conference rival New Mexico State in school history on Jan. 9.
All season, the Lopes have been led by All-WAC first-team selection Joshua Braun, who averaged 16.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 31 contests this season. The Anthem, Ariz. finished second in the WAC in scoring and 3-point field goal percentage (.417) while leading the conference in free throw percentage (.873). GCU also picked up a second-team All-WAC selection in graduate transfer Grandy Glaze, who led the team with 12 double-doubles and was named WAC Player of the Week a team-high three times this season. Only WAC Player of the Year Pascal Siakam from New Mexico State won more weekly honors than Glaze, who averaged 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game after transferring from Saint Louis.
Due to their four-year transition period to Division I, Grand Canyon was unable to participate in the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., but will be well-rested having not played a game since winning the season finale on the road vs. Utah Valley on March 5. In that matchup with the Wolverines, Braun snapped out of a recent shooting slump and scored 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and hitting 12-of-14 free throw attempts. The Lopes controlled the glass, grabbing a season-best 53 rebounds, six more than their second-best effort this season. Keonta Vernon led the Lopes with a career-best 14 rebounds and added 15 points of his own.
South Carolina State enters Monday's game about to play their fourth game in five days as they advanced all the way to the finals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament before falling to Hampton 81-69 on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs were led Eric Eaves who scored a game-high 25 points and landed on the All-Tournament team. South Carolina State led by as many as nine in the second half, but were unable to hold off the defending MEAC Tournament champs as Hampton used a 19-6 run to take the lead for good.
The Lopes look to take advantage of playing in front of their home crowd at GCU Arena, where the team went 16-2 on the season. Grand Canyon had the highest home attendance among WAC teams, averaging a home attendance of 5,139 for the season.
The winner of Monday's matchup will be crowned the McLendon Classic champion and will move on to the second round of the CIT, to be played later in the week. For more information on the CIT, visit the tournament page at CollegeInsider.com.
Players Mentioned
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