GCU seeks first win at New Mexico State

THURSDAY, JAN. 12
7:00 p.m. MST \| Pan American Center \| Las Cruces, N.M.
GRAND CANYON LOPES 10-6 (1-0 WAC) GAME NOTES	vs.	NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES 15-2 (2-0 WAC) GAME NOTES
HOW TO FOLLOW FOX Sports Arizona Plus \| \| Radio KFYI 2 1230 AM \| Live Audio Stream iHeart Radio App Live Stats Live Stats \| Twitter @GCU_Hoops

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team hits the road for the first time during the conference season as they head to New Mexico State to take on the Aggies on Thursday, Jan. 12. Tip-off from the Pan American Center in Las Cruces is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MST and will be broadcasted live on FOX Sports Arizona Plus and streamed online at ESPN3 or the WatchESPN app. Adam Young will be providing play-by-play with analyst Rus Bradburd.

GCU fans can listen live as Michael Potter and Tom Kuyper will be airing on KYFI2 1230 AM or the iHeart Radio App. The pregame show will start 15 minutes before tip and conclude with a postgame show featuring comments from head coach Dan Majerle.

GAME 17: QUICK NOTES

Grand Canyon seeks its first true road win of their season, facing a New Mexico State team that has won 35 straight at home, the second-longest active streak in the country.

Joshua Braun, named the WAC Preseason Player of the Year in October, made his return to the lineup Saturday after missing nine games due to injury, scoring a game-high 31 points vs. Utah Valley on 10-of-20 shooting from the field including seven 3-pointers. It was the fourth 30-plus point game of his career.

DeWayne Russell recorded his second double-double of the season on Saturday, scoring 21 points and adding 11 assists. It was the second double-digit assist game of the season.

Russell has scored in double-figures in 19-straight games, the first GCU player to achieve the feat in the Division I era.

Russell is averaging 23.9 ppg, ranking fourth in the NCAA, behind Central Michigan's Marcus Keene (29.3), Valparaiso's Alec Peters (24.2) and Montana State's Tyler Hall (24.2).

Russell ranks third in the country in minutes played, averaging 38.1 minutes per game. Russell has played all 40 minutes in seven of his 14 games this season.

Gerard Martin is the only GCU players to start and play in all 16 games this season. Russell and Braun have started every game they've played, but have each missed time.

Martin leads the WAC in steals (2.0), while Russell ranks second in the WAC in assists (4.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2). Keonta Vernon ranks fifth in rebounding (6.9).

Paul Weir is in his first season as head coach at New Mexico State. He spent the previous nine seasons as a New Mexico State assistant, including five as associate head coach.

The Aggies have not lost a game since playing at New Mexico on Nov. 18. Their 13-game winning streak is the fourth longest active streak in the NCAA.

Braxton Huggins leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game, while Ian Baker has averaged 15.1 points per game as well. Huggins was named the WAC Player of the Week last week following two road wins.

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Players Mentioned

Joshua Braun

Darion Clark

Oscar Frayer

Gerard Martin

DeWayne Russell

Keonta Vernon

Grand Canyon University Athletics