GCU falls to UMKC, road struggles continue

Thursday, January 26

Kansas City, Mo.

5:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

13-8, 3-2WAC

UMKC

10-12, 3-3WAC

Grand Canyon

UMKC

1/26/2017 10:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team's struggles on the road continued as they fell to UMKC 83-77 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday night.

DeWayne Russell scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Keonta Vernon recorded his fifth double-double of the season, collecting 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lopes took control in the first half, behind their 3-point and free throw shooting, two areas where they have struggled as of late. GCU forced UMKC into the double-bonus with over 10 minutes remaining in the first half and hit 14-of-19 of their attempts from the charity stripe.

After hitting only 1-of-14 from behind the arc in the first half on Saturday vs. Seattle, the Lopes hit on 80 percent of their threes in the first half with Russell, Joshua Braun and Oscar Frayer all connecting from deep. Russell hit a pull-up 3-pointer as time expired as the Lopes went to the locker room up 12, 42-30.

GCU struggled coming out of halftime, turning the ball over and letting UMKC back in the game with a 15-4 run in the opening four minutes of the half. After a series of runs in the first half, the two teams traded baskets for the majority of the second half with the score remaining tied at 71 with 4:38 left in the contest.

While the Lopes held a significant advantage in free throw attempts in the first half, the Roos managed to gain a similar edge in the second half, pushing GCU to the double-bonus and shooting 28 second half free throws, converting 22 of them. Free throws made up 10 of UMKC's final 12 points as they put the game away in the final minute of the game.

The Lopes were plagued by 22 turnovers, which the Roos converted into 22 points. UMKC's bench also outscored GCU 28-20. GCU had been 12-1 this season when they lead at the half and 9-1 when they outrebound their opponent, which they did 38-26.

GCU continues their conference road trip through the Midwest as they head to Chicago to take on Chicago State at the Jones Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon. The Lopes took both contests against the Cougars a year ago and are 4-2 all-time in six games against Chicago State. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. MST.