Insider: Tough defense aims for more

Grand Canyon is establishing one of the better defenses in Division I men's basketball.

Entering today's 7 p.m. game against Norfolk State at GCU Arena, the Lopes are 3-0 largely because they are holding opponents to 33.1 percent shooting (17^th in the nation) and 21.6 percent 3-point shooting (10^th in the nation).

But there is still room for improvement even after winning games by 16, 14 and 25 points.

GCU is committing 20 fouls per game, giving up 26 percent of opponent points on free throws. And that is with opponents only shooting 67.7 percent at the free throw line.

"There are situations when you are going to foul, but we've been really good defensively," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said. "We don't want to give them points at the free throw line. We want to guard without giving up stupid fouls, which means fouls that get them into the bonus."

GCU has fouled more with each game and faces an opponent tonight that thrives off getting to the line by aggressively driving. Norfolk State (0-3) is averaging 29 free throw attempts per game, which is in line with the 30.7 attempts that GCU has allowed per game.

Majerle said he also would like for the Lopes' offensive rebounding to improve. The Lopes grabbed more offensive rebounds in the season-opening win against Florida A&M (15) than in the past two wins combined (14).

"We've got to do a better job of crashing the boards," Majerle said. "It's just a lack of going. That first group, we've got Casey getting back and we've got four guys going. We should have guys crashing the boards, especially against zones."

Retreating defensively has not been an issue for GCU, which did not even allow a fastbreak point in Saturday's win against Little Rock.

Norfolk State's leading scorer amid a balanced attack is point guard Mastadi Pitt, who is averaging 14.3 points with 57 percent 3-point shooting.

The Lopes will see multiple defensive looks tonight from Norfolk State, which uses various zone and press looks. That will require GCU's ball movement and ball care to be strong. The Lopes have overcome turnover issues for each win and have averaged 18.7 turnovers per game, the 16^th-highest average in the nation.

"We're trying to continue to improve, game after game," said senior guard Joshua Braun, who scored 29 points on Saturday night. "If we can clean up the turnovers with the defense we've been playing, we're going to be a tough team to beat."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

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Players Mentioned

Joshua Braun

Grand Canyon University Athletics