Lopes 1st loss 'what we need'

Saturday, November 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-1

San Diego

5-0

University of San Diego

Grand Canyon

11/25/2017 9:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery Dan Majerle Postgame Press Conference Postgame Analysis

GCU falls 72-62 to undefeated San Diego

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

The final result was as unrecognizable as the way Grand Canyon got there.

The Lopes had blown out their first four opponents. They lost 72-62 to undefeated San Diego on Saturday night.

The Lopes had created a defensive brand against their first four victims. They allowed 49.2 percent shooting from the field Saturday.

The Lopes had made 12 3-pointers per game. They made four 3-pointers on 23 tries Saturday.

GCU (4-1) looked like it might survive the cold shooting, the key foul trouble to Keonta Vernon and its defensive off-night when it took a 49-42 lead with 12:26 remaining. From there, the Lopes made one of their next 11 shots and committed six turnovers over more than 12 minutes of crunch time.

"That's what we need," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "Our guys aren't tough enough, mentally or physically. They thought they were good and I told them that's what happens when you think you're good. We've got a lot of work to do. We've got a week of practice to get after it (until California-Riverside visits Saturday). We'll get better. Our goal is to be playing the best basketball come WAC time. This is a good loss for us. That's a good team. They played hard. We've got a lot of work to do."

GCU shot only 36.8 percent from the field for the game and made 12 turnovers in the second half. Senior guard Joshua Braun scored a game-high 20 points despite the San Diego defense face-guarding him to deny opportunities. Braun made two of three 3-point tries while the rest of the Lopes were two for 20 from 3-point range against San Diego, which entered the game as the nation's second-ranked 3-point defense. The Lopes missed 10 consecutive 3-point attempts until a last-minute make.

"We'll bounce back," Braun said. "We're going to have a tough week of practice, I'm sure. We're going to fix a lot of things and make sure we're ready to go come next Saturday."

The Lopes, especially their defense, were affected by only having Vernon for 15 minutes of Saturday's game. Vernon picked up two fouls in the game's first 2:53 and did not return until the second half, when he got his third foul in those first three minutes. He was effective when he was on the floor, tallying nine points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes.

Vernon scored seven of GCU's first 10 points to start the second half, helping the Lopes to a 49-42 lead during a stretch in which small forward Oscar Frayer had one of two dunks that enthralled the crowd of 7,397 fans.

Without Vernon on the floor most of the game, point guard Casey Benson was the Lopes' leading rebounder with 10 boards to go with eight points and a team-high six assists.

"It's tough when he (Vernon) is on the bench in foul trouble," Majerle said. "He plays really hard and he's an emotional leader out there."

San Diego shot 49.2 percent from the field with four players scoring 15 or more points, including 17 off the bench from 6-foot-10 freshman Yauhen Massalski and a 16-point, 10-assist, nine-rebound game from Utah transfer Isaiah Wright. GCU used an 11-man rotation but only got 11 bench points, six of which came from junior forward Gerard Martin.

In a 10-point win, the Toreros were tough on the interior for 12 more points in the paint.

The Grand Canyon Classic closing loss ends the Lopes' 11-game winning streak, which shared the Division I lead for an active winning streak with national champion North Carolina.

"This is a tough week of practice coming up and making sure that we're making the adjustments that we need to and let it motivate us so it doesn't happen again," Braun said. "We can't be losing at home."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.