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, December 18
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
0-11
71
vs
38
Mississippi Valley State
8-3
1
2
F
Mississippi Valley State
19
19
38
Grand Canyon
33
38
71
Photo by: Travis Neely
Offense sways, defense stays in win
12/18/2017 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU locks down Mississippi Valley State in 71-38 rout
After an agonizing loss last week at Boise State and before a compelling Saturday trip to Louisville, Grand Canyon came home to find its winning ways.
Back in blowout mode at GCU Arena on Monday night, the Lopes routed Mississippi Valley State 71-38 with more dominant defense and thriving 3-point shooting in front of 6,464 fans at GCU Arena.
The Lopes opened up the first-half lead with another long string of shutout defense but what they needed came in the second half. GCU (8-3) found its offensive efficiency to take a comfortable lead to a clear-the-bench bulge for its third win of the season by more than 30 points.
After shooting 32 percent from the field for four consecutive halves and two overtimes, the Lopes enjoyed a 48 percent shooting second half on Monday night.
"Sometimes, we're still taking bad shots," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "We've got to make the extra pass and penetrate. We did a better job of that in the second half."
GCU senior guard Joshua Braun scored a game-high 16 points, making three of eight 3-pointers and seven of nine free throws after adjusting shot mechanics. He noticed that he had been letting the ball sit in his palm longer instead of getting it to his fingertips.
"That's been helping a lot," Braun said. "I just noticed it by feel and thinking about what I used to do before I wasn't shooting it as well. I'm trying to get back to where I was and make sure we're hitting shots."
Braun opened the game with a 3 as the Lopes hit five of their first eight 3-point tries on the way to a 19-8 lead. Shutting out Mississippi Valley State (0-11) for five minutes stretched the lead to 30-15 but the second-half offensive efficiency is what pulled the Lopes away.
"When you're hitting shots, it makes it easier to set up on defense and lock up," Braun said.
GCU held the Delta Devils to a late-game stretch of one-for-13 shooting as part of a defensive night highlighted by a career-high tying four blocks by senior power forward Keonta Vernon. He also had two steals, although he played only 23 minutes because of a first-half shoulder injury.
That helped GCU junior power forward Matt Jackson get more court time as Majerle tries to work him back gradually toward conference play after he missed last season for injuries. Jackson, who scored 12 points in 13 minutes against Grambling State on Dec. 9, scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in 17 minutes on Monday.
"I've kept the confidence," Jackson said. "Coach has seen improvement in me and I'm trying to whatever we can to get the win. I'm just happy to be out there and getting more Ws.
"I think it (the conditioning) is finally starting to get back. My legs are finally getting there. My shot's feeling good right now. It definitely took a while but it's finally falling into place."
Holding Mississippi Valley State to 27.5 percent shooting was not even an opponent low for GCU, which held Little Rock to 27.3 percent shooting on Nov. 18. Mississippi Valley State could not score out of its offensive sets, getting only four assists while making 14 turnovers.
The Lopes nearly grabbed as many offensive rebounds (16) as the Delta Devils did defensive rebounds (21), opening the second half with a six-shot possession.
GCU has now won 20 consecutive home games that follow a road or neutral-site contest. The Lopes lost 85-80 in double overtime Wednesday at Boise State (10-1).
"We had that game won in Boise against a really good team in a tough place," Majerle said. "We can't continue to give games away. We've got to take whoever we're playing and get better. We can't just go out and play and not improve. Tonight, we did a good job of really concentrating and getting after it. We've got one more to get here."
The Lopes play again at home Thursday against Longwood at 6 p.m. before heading to Louisville for Saturday's game.
"It's good to have home games to work on some things and get right but we can't take teams lightly ever," Braun said. "We wanted to make sure we played good defense and executed. We've got a big road trip coming in and we want to make sure we're playing well going into the trip and WAC play. It's all big for us."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Back in blowout mode at GCU Arena on Monday night, the Lopes routed Mississippi Valley State 71-38 with more dominant defense and thriving 3-point shooting in front of 6,464 fans at GCU Arena.
The Lopes opened up the first-half lead with another long string of shutout defense but what they needed came in the second half. GCU (8-3) found its offensive efficiency to take a comfortable lead to a clear-the-bench bulge for its third win of the season by more than 30 points.
After shooting 32 percent from the field for four consecutive halves and two overtimes, the Lopes enjoyed a 48 percent shooting second half on Monday night.
"Sometimes, we're still taking bad shots," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "We've got to make the extra pass and penetrate. We did a better job of that in the second half."
GCU senior guard Joshua Braun scored a game-high 16 points, making three of eight 3-pointers and seven of nine free throws after adjusting shot mechanics. He noticed that he had been letting the ball sit in his palm longer instead of getting it to his fingertips.
"That's been helping a lot," Braun said. "I just noticed it by feel and thinking about what I used to do before I wasn't shooting it as well. I'm trying to get back to where I was and make sure we're hitting shots."
Braun opened the game with a 3 as the Lopes hit five of their first eight 3-point tries on the way to a 19-8 lead. Shutting out Mississippi Valley State (0-11) for five minutes stretched the lead to 30-15 but the second-half offensive efficiency is what pulled the Lopes away.
"When you're hitting shots, it makes it easier to set up on defense and lock up," Braun said.
GCU held the Delta Devils to a late-game stretch of one-for-13 shooting as part of a defensive night highlighted by a career-high tying four blocks by senior power forward Keonta Vernon. He also had two steals, although he played only 23 minutes because of a first-half shoulder injury.
That helped GCU junior power forward Matt Jackson get more court time as Majerle tries to work him back gradually toward conference play after he missed last season for injuries. Jackson, who scored 12 points in 13 minutes against Grambling State on Dec. 9, scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in 17 minutes on Monday.
"I've kept the confidence," Jackson said. "Coach has seen improvement in me and I'm trying to whatever we can to get the win. I'm just happy to be out there and getting more Ws.
"I think it (the conditioning) is finally starting to get back. My legs are finally getting there. My shot's feeling good right now. It definitely took a while but it's finally falling into place."
Holding Mississippi Valley State to 27.5 percent shooting was not even an opponent low for GCU, which held Little Rock to 27.3 percent shooting on Nov. 18. Mississippi Valley State could not score out of its offensive sets, getting only four assists while making 14 turnovers.
The Lopes nearly grabbed as many offensive rebounds (16) as the Delta Devils did defensive rebounds (21), opening the second half with a six-shot possession.
GCU has now won 20 consecutive home games that follow a road or neutral-site contest. The Lopes lost 85-80 in double overtime Wednesday at Boise State (10-1).
"We had that game won in Boise against a really good team in a tough place," Majerle said. "We can't continue to give games away. We've got to take whoever we're playing and get better. We can't just go out and play and not improve. Tonight, we did a good job of really concentrating and getting after it. We've got one more to get here."
The Lopes play again at home Thursday against Longwood at 6 p.m. before heading to Louisville for Saturday's game.
"It's good to have home games to work on some things and get right but we can't take teams lightly ever," Braun said. "We wanted to make sure we played good defense and executed. We've got a big road trip coming in and we want to make sure we're playing well going into the trip and WAC play. It's all big for us."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Team Stats
MVSU
GCU
FG%
.275
.407
3FG%
.500
.407
FT%
.533
.667
RB
30
49
TO
14
12
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
7
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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