Notes: GCU vs. Louisville

	vs.
Grand Canyon Lopes (9-3, 0-0 WAC)	Sat., Dec. 23 11 a.m. MST	Louisville Cardinals (9-2, 0-0 ACC)
Grand Canyon Game Notes	Watch Live Listen Live Live Stats	Louisville Game Notes

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team hits the road for the second time this season as they take on Louisville on Saturday, Dec. 23 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. Tip off is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. MST and will be streamed online via ACC Network Extra, ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app. The Lopes have won two games this week following their double overtime loss to Boise State last week.

GCU fans can listen live as Michael Potter and Tom Kuyper will be airing on 1580 AM The Fanatic as well as online via The Fanatic website or mobile app. The pregame show will start 15 minutes before tip and conclude with a postgame show featuring comments from head coach Dan Majerle.

GCU QUICK NOTES:

Grand Canyon takes on Louisville for the third time in school history and the second time in three years at the Yum! Center, having dropped the previous 111-63 on Dec. 5, 2015.
In last year's matchup, the Lopes played without Preseason WAC Player of the Year, Josh Braun. DeWayne Russell set the GCU Division I scoring record with 42 points in the 79-70 loss.
GCU ranks tied for 5th in the country in scoring defense (59.2 points per game). In the last three seasons, GCU is 28-2 when allowing 61 points or less.
The Lopes rank 3rd in 3-point defense, holding opponents to just 26.2 percent from beyond the arc. They have also given up the fewest 3-pointers of any team in the country, with just 45 allowed.
Additionally, GCU ranks 8th in the country in effective opponent field goal percentage at 42.6 percent. Effective field goal percentage factors in weighted figures for 3-point field goals.
Keonta Vernon recorded the Lopes' first double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds at Boise State. It was the 12th double-double of Vernon's career at GCU, most on the team.
The Lopes rank 21st in the country in turnovers forced averaging 17.5 turnovers from opponents each game.
Dating back to last season, the Lopes have won 23 of their last 25 home games at GCU Arena.
Casey Benson is posting career-high averages for points (10.7), assists (5.2), rebounds (4.7), and steals (1.2) on the season.
The Lopes had 13 different players score in Thursdays 86-56 win over Longwood, led by Fiifi Aidoo's 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
GCU leads the WAC in scoring defense (59.2), scoring margin (+14.2), field goal percentage defense (.391), three-point field goal percentage defense (.262), blocked shots (4.4) turnover margin (+3.67), assists (16.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).
GCU held Mississippi Valley State to only 38 points on Monday night, the second lowest total in GCU Division I history. The lowest scoring total was 37 points vs. Coppin State on Nov. 25, 2016.

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Players Mentioned

Fiifi Aidoo

Casey Benson

DeWayne Russell

Keonta Vernon

Grand Canyon University Athletics