Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Adam Creech
Rapid Recap: Louisville 74, Grand Canyon 56
12/23/2017 12:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Grand Canyon was going to need to be at its best to upset a perennial power like Louisville in its building.
Playing well at times was good for first-half GCU leads and a tight first half. Falling far short of that led the Lopes to a 74-56 loss to the Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center.
GCU (9-4) trailed Louisville (10-2) by one point with 16:53 remaining in the game but the Cardinals then went on a 21-3 run to beat the Lopes for a third consecutive year.
GCU was far more of a challenger than its Louisville visit two years ago but expected to be. The Lopes led for nearly the first 12 minutes of the game and more than 13 minutes of the first half. But 12 first-half turnovers prevented the Lopes from doing more and they crashed hard in the second half until it was too much to overcome. Starting big men Keonta Vernon and Alessandro Lever fouled out during one last surge that trimmed the Louisville lead to 11 with 3:32 to go.
Louisville junior power forward Ray Spalding set career highs for points (21) and rebounds (15) as the Cardinals outscored GCU 34-24 in the paint. The Lopes committed 19 turnovers and shot 40 percent from the field with sophomore guard Oscar Frayer scoring a team-high 14 points.
It was Louisville's 27th victory in its past 28 home games against non-conference opponents.
The Lopes were far from the team shook by playing at Louisville two years for a 48-point loss. They shut out Louisville for the first 3:41 and jumped ahead 6-0 when senior point guard Casey Benson hit 3-pointers on their second and third possessions of the game.
GCU's turnover issues prevented them from extending the lead more but the Lopes still led 11-3 after seven minutes with Frayer adding another 3-pointer. GCU then missed its next seven 3-point tries of the half but still led 23-21 when Benson threaded a bounce pass for a layup by Vernon.
Louisville closed the first half with a 10-2 run over the final 3:34 by getting repeatedly into the paint with its size. The Cardinals led 31-25 at the half despite hitting one of 11 3-pointers against GCU, which entered the game with the third-lowest opponent 3-point percentage in Division I.
GCU handled Louisville's full-court press better early in the second half and tightened Louisville's lead to 38-37 when Lever beat the shot clock with a jumper off Benson's inbound.
Shortly after, Benson had a potential tying 3-pointer rim around twice before coming out and Vernon nearly had a follow. Instead, it was the start of a massive Lopes offensive funk.
GCU scored once, a Lever 3-pointer, over more than eight minutes of play to fall irretrievably behind at 59-40 with 8:28 to go.
The Lopes return to action on Wednesday when they will play Morgan State at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Return to gculopes.com later for Paul Coro's full recap with postgame reactions from head coach Dan Majerle and players.
Playing well at times was good for first-half GCU leads and a tight first half. Falling far short of that led the Lopes to a 74-56 loss to the Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center.
GCU (9-4) trailed Louisville (10-2) by one point with 16:53 remaining in the game but the Cardinals then went on a 21-3 run to beat the Lopes for a third consecutive year.
GCU was far more of a challenger than its Louisville visit two years ago but expected to be. The Lopes led for nearly the first 12 minutes of the game and more than 13 minutes of the first half. But 12 first-half turnovers prevented the Lopes from doing more and they crashed hard in the second half until it was too much to overcome. Starting big men Keonta Vernon and Alessandro Lever fouled out during one last surge that trimmed the Louisville lead to 11 with 3:32 to go.
Louisville junior power forward Ray Spalding set career highs for points (21) and rebounds (15) as the Cardinals outscored GCU 34-24 in the paint. The Lopes committed 19 turnovers and shot 40 percent from the field with sophomore guard Oscar Frayer scoring a team-high 14 points.
It was Louisville's 27th victory in its past 28 home games against non-conference opponents.
The Lopes were far from the team shook by playing at Louisville two years for a 48-point loss. They shut out Louisville for the first 3:41 and jumped ahead 6-0 when senior point guard Casey Benson hit 3-pointers on their second and third possessions of the game.
GCU's turnover issues prevented them from extending the lead more but the Lopes still led 11-3 after seven minutes with Frayer adding another 3-pointer. GCU then missed its next seven 3-point tries of the half but still led 23-21 when Benson threaded a bounce pass for a layup by Vernon.
Louisville closed the first half with a 10-2 run over the final 3:34 by getting repeatedly into the paint with its size. The Cardinals led 31-25 at the half despite hitting one of 11 3-pointers against GCU, which entered the game with the third-lowest opponent 3-point percentage in Division I.
GCU handled Louisville's full-court press better early in the second half and tightened Louisville's lead to 38-37 when Lever beat the shot clock with a jumper off Benson's inbound.
Shortly after, Benson had a potential tying 3-pointer rim around twice before coming out and Vernon nearly had a follow. Instead, it was the start of a massive Lopes offensive funk.
GCU scored once, a Lever 3-pointer, over more than eight minutes of play to fall irretrievably behind at 59-40 with 8:28 to go.
The Lopes return to action on Wednesday when they will play Morgan State at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Return to gculopes.com later for Paul Coro's full recap with postgame reactions from head coach Dan Majerle and players.
Players Mentioned
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