GCU seeks season sweep at Utah Valley

Saturday, February 18

Orem, Utah

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/18/2017 12:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GCU Game Notes Utah Valley Game Notes

SATURDAY, FEB. 18
7:00 p.m. MST \| UCCU Center \| Orem, Utah
GRAND CANYON LOPES 18-9 (7-3 WAC) GAME NOTES	vs.	UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES 11-14 (3-7 WAC) GAME NOTES
HOW TO FOLLOW \| Radio KFYI 2 1230 AM \| Live Audio Stream iHeart Radio App Live Stats Live Stats \| Twitter @GCU_Hoops

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team goes for the season sweep over the Wolverines at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah on Saturday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MST and will be streamed online on the WAC Digital Network.

GCU fans can listen live as Michael Potter and Tom Kuyper will be airing on KFYI 2 1230 AM or the iHeart Radio App. The pregame show will start 15 minutes before tip and conclude with a postgame show featuring comments from head coach Dan Majerle.

GAME 28: QUICK NOTES

GCU improved to 18-9 with a 61-58 win over Seattle U on Thursday night. Kerwin Smith and DeWayne Russell led the Lopes with 11 points each. Oscar Frayer added 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, both career-bests.
The Lopes overcame a 15-point first half deficit, the second consecutive game they have won after trailing by 10-plus points.
The last time these two teams met, Joshua Braun scored a season-best 31 points in his first game back after missing more than a month due to a knee injury. Braun and Russell combined for 52 of GCU's 82 points, including 31 of their 38 in the first half.
Braun has scored 30-plus points in his last three games against Utah Valley. Since 2010, Braun has three of the top-eight scoring performances against the Wolverines.
Following last week's games, Russell was named WAC Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points and 7.5 assists to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game to lead the Lopes to a pair of victories over UTRGV and New Mexico State.
Russell leads the WAC in both scoring and assists, averaging 22.0 points per game while dishing out an average of 5.0 assists per game. Russell led the WAC in assists in 2015-16.
With Russell's 11 points against Seattle U on Thursday, he has now scored in double-figures in 29-straight games, the most by a GCU player in the Division I era.
Russell is averaging 22.0 points per game, ranking 10th in the NCAA. Central Michigan's Marcus Keene leads the country (29.8).
Russell ranks second in the country in minutes played, averaging 38.5 per game.
Russell and Braun are the only GCU players to have started every game they've played, but each has missed time. Gerard Martin had started the first 24 games before coming off the bench vs. UTRGV on Feb. 9.
Mark Pope is in his second season as head of Utah Valley, compiling a 25-32 record in 57 games at the helm. The Wolverines are 7-4 at the UCCU Center this season, with conference wins over UMKC and UTRGV.
Conner Toolson leads UVU in scoring at 13.0 points per game. Isaac Neilson leads the team on the boards, pulling down 9.4 rebounds a game. Brandon Randolph leads the team in assists, averaging 4.6 helpers a game.