Lopes flip script, Vaqueros

Saturday, January 13

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-6, 2-1

UTRGV

10-9, 2-1

UT Rio Grande Valley

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Travis Neely

1/13/2018 9:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery Dan Majerle Press Conference

Roberts Blumbergs sets GCU D-I true freshman scoring record

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

Grand Canyon head coach Dan Majerle kept it real with his team Friday.

GCU kept it real intense into the game Saturday night, when the Lopes accepted Majerle's challenge and flipped Thursday's shortcomings into an 84-71 victory against Texas-Rio Grande Valley at GCU Arena.

The Lopes (12-6, 2-1) went from being outrebounded by 25 in Thursday's loss to New Mexico State to outrebounding UTRGV (10-9, 2-1) by 14 on Saturday. They went from losing a second-half lead on Thursday by missing 17 of their last 20 shots to hitting 45.5 percent of their shots on Saturday.

Those turnarounds were slight pivots compared to the 180-degree turn that Lopes freshman power forward Roberts Blumbergs made from loss to win.

After playing a season-low four minutes on Thursday, Blumbergs set a GCU true freshman scoring record for the Division I era with 25 points in 18 minutes on Saturday. It was the second highest point total that any player in the nation has scored against a Division I opponent in 18 minutes or fewer this season. Duke's Wendell Carter Jr. scored 27 points in 18 minutes against Evansville.

"He's a talented kid so maybe this will fuel him to work as hard as he has the last couple of weeks," Majerle said.

Blumbergs made six of 11 shots from the field, including consecutive three-point plays on a follow score and an athletic, hanging inside move. Blumbergs did not score in his first three minutes off the bench but made seven free throws in his second three-minute stint and finished with 11 points at the line.

"I'm trying to work on my physicality – get more aggressive, be more aggressive, attack the basket and basically just complete the game plan," the 6-foot-10 Latvian said.

The rebounding turnaround was led by senior power forward Keonta Vernon, who was the only Lopes player to grab an offensive rebound Thursday until the final minute. Vernon matched his career high Saturday by grabbing 15 rebounds, coupling it with 13 points for his second consecutive double-double. As a team, GCU had more rebounds in Saturday's first half (27) than it had in Thursday's game (25).

That board work helped make another stellar GCU defensive night stand up. UTRGV shot 33.3 percent from the field. The Lopes have held 10 of this season's 18 opponents to less than 40 percent field goal shooting.

Other than 18 turnovers, the Lopes received the message Majerle sent bluntly in Friday's video session and practice about following defensive assignments, hitting the boards hard and delivering on offense.

"I'll be impressed if it continues to be received," Majerle said. "Everyone feels better after a win. Everybody can play well a day after we play better. Now it's whether they revert back the to the way we played New Mexico State or if they learned a few things and bounce back and keep playing the way they are supposed to. But we'll find out because we're going to have that rule that we are going to play these guys and if you're not doing your job, rebounding or whatever, you're coming out."

Lopes senior guard Joshua Braun posted his first 20-point game since Dec. 11. Braun hit three of five 3-point shots and added three assists and two steals in 29 minutes.

Braun's 3-pointer early in the second half capped a 13-0 run that bridged the end of the first half and the start of the second half. The Lopes were in control from an 11-4 start and led by 10 at halftime when Blumbergs' 3 and Vernon's 3-point play ended the half.

The lead opened to as much as 23 on three occasions in the second half, including twice on Blumbergs' back-to-back three-point plays. Conference leading scorer Nick Dixon scored 28 points but was limited to one made field goal in the first half against sophomore Oscar Frayer's defense. Dixon scored most of his points at the free throw line (18 for 21).

Braun, GCU's leading scorer, also got to the line for seven of his points and is now five for 10 on 3-pointers in the past two games.

"He's getting there," Majerle said. "He's not back yet but he's getting there. It's good that he got 20 points. I think by limiting his minutes, he is getting more of the minutes he's out there."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.