Notes: GCU vs. UMKC

Thursday, February 1

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UMKC

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Photo by: Slaven Gujic

1/31/2018 2:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Grand Canyon Game Notes UMKC Game Notes

By: Charles Hampton

	vs.
Grand Canyon Lopes (15-7, 4-2 WAC)	Thurs., Feb. 1 7 p.m. MST	UMKC Roos (6-17, 1-5 WAC)
Grand Canyon Game Notes	Watch Live Listen Live Live Stats	UMKC Game Notes

The Grand Canyon men's basketball returns home to continue conference play as they take on UMKC on Thursday, Feb. 1 at GCU Arena. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MST and will be broadcasted live in the Phoenix area on YurView (Ch. 4 Phoenix / Ch. 7 Tucson) and streamed online at GCU.tv. Out of market broadcast will also be available on ESPN3 (Subject to blackout within Arizona). Barry Buetel will be providing play-by-play with analyst Scott Williams and Kate Longworth on the sideline. The Lopes defeated the Roos 86-69 on Jan. 20 in Kansas City.

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.

QUICK NOTES:

Since the 2014-15 season, the Lopes are 20-1 when returning to GCU Arena following a road or neutral site game.
The Lopes rank number one in the nation in 3-point defense, allowing only 4.36 threes per game. Additionally, GCU ranks second nationally in holding opponents to just 27.9 percent from beyond the arc.
GCU ranks 15th in the country in scoring defense (63.3 points per game). In the last three seasons, GCU is 30-2 when allowing 61 points or less.
Additionally, the Lopes rank fourth in the country in effective opponent field goal percentage at 42.9 percent, trailing only Michigan State, Cincinnati, and Virginia. Effective field goal percentage factors in weighted figures for 3-point field goals.
The Lopes rank 26th in the country in assists with 371. Casey Benson ranks 65th nationally averaging 5.0 per game.
Josh Braun recorded his 31st 20-point game of his GCU career with 22 points vs. William Jessup, shooting 7-of-11 from the field, including four 3-pointers, and connecting on 4-of-6 free throws.
Alessandro Lever recorded his first double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds vs. UMKC, later earning him WAC Player of the Week honors. Lever is averaging 24.8 points and 7.5 rebounds over his last four games, shooting 64.4 percent from the field.
Lever is one of only four freshmen in the country to be averaging at least 16.0 points while shooting greater than 55 percent from the field in conference play, joining Duke's Marvin Bagley III, Arizona's DeAndre Ayton and Austin Peay's Terry Taylor.
Casey Benson recorded his first career double-double against William Jessup, recording 12 points and a career-best 10 assists.
Over his last four games, Benson has 30 assists to just four turnovers.
GCU leads the WAC in field goal percentage defense (.394), three-point field goal percentage defense (.279), and offensive rebounding (12.5).