Slow start dooms Lopes again

Friday, November 23

Fullerton, Calif.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-3

Utah

3-2

Grand Canyon

Utah

11/23/2018 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

GCU rallied after 24-8 hole but never led vs. Utah

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

FULLERTON, Calif. – Giving opponents head starts has not proven conducive to winning for Grand Canyon.

The Lopes have a knack for playing catch-up but not to the point that they can afford the holes they dug in Thursday's and Friday's losses at Wooden Legacy. GCU not only repeated its 10-2 hole from Thursday's Seton Hall game but made it worse Friday against Utah with a 24-8 chasm that left another scramble short in a 75-66 loss at Titan Gym.

Each night, GCU (3-3) showed an ability to play with major programs but the Lopes lost a late lead Thursday and ran out of rally Friday. Just as GCU pulled within a point of Utah in the second half, the Utes buried the Lopes with a 15-5 run.

Utah (3-2) opened the game by making four layups on its way to a 10-2 lead and made 13 of its first 20 shots. That was consistent with Seton Hall shooting 62 percent against GCU a night earlier. The Lopes kept Utah to 39 percent shooting over the final 24 minutes but the damage was done, particularly with a GCU offense scoring outside of 16 points from sophomore center Alessandro Lever and 14 points from freshman guard Tim Finke in his first start.

GCU will close Wooden Legacy play Sunday at 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) against La Salle.

"I can scream and yell and act like a maniac and all that stuff, but until they start taking ownership and figure out why it takes them to be down 16 to start playing and getting into people, we're not going to be very good," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said. "We got kicked on the boards. We couldn't stop anybody. Another guy had a great night. We're getting great shots. We just have to jump up and make shots. We're not making shots. It's on these guys. I'm with them. I'm trying. It's my fault too, but they've got to figure it out."

The Lopes' fight to get back in games has been admirable in each of their three losses, including the opener at South Dakota State. But after flat starts, the energetic comebacks are difficult to maintain. On Friday, sophomore point guard Damari Milstead helped the GCU rally again. He rebounded his own miss and drew a foul for two free throws and then fed senior forward Matt Jackson for a baseline jumper that cut Utah's lead to 48-47 and thrilled another big GCU crowd with 9:52 to play.

After the Utes went to a zone defense, the Lopes could not continue setting up Lever in the post and reverted to missing perimeter shots. GCU had its best 3-point shooting game (9 for 24) but three of the makes came in the final minute with the outcome already decided.

"We keep letting teams get comfortable and then we're chasing them the rest of the game," Lopes senior forward Gerard Martin said. "We need to set the tone early and step on their throats right at the get-go. You can do everything you can to stop them and try to get back into the game but they have the rhythm going and it's hard to stop them once they're comfortable."

The string of opposing guards enjoying breakout nights against GCU continued. Following Myles Powell's 40-point game for Seton Hall, Utah senior guard Sedrick Barefield made 9 of 16 shots for 26 points. He was averaging 10.0 points entering the game and only has scored more points in a game once in four seasons.

The Lopes also were pounded on the boards, especially early when Utah grabbed 13 of the first 16 rebounds and beat GCU on second-chance points 9-0 in the first half. The Lopes stayed in the game to trail 35-29 at halftime by creating 11 turnovers but Utah only made two more in the second half.

"That's a good Grand Canyon team and I told Dan Majerle they can win their league," Utes head coach Larry Krystowiak said. "They have a lot of positive things happening there and it's a good win for us."

Finke's confidence and effort helped earn his first start, when he scored 14 after averaging 5.2 points in his first five games. It also gave junior guard Carlos Johnson a chance to watch the game before entering action after first-half struggles thus far. Majerle also tightened the rotation, playing Jackson eight minutes and not playing sophomore Roberts Blumbergs for the first time this season.

"We're not very good right now," Majerle said. "That's not to say we can't be very good. We've got the talent. We can be good. We have to be playing our best basketball come WAC season. Right now, we're not going in the right direction."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.