GCU 'battle-ready' for road opener

Tuesday, Nov. 6 \| 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Brookings, S.D.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (0-0, 0-0 WAC)	AT	SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (0-0, 0-0 Summit)

WATCH: ESPN3 \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic, 99.3FM & 95.9 FM \| STATS: View \| FOLLOW: @GCU_MBB

BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Grand Canyon has played much more basketball since that March night when Lopes purple was a bruise from falling one step short of the NCAA tournament.

There was more postseason basketball, many offseason workouts, a Bahamas tour, scores of practices and last week's only-at-GCU-packed-house exhibition win. But there is no better way to start showing that GCU belongs at the next level than to open the season Tuesday night at South Dakota State, a program that already is there.

The Lopes' regular season gets underway with a tall task for a taller GCU roster – end the nation's longest Division I active home winning streak of 20 games. Do that against a Jackrabbits team with four senior starters, including All-America honorable mention Mike Daum, and the Lopes will serve notice on the college basketball landscape.

"It's going to be an unbelievable challenge," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "That (Frost Arena) is a really hard place to play. They won 28 games last year. They played Ohio State to the final minute in that (NCAA) tournament game. They have an All-American. They have a (Summit League) Freshman of the Year (David Jenkins) coming back at guard. That's going to be a tremendous first game for us. That's a hard place to play, not only a hard place to get to, but a hard place to play."

Like South Dakota State, GCU has a big man who is its conference preseason player of the year (sophomore center Alessandro Lever). Like the Jackrabbits, the Lopes have a "3-and-D" wing returning in junior Oscar Frayer with a sophomore-season resume of improved 3-point shooting and defense on top scorers.

The exhibition showed the added scoring options, with senior power forward Michael Finke and junior guard Carlos Johnson combining for 31 points.

"We're always battle-ready," Johnson said of opening the season in Brookings, S.D.. "We practice hard so I feel like if our big guys are on, we're going to be fine because we've got two of the best big men in the country."

The Lopes' retooled roster offers more size and shooting but the 11-player depth also gives them lineup flexibility against South Dakota State, which projects to start four guards around Daum, the nation's sixth-leading scorer last season.

"You can practice all you want, but you've got to figure out what you have when the game starts," Majerle said. "Different guys react differently when the competition starts and the lights come on. So it's my job to figure out who's going to play, what positions to put them in to be successful and our lineup. So that'll just be a work in progress."

Majerle considers this roster to be his most talented in six seasons, the past three of which has accumulated the 22^nd-best winning percentage in Division I. But with nothing proven, there have been steady reminders about what was going to happen on Nov. 6.

The stature of South Dakota State has not gone unmentioned at GCU Basketball Practice Facility.

"We all realize it," Frayer said. "Coach Majerle talks about it every day."

This is only the start of the Lopes' toughest nonconference schedule ever. GCU thought it was ready to be a NCAA tournament last season and nearly proved it.

This season, the Lopes will know exactly where they stand from the beginning with their quest to become WAC champions and a NCAA tourney team in March.

"We need this," GCU fifth-year senior Matt Jackson said. "This is going to be tough but this will be good to see where we're at."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Tuesday, Nov. 6 | 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Brookings, S.D.

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Players Mentioned

Michael Finke

Oscar Frayer

Matt Jackson

Carlos Johnson

Alessandro Lever

Grand Canyon University Athletics