Lopes own boards again in rout

Thursday, February 1

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

16-7, 5-2

UMKC

6-18, 1-6

UMKC

Grand Canyon

2/1/2018 11:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery Dan Majerle Press Conference

Frayer's 13 rebounds, Vernon's 18 points help beat UMKC

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

Rebounding is not always the fun work but running after practice is worse.

It takes hustling and banging to outrebound a team by 21 but doing so meant two ideal outcomes for Grand Canyon on Thursday night – a 79-62 victory against UMKC at GCU Arena and fewer sprints after practice Friday.

The Lopes players do extra conditioning based on how they grade out for rebounding in games but they lightened their Friday work by doing big work Thursday night with their size advantage and bounce advantage (see sophomore Oscar Frayer).

GCU outrebounded UMKC, 45-24, with a career-high 13 boards from Frayer and the Lopes scored 13 second-chance points to resume their improved shooting in conference play. They are outrebounding opponents by an average of 13.7 boards in the past six games.

"We expect to not get beat on the boards and crash and that is always something we have been stressing all year long," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said.

The Lopes pummeled the Roos with post-ups, drives and follows to shoot 51.9 percent from the field, giving them four 50-plus percent shooting games in the past five games. Saturday's loss at Utah Valley was the exception for which they wanted to make amends.

Senior power forward Keonta Vernon led GCU (16-7, 5-2) with 18 points, one off his season high, on seven-of-nine shooting. Senior point guard Casey Benson had his best scoring game since Dec. 13 with 14 points, including five free throws, while also delivering four assists with one turnover.

"That's the best game he's played here," Majerle said of Benson. "He looked a little more aggressive as far as looking at the basket. We've just got to build on it.

"I don't care if he doesn't take a shot but he's got to be a threat. Tonight, I thought he was more of a threat as far as looking to score more. If he does that, it puts pressure on them to start guarding them."

The Lopes needed that because UMKC collapsed onto Lopes 6-foot-10 Alessandro Lever, who committed five turnovers. Lever entered the game hot with a 24.8 scoring average in the previous four games but the Roos were forced to swarm him because their lineups often had a 6-foot-7 interior player with four guards.

Benson keyed the offense in a crucial GCU 16-4 run that closed the first half. Benson started it with a spin drive. He set up Vernon for a post-up and Roberts Blumbergs for a 3-pointer, the Lopes' first of the game after seven misses beyond the arc. Benson added a 3-point play and a 3-point shot to help GCU to a 39-28 halftime lead.

The Lopes kept their lead in double digits for the remainder of the game.

"It was an open, free-flowing game so we got some easy baskets," Benson said. "It always feels good to play well offensively.

"It's been a process. I just wanted to get better and build on this. I felt in a rhythm. I am feeling healthy. I had a lot of energy coming out. It was good to play well and it was fun. I want to keep defenses honest. I know I can make plays for other but, at the end of the day, I've got to score the basketball as well. I want to get to the rim, make plays, attack, not force it."

Majerle intentionally lightened Benson's load to 25 minutes and used freshman Damari Milstead at point more and junior Gerard Martin at point for the first time. Milstead scored a season-high 11 points after having a two-minute appearance in Saturday's loss.

Frayer used his springs at 6 feet 6 to grab 13 rebounds, which was five more than the entire UMKC starting frontline tallied. He also had two of GCU's eight blocked shots.

"That's exactly how he has to play," Majerle said. "Block shots, crash the boards. When he has a shot, take it."

UMKC is one of the nation's most frequent 3-point shooting teams but only made six of 23 attempts on Saturday, keeping GCU's opponent 3-point shooting percentage as the second lowest in the nation.

The win moved the Lopes into sole possession of third place in the Western Athletic Conference at 5-2, still in striking distance of 5-1 Utah Valley and 6-0 New Mexico State.

"That's a game we shouldn't have lost," Frayer said of the Lopes losing a game it led 14-2 at Utah Valley. "We felt like we shouldn't have lost. In practice this week, we have been putting an emphasis on rebounding and stopping the one in transition. Just making sure we take care of the correctable things."

The Lopes still expect better on-ball defense. The Lopes still expect to shoot better, like making five of their final nine 3-pointers Thursday. They will be back at work in the Basketball Practice Facility on Friday to improve for Saturday's home game against Chicago State.

"Our attitude's always great," Majerle said. "We've got some of the greatest guys ever. Every day they come in no matter how much of a jerk I am and they play hard and they stay together. They do everything I ask them to do. I have high expectations of them."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.