Lopes gut out Majerle's 100th win

Saturday, February 24

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

19-10, 8-5

Utah Valley

20-9, 9-4

Utah Valley

Grand Canyon

2/24/2018 10:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score

GCU moves to 3rd place by beating UVU 60-59

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

When playing at its best, Grand Canyon embodies the grit of its coach.

It was a fitting way to win with guts Saturday night, when their hustle and muscle gave Lopes head coach Dan Majerle his 100^th victory in clutch fashion.

Five of GCU's losses this season have come by five points or fewer but the Lopes persisted and persevered to beat Utah Valley 60-59 in front of 7,179 fans at GCU Arena.

Majerle's landmark win was better for how the Lopes closed out a tight win and how it moved the Lopes (19-10, 8-5) into a third-place tie with Seattle in the Western Athletic Conference. GCU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Seattle entering the conference's final regular-season day of competition next Saturday, when the Lopes host Cal State Bakersfield and Seattle plays at Utah Valley.

GCU could earn the WAC Basketball Tournament's No. 2 seed with a win against Bakersfield and a Utah Valley loss to Seattle.

More importantly, the Lopes put together a week of quality home wins to build momentum for the program's first Division I postseason appearance. Saturday's win came by holding the WAC's top scoring and shooting offense to 59 points, Utah Valley's third-lowest scoring total of the season.

"It's just this university, man, it's not me," Majerle said of his 100^th win in five seasons at the GCU helm. "The support and everything we have, my coaching staff, the team, I'm the last guy. It's all about the other guys that help. I'm just the lucky guy that gets to win the show."

The Lopes' season has swung on close games, previously going 1-5 in games decided by five points or fewer. Utah Valley (20-9, 9-4) was within one possession of the Lopes for the final 2:36 of Saturday's game but survived Wolverines point guard Brandon Randolph's chance to win in the final seconds.

Leading 60-59, GCU senior point guard Casey Benson squeezed between two defenders to put a 3-point shot on the rim, leaving Utah Valley with only six seconds to cover the length of the floor. Lopes junior power forward Matt Jackson made Randolph spin at the top of the 3-point arc and sophomore forward Oscar Frayer's challenged Randolph to delay his release until after the buzzer. His shot missed anyway.

"It's good for our confidence to get a close one," said Jackson, a reserve who stepped up for Keonta Vernon's foul trouble with a career-high eight rebounds and a career-high tying five assists. "It definitely helped that we were at home but it's all about the confidence going into the tournament. A bad season can be turned into a good season just like that in the tournament."

The GCU standard quickly has ascended under Majerle when a team is not satisfied with being on the cusp of a third consecutive 20-win season. The Lopes continued an exceptional home season Saturday, moving to 15-2 at GCU Arena with Frayer and freshman center Alessandro Lever each scoring 16 points and Benson adding 10 points.

The intensity of Saturday's game was turned up when Benson tangled with Utah Valley 7-foot center Akolda Manyang on a rebound nine minutes into the game. Vernon came to Benson's defense and UVU head coach Mark Pope entered the scene on the court, prompting Majerle to race across the court for his players.

"That is who Coach Majerle is," Frayer said. "He loves us and we love him."

Benson emerged from the fray in motivated fashion, getting a steal and layup and hitting a 3-pointer for a 12-11 lead. The Lopes fell back but closed the half strong with Lever using his left-hand touch to score 10 of GCU's final 12 first-half points. The Lopes led 29-28 at halftime despite shooting 33 percent from the field because they grabbed nine offensive rebounds for nine second-chance points.

Utah Valley was chasing first place in the WAC before Saturday's loss and led 39-38 in the second half until an 11-0 Lopes run in a span of 2:36. Frayer scored seven of the points with a double-clutch layup, jumper and 3-pointer that followed a 3 from freshman Damari Milstead. GCU led for the game's final 11:44.

Milstead has responded to his expanded role with seven second-half points in Thursday's win against Seattle and eight points in Saturday's win. He was a major part of turning around the bench scoring disparity of GCU's loss at Utah Valley.

"I can't say enough about Damari," Majerle said. "The kid sits over there and comes in and, like I said, he has no fear. We love that kid. Good for him. Good for everybody. I mean it is a team win. Everybody loved it."

Majerle is now 100-56 at GCU after guiding the team to twice as many wins (81) during the four-year Division I transition period than the average win total for programs that previously went through the transition.

"I love playing for that guy," Jackson said. "A love-hate relationship obviously when he yells at us. Props to him. He's worked hard, just like we have. I'm sure it's not the only century he's going to get in the win column but I'm happy to be a part of it."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.