Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus IU Indy on December 22, 2025 , Win , 91, to, 78
M Basketball
vs IU Indy
W 91-78
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, February 3
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
17-7, 6-2
89
vs
55
Chicago State
2-23, 0-8
1
2
F
Chicago State
27
28
55
Grand Canyon
36
53
89
Blowout puts GCU alone in 2nd
2/3/2018 11:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Lopes start 2nd half with 22-4 run to rout Cougars
The GCU Arena crowd of 7,244 fans went home Thursday night with memories of more Oscar Frayer high-wire dunks, a Fiifi Aidoo alleyoop slam and bench-clearing fun to cap a 34-point blowout.
What will not make the Grand Canyon highlights is what will please the Lopes coaching staff more about the 89-55 victory against Chicago State.
The defense did things like not allowing the Cougars to put a shot on the rim for eight consecutive first-half possessions. The offense did things like reducing turnovers and passing more to open the second half with a 22-4 run.
The Lopes (17-7, 6-2) won at Chicago State by 28 points on Jan. 18 but head coach Dan Majerle was not pleased with the manner in which they did it. Thursday's win did that and put GCU in sole possession of second place in the WAC.
"I'm happy with our guys; they did what they are supposed to do these two games," Majerle said of beating UMKC by 17 and recording the season's second-largest blowout against Chicago State. "Now, we have to go on the road and continue to win."
GCU's defense kept the Cougars to 34.7 percent shooting, giving them 12 games of sub-40 percent opponent shooting in 24 contests. The Lopes stayed No. 1 in the nation for 3-point defense as Chicago State went three for 18 on 3-pointers, dropping GCU's opponent 3-point season clip to 27.3 percent.
Cougars guard Fred Sims Jr. entered the game in fourth place for WAC scoring but Frayer led the effort to lock him down for a second consecutive meeting. After scoring two points in 25 minutes against GCU on Jan. 18, Sims missed his first seven shots Thursday and finished with three points in 26 minutes.
"Every time he comes off the ball screen, we double team him and make him take tough shots," Majerle said. "We know he's looking to score. That's one guy who can really hurt you. We just try to not let him get comfortable, make him put it on the floor and push him toward the crowd."
The Lopes outscored the Cougars 31-4 in points off turnovers by inducing 24 Chicago State turnovers. Five of them came consecutively in the first half to spark a 10-0 Lopes run, the first of three GCU runs of unanswered double-digit points.
But the Lopes only led 36-27 at halftime because of 34.4 percent shooting against the Cougars' constantly changing defensive looks. In the second half, GCU ignored Chicago State's sets and played off the post more, even with freshman Alessandro Lever's foul trouble.
"We wanted to come out with energy and it started defensively," said Benson, who had nine points and six assists. "It kind of fueled us to get some easy baskets offensively and we got on a roll.
"They were obviously junking it up and playing a lot of different defenses in the first half. I don't even think they knew what they were in half the time. We just went and played, moved the ball, moved bodies and shared it."
Despite last week's loss at Utah Valley, the Lopes' improving offense is still averaging 82.6 points on 49.3 percent shooting over the current 6-1 stretch.
Senior guard Joshua Braun led Thursday's scoring with 14 points and is making 46.2 percent of his 3-pointers in the past eight games. Senior power forward Keonta Vernon tallied 10 points and eight rebounds in only 14 minutes.
The Lopes won by at least 30 points for the fourth time this season, allowing Majerle to reward redshirt freshman Ibrahima Sankare's strong practices with eight minutes of game action and to clean the bench with Nehemiah Allen, Cheick Sy-Savane and Parker Dale in the final minute.
The Havocs chanted for Dale, a freshman walk-on from Australia, until Majerle stared with a smirk at Dale momentarily before sending him into the game. Dale scored his first point as a Lope, prompting "M-V-P" chants from the GCU student section.
"I'm happy for all those guys," Majerle said. "They work as hard as everybody."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
What will not make the Grand Canyon highlights is what will please the Lopes coaching staff more about the 89-55 victory against Chicago State.
The defense did things like not allowing the Cougars to put a shot on the rim for eight consecutive first-half possessions. The offense did things like reducing turnovers and passing more to open the second half with a 22-4 run.
The Lopes (17-7, 6-2) won at Chicago State by 28 points on Jan. 18 but head coach Dan Majerle was not pleased with the manner in which they did it. Thursday's win did that and put GCU in sole possession of second place in the WAC.
"I'm happy with our guys; they did what they are supposed to do these two games," Majerle said of beating UMKC by 17 and recording the season's second-largest blowout against Chicago State. "Now, we have to go on the road and continue to win."
GCU's defense kept the Cougars to 34.7 percent shooting, giving them 12 games of sub-40 percent opponent shooting in 24 contests. The Lopes stayed No. 1 in the nation for 3-point defense as Chicago State went three for 18 on 3-pointers, dropping GCU's opponent 3-point season clip to 27.3 percent.
Cougars guard Fred Sims Jr. entered the game in fourth place for WAC scoring but Frayer led the effort to lock him down for a second consecutive meeting. After scoring two points in 25 minutes against GCU on Jan. 18, Sims missed his first seven shots Thursday and finished with three points in 26 minutes.
"Every time he comes off the ball screen, we double team him and make him take tough shots," Majerle said. "We know he's looking to score. That's one guy who can really hurt you. We just try to not let him get comfortable, make him put it on the floor and push him toward the crowd."
The Lopes outscored the Cougars 31-4 in points off turnovers by inducing 24 Chicago State turnovers. Five of them came consecutively in the first half to spark a 10-0 Lopes run, the first of three GCU runs of unanswered double-digit points.
But the Lopes only led 36-27 at halftime because of 34.4 percent shooting against the Cougars' constantly changing defensive looks. In the second half, GCU ignored Chicago State's sets and played off the post more, even with freshman Alessandro Lever's foul trouble.
"We wanted to come out with energy and it started defensively," said Benson, who had nine points and six assists. "It kind of fueled us to get some easy baskets offensively and we got on a roll.
"They were obviously junking it up and playing a lot of different defenses in the first half. I don't even think they knew what they were in half the time. We just went and played, moved the ball, moved bodies and shared it."
Despite last week's loss at Utah Valley, the Lopes' improving offense is still averaging 82.6 points on 49.3 percent shooting over the current 6-1 stretch.
Senior guard Joshua Braun led Thursday's scoring with 14 points and is making 46.2 percent of his 3-pointers in the past eight games. Senior power forward Keonta Vernon tallied 10 points and eight rebounds in only 14 minutes.
The Lopes won by at least 30 points for the fourth time this season, allowing Majerle to reward redshirt freshman Ibrahima Sankare's strong practices with eight minutes of game action and to clean the bench with Nehemiah Allen, Cheick Sy-Savane and Parker Dale in the final minute.
The Havocs chanted for Dale, a freshman walk-on from Australia, until Majerle stared with a smirk at Dale momentarily before sending him into the game. Dale scored his first point as a Lope, prompting "M-V-P" chants from the GCU student section.
"I'm happy for all those guys," Majerle said. "They work as hard as everybody."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Team Stats
CHS
GCU
FG%
.347
.448
3FG%
.167
.407
FT%
.857
.667
RB
36
40
TO
24
11
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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