Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Travis Neely
Season extends at home in CBI
3/11/2018 9:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes to face Mercer in Wednesday's first round
Grand Canyon has more tournament basketball to play but the do-or-die venue this time will be GCU Arena.
The Lopes (22-11) will play in the 16-team College Basketball Invitational, opening the tournament's bracket in a 7 p.m. Wednesday first-round game against Mercer (18-14) at a home where GCU went 16-2 this season. Wednesday's winner advances to play the North Texas-South Dakota winner in a March 19 quarterfinal at a campus site to be determined.
The final four will be rebracketed for the March 21 semifinals and the two finalists will play a best-of-three series on March 26, 28 and 30 on ESPNU. All CBI games will be played on campuses. The 11-year CBI's previous champions were Wyoming, Nevada, Loyola (Chicago), Siena, George Mason, Pittsburgh, Oregon, VCU, Oregon State and Tulsa.
"It's for our young guys," Grand Canyon head coach Dan Majerle said. "All the experience that we can get all our young guys to play tournament-style basketball, we've done that three out of the four years."
GCU competed in the CIT in 2014, 2015 and 2016 but opted out of the postseason last year due to the team's injuries. This year's Lopes are coming off a run to the Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament championship game, where a five-game winning streak ended Saturday with a loss to New Mexico State.
Mercer will come to Phoenix from Macon, Georgia, after tying for fourth place in the Southern Conference. The Bears lost leading scorer Ria'n Holland to injury midway through the season and were at 10-13 before winning their last eight regular-season games. Mercer then lost a conference quarterfinal to Wofford.
The Bears are led by senior point guard Jordan Strawberry, the son of baseball great Darryl Strawberry. He averages 11.1 points and 4.9 assists per game. Mercer ranks in the top 40 of Division I for field goal percentage (47.6, 38th), 3-point percentage (38.7, 33rd) and rebound margin (plus-5.8, 27th).
This is the Bears' sixth postseason tournament in the past seven years under 10th-year coach Bob Hoffman.
GCU and Mercer had one common opponent this season – Florida A&M. The Lopes won 67-51. The Bears won 82-64. It will be the programs' first-ever meeting.
The Lopes are one of four Western Athletic Conference teams playing in the CBI. Utah Valley will play host to Eastern Washington and Seattle is also at home against Central Arkansas. UTRGV plays at New Orleans.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
The Lopes (22-11) will play in the 16-team College Basketball Invitational, opening the tournament's bracket in a 7 p.m. Wednesday first-round game against Mercer (18-14) at a home where GCU went 16-2 this season. Wednesday's winner advances to play the North Texas-South Dakota winner in a March 19 quarterfinal at a campus site to be determined.
The final four will be rebracketed for the March 21 semifinals and the two finalists will play a best-of-three series on March 26, 28 and 30 on ESPNU. All CBI games will be played on campuses. The 11-year CBI's previous champions were Wyoming, Nevada, Loyola (Chicago), Siena, George Mason, Pittsburgh, Oregon, VCU, Oregon State and Tulsa.
"It's for our young guys," Grand Canyon head coach Dan Majerle said. "All the experience that we can get all our young guys to play tournament-style basketball, we've done that three out of the four years."
GCU competed in the CIT in 2014, 2015 and 2016 but opted out of the postseason last year due to the team's injuries. This year's Lopes are coming off a run to the Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament championship game, where a five-game winning streak ended Saturday with a loss to New Mexico State.
Mercer will come to Phoenix from Macon, Georgia, after tying for fourth place in the Southern Conference. The Bears lost leading scorer Ria'n Holland to injury midway through the season and were at 10-13 before winning their last eight regular-season games. Mercer then lost a conference quarterfinal to Wofford.
The Bears are led by senior point guard Jordan Strawberry, the son of baseball great Darryl Strawberry. He averages 11.1 points and 4.9 assists per game. Mercer ranks in the top 40 of Division I for field goal percentage (47.6, 38th), 3-point percentage (38.7, 33rd) and rebound margin (plus-5.8, 27th).
This is the Bears' sixth postseason tournament in the past seven years under 10th-year coach Bob Hoffman.
GCU and Mercer had one common opponent this season – Florida A&M. The Lopes won 67-51. The Bears won 82-64. It will be the programs' first-ever meeting.
The Lopes are one of four Western Athletic Conference teams playing in the CBI. Utah Valley will play host to Eastern Washington and Seattle is also at home against Central Arkansas. UTRGV plays at New Orleans.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame Radio with Bryce Drew
Wednesday, March 11
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame Radio with Brian Moore Jr.
Wednesday, March 11
What's Ahead for the Mountain West Tournament?
Monday, March 09
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame with Dusty Stromer, Brian Moore Jr.
Sunday, March 08