Homestand, WAC demand focus

Thursday, Jan. 17 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| GCU Arena

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (10-7, 3-1 WAC)	VS	CHICAGO STATE COUGARS (3-14, 0-2 WAC)

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The WAC preseason polls and last season's standings put Grand Canyon's next two visitors at the bottom of the conference, but the first two weeks of WAC play already have shown nothing can be taken for granted and disparity may be closing.

Chicago State, which visits GCU Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m., went 0-2 in its first conference games of the season but lost by eight points and two points, including a 77-75 loss on Saturday to the same California Baptist team that beat defending champion New Mexico State. Kansas City, Saturday's visitor to GCU, sits in first place after winning its first two WAC games.

"Every game in the WAC is competition," said Lopes senior power forward Michael Finke, whose 13-point, five-rebound game in Saturday's win at Texas-Rio Grande Valley was his best production since returning from a foot injury two weeks ago. "It doesn't matter if you're top of the league, bottom of the league. It's always going to be a battle no matter who you're playing. That's why we come here – to battle, compete and ultimately win.

"We're in a good spot, knowing that we still have a chance to win the WAC and have two teams in here and we should defend our home court."

GCU (10-7, 3-1 WAC) is tied for second place in the WAC with CSU Bakersfield but could move into at least a first-place tie this week with a home sweep. The Lopes have won 14 consecutive regular-season games at GCU Arena and are playing their first home game with students, namely Havocs, in session since the Dec. 1 win against Boise State.

"It's always exciting playing in front of our crowd because we know they bring the intensity and energy," GCU junior guard Carlos Johnson said. "They make it hard for the other team to play in here because it's so loud. They're like the sixth man for us."

Despite a competitive conference start, Chicago State is 3-14 with a revamped roster under first-year coach Lance Irvin. Nine of the Cougars' 14 players previously played at another college, mostly junior colleges.

Chicago State senior Anthony Harris, a 6-foot-5 guard who was a junior college standout, did not play last season but is averaging 15.5 points and 6.1 rebounds this season with 49.4 percent shooting. He averaged 20.5 points in the first two WAC games with his strong, athletic ability to score as a shooter, driver or post-up player.

The Cougars allow the third-most points per game (85.9) in the nation but do force 12.8 turnovers per game and apply some trapping pressure. Avoiding turnovers has been the offensive strength of the Lopes this season, but the miscues have increased recently with a season-high 19 turnovers in Saturday's win at UTRGV.

The Lopes are averaging 15.3 turnovers in their past three games after averaging only 7.7 in the previous three games.

"A little concerned," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "That (UTRGV) is a team that forces 18 turnovers a game and we had 19, but I still think we're really too careless with the ball. It really doesn't set in for a while that you can't make one-handed passes or you can't wait for the ball to come you. You have to attack the ball to go get it."

Sophomore center Alessandro Lever leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game but is coming off a frustrating week individually with most defenses double-teaming him. Lever scored 12 points combined in the two road games and went 4 for 19 from the field, including 0 for 7 on 3-pointers.

"He's getting beat up down there," Majerle said of Lever. "I feel for the kid but I'm not going to stop pushing him. He's going to be fine. We've just got to keep working on him. I told him, 'When we throw that ball in the post and they double, just accept the double team and make plays for other players.' "

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Thursday, Jan. 17 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | GCU Arena

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Players Mentioned

Michael Finke

Carlos Johnson

Alessandro Lever

Grand Canyon University Athletics