Share of WAC lead on line vs. Roos

Saturday, Jan. 19 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| GCU Arena

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (11-7, 4-1)	VS	UMKC KANGAROOS (7-11, 2-1)

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Seeing Kansas City colors enter GCU Arena on Saturday night could have triggered a frightful flashback.

Grand Canyon was trailing UMKC 20-4 after 6½ minutes of its first Division I postseason appearance in March but rallied to win that WAC Tournament game, much like how this Lopes season has rallied from a blowout loss at Texas to go 6-2 since the Austin visit.

This run, and the streak of 15 consecutive regular-season home wins, puts GCU (11-7, 4-1 WAC) in position Saturday night to at least maintain a share of the conference lead with a victory against fourth-place UMKC (7-11, 2-1 WAC). A 5-1 mark would be the Lopes' best WAC start since opening 6-0 in 2015-16.

"They will be ready for us," head coach Dan Majerle said of the Roos. "They are a team that, again, has some good guards that are smaller. They have some tough guys that are going to present us with some matchup problems. We just have to continue to hopefully play our type of defense and control the basket, as far as rebounding and shooting the ball well.

"Playing at home, we have to take care of home business. It's hard enough to win on the road, but UMKC will be a great challenge for us."

After an 0-6 start, the Roos have won seven of their past 12 games with improved shooting. They nearly remained unbeaten in WAC play until GCU's conference co-leader, CSU Bakersfield, beat UMKC 74-73 on Thursday night. The Roos fouled on a Bakersfield 3-point shot with two-tenths of a second remaining, and three converted free throws gave the Roadrunners the win.

Xavier Bishop, a 5-foot-8 point guard, leads UMKC in scoring and playmaking with 16.1 points and 4.3 assists per game. The junior lefthander has scored in double digits for 15 consecutive games with 3-point range and driving ability. After scoring 23 points in the first of GCU's three wins against UMKC last season, Bishop was held to 5-for-20 shooting and 7.0 points per game in the final two meetings.

The Roos are in their sixth season under head coach Kareem Richardson, who came to UMKC after serving as an assistant coach for Rick Pitino and Louisville's 2013 national championship team.

Looking for Lever

When sophomore Roberts Blumbergs had a potential breakout performance with an eight-point first half Thursday, the power forward earned a second-half start over sophomore center Alessandro Lever, but that is no indication that the Lopes are going away from their leading scorer and WAC Preseason Player of the Year. Lever has been in an offensive rut, shooting 24 percent from the field and averaging 6.3 points against physical, double-teaming defenses over the past three games.

"We need Ale so it's not like I'm going away from him," Majerle said of Lever. "That's my guy so we just have to find a way to get him better.

"He's just got to get out of his own head and we've got to keep working on him. Because if we're going to be good, he's got to play well."

Lope tracks

Lopes senior forward Gerard Martin has made six of his past seven 3-point shots after going 4 for 18 on 3s to start the season.
GCU ranks 33^rd in the nation for defensive rebounding percentage (76.1). UMKC is in the bottom 50 for offensive rebounding percentage (24.9).
The Lopes have held eight of 18 opponents to 40.4 percent shooting or less.
GCU ranks sixth in the nation for attendance by arena capacity percentage (101.7).
The Lopes lead the WAC for most assists per game (14.3) and fewest fouls per game (18.4).
The most memorable moment of Thursday's win might be when GCU freshman walk-on Raef Gerdes misfired on a 25-foot shot within 13 seconds of checking in for his third appearance. Two days earlier in practice, Majerle told the team Gerdes was its best shooter. After the miss, Majerle called him to the sideline and said, "I don't mind you shooting but swing (pass) it once or twice."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Saturday, Jan. 19 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | GCU Arena

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Players Mentioned

Roberts Blumbergs

Raef Gerdes

Alessandro Lever

Gerard Martin

Grand Canyon University Athletics