NMSU visit brings top WAC test

Thursday, Jan. 10 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Las Cruces, N.M.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (9-6, 2-0)	VS	NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (11-4, 0-1)

WATCH: Fox Sports Arizona Plus / Fox Sports Go \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View \| FOLLOW: @GCU_MBB

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Grand Canyon's intended destination is a WAC championship. The path to there travels through the conference cities, where the Lopes have posted winning records in all but one.

That could change Thursday night when GCU (9-6, 2-0 WAC) visits perennial conference favorite New Mexico State (11-4, 0-1) for a 7 p.m. showdown of this season's conference favorites. The game will be shown on Fox Sports Arizona Plus and air on 1580 AM in the Phoenix area.

The Lopes lost each visit at the Pan American Center by double digits until last season, but that is the norm for most of New Mexico State's visitors. The Aggies have won 90 percent of their home games since 2011-12 and are 64-4 in home conference games since 2009-10.

"As we've seen in college basketball, it's hard to win on the road, so I'm anxious to see how tough our guys are at New Mexico State," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said.

The Lopes lost 74-70 at New Mexico State in last year's visit, one marred by GCU's Alessandro Lever fouling out in 19 minutes of play. The Aggies lost Zach Lofton and Jemerrio Jones, who have gone on to the NBA's G League, and this season do not have a player averaging more than 11.3 points (5-foot-9 junior point guard A.J. Harris).

NMSU comes at opponents in waves with 12 players averaging 10 or more minutes per game. The Aggies crash the boards that way, too, ranking 14^th in the nation for rebound margin (plus 8.7 per game) and in the top 10 for offensive and defensive rebounding percentage.

"It's going to be a war," Majerle said. "Going in there, we know it's going to be a battle. They're really good offensively on the boards. They play a lot of guys and play physical, so it's going to be a test for us."

NMSU has been preparing for GCU for a week since losing 82-76 in its WAC opener at California Baptist. The Aggies also have lost to St. Mary's (75-58), Kansas (63-60) and Drake (66-63). NMSU and GCU are the WAC's top-ranked teams in the NCAA NET rankings at Nos. 109 and 117, respectively, among 353 Division I teams.

The Aggies have claimed 10 WAC Tournament titles since 2006 and three of the past four championships.

"They're the team you have to go through," Majerle said. "They've been the premier team since I've been here. It's going to be hard to win wherever we go but if we're able to get a win there, it would be huge."

Outside Harris' driving ability, the Lopes' much improved defense will have to contend with the shooting of JoJo Zamora and C.J. Bobbitt, who both have made more than 40 percent of their 3-point shots. Overall, however, NMSU shoots only 31.5 percent from 3-point range.

Junior 6-8 center Ivan Aurrecoechea is the Aggies' second-leading scorer at 11.0 points per game, mainly off rolling to the hoop and crashing boards, but he plays only 17.9 minutes per game even though he is a starter.

NMSU is planning a "Whiteout" for GCU's visit, but students have not returned to campus yet here. Three busloads of Lopes students are headed on I-10 East for the game.

GCU sprinted to sharing the WAC lead with Cal State Bakersfield by defeating Seattle and Utah Valley, which were picked to finish third and fourth in the conference. Home teams went 6-1 in the WAC's first week.

"We did what we're supposed to do," Majerle said. "We've always won at home in conference. I was happy with how we played, but I'm not surprised. I expected us to win, but I was happy to do it the way we did. Defensively, we focused in. We played hard and rebounded well."

Lope tracks

GCU held Seattle and Utah Valley to three and six assists, respectively, in last week's home wins. That is the lowest total for two consecutive WAC games in the Lopes' Division I history.
Sophomore point guard Damari Milstead became the first GCU player since DeWayne Russell (2016-17) to record at least seven assists in consecutive games last week, when he posted seven and eight assists in the wins.
The Lopes are 9-0 when they outrebound opponents and 0-6 when they are outrebounded.
GCU has held opponents to a field goal percentage of only 39.6 over the past five games.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Thursday, Jan. 10 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Las Cruces, N.M.

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Players Mentioned

Alessandro Lever

Damari Milstead

DeWayne Russell

Grand Canyon University Athletics