Rare home struggles continue

Saturday, November 30

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-6

Purdue Fort Wayne

5-5

Purdue Fort Wayne

Grand Canyon

11/30/2019 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Purdue Fort Wayne wins 71-60 at GCU Arena

By: Paul Coro

Whether it is winning within the season or good stretches within the losing, the positive times for Grand Canyon basketball this season have been fleeting.

Another chance at consistency slipped through the Lopes' fingers on Saturday night at GCU Arena, where the Lopes never led after the first four minutes and faded down the stretch of a 71-60 loss to Purdue Fort Wayne.

The meeting was a Summit League/WAC Challenge matchup that was supposed to be a building block for GCU off its Monday win against Illinois State. Instead, the Lopes (3-6) allowed the Mastadons (5-5) to shoot 57.7% from the field with 20 of their 27 made field goals coming in the paint.

GCU trailed 50-44 midway through the second half and then missed its next six shots with two turnovers to wind up trailing by 17 with 4:25 to play. The Lopes already have more home losses (three) than last season's 12-2 home team, the fourth consecutive GCU season of three or fewer home losses.

"I don't see a whole lot of fire and passion in that team," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said after the season's lengthiest postgame talk with his team. "I don't see a lot of just getting it done, however it takes to get it done. Getting down and guarding someone. That team shot 55% on us. Are you kidding me? I haven't seen this in a GCU team so I'm at a loss for words. We'll keep fighting. Sooner or later, it comes down to these players having a little pride and a little fight within themselves."

GCU will be back at GCU Arena on Tuesday night but the Lopes will have to translate its practice court work better to the arena court. Lopes junior center Alessandro Lever made 7 of 10 shots for a team-high 20 points but GCU failed to capitalize on Purdue Fort Wayne's double teams on him.

Defensively, the Mastodons came in with the reputation as a prolific 3-point shooting team and only made 7 of 23 long-distance shots. They did not need the 3s because they were able to drive to the rim consistently, led by sophomore point guard Jarred Godfrey's career-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting.

A win and two encouraging practice days did not sustain.

"The fire, the intensity," Majerle said, on what did not carry over to Saturday night. "We couldn't keep anybody in front of us. They moved the ball and broke us down off of swings. On the offensive end, we're being selfish. One or two passes and we're trying to take guys off the dribble. We haven't been good enough."

GCU came out with a 7-2 lead when freshman point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., who scored 18, made a 3-pointer just over three minutes into the game. Purdue Fort Wayne's ensuing 23-5 run put it control for the rest of the game.

The Lopes nearly stole momentum into the halftime locker room with a 10-1 run keyed by six consecutive points from Blacksher but they gave it back. Blacksher made a steal but opted to try to score on a fastbreak instead of waiting for the half's last shot, which instead came on a Purdue Fort Wayne follow slam for a 36-28 halftime lead.

Just like the start of the game, GCU began the second half well with four consecutive scoring possessions but a chance for a fifth came up empty on two missed free throws by junior J.J. Rhymes and the Lopes' offensive woes resumed.

GCU shut out Purdue Fort Wayne for four minutes but only scored four points during the stretch and never got any closer on a 1-for-11 night from leading scorer Carlos Johnson.

"I thought we could take another step forward after a little bit of success against Illinois State," Majerle said. "But, again, we took a huge step backward. They've got to figure it out. There's just not enough effort on the defensive end. Offensively, the ball is stagnant."

The Lopes are playing without senior forward Oscar Frayer and junior guard Mikey Dixon, who could make season debuts during the winter break. But the staff is concerned about the competitiveness of the team's current makeup and establishing itself as a good defensive team that feeds into better offense.

GCU only made 11 turnovers on Saturday but shot 40% from the field with only two bench points.

"In spurts, we play OK and then we hit a wall and make a couple mistakes and then it all goes because they don't trust it," Majerle said. "I haven't figured it out but we will."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.