Illinois visit can help Lopes atone

Friday, November 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Illinois

11/7/2019 10:58:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

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Fighting Illini become 1st Big Ten visitor to GCU

By: Paul Coro

Friday, Nov. 8 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (0-1)	VS	ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (1-0)

WATCH: FOX 10 Xtra, ESPN3, GCULopes.com \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

The burn of losing a home opener for the first time in 17 years stung for Grand Canyon.

The video review of Tuesday's loss to Davenport rubbed salt in the wound when the Lopes saw where they did not take their practice court work to the GCU Arena floor.

There could not be a better antidote for Lopes players, staffers and fans than to see a better representation of this year's team when Illinois becomes GCU's first Big Ten visitor on Friday night.

"We're lucky to have this opportunity, honestly, to get that bad taste out of our mouths," Lopes junior guard Isiah Brown said. "We have a lot of work to do against a really good team. We get another opportunity to play in front of the home fans. We didn't live up to our end of the bill (Tuesday night). It's a lucky opportunity for us to have such a quick turnaround against a really good team to get the taste out of our mouths. We have to be locked in and prepared."

GCU is looking for an about-face from an 82-73 loss to Davenport with a better performance against Illinois, which is expecting to make its first NCAA tournament visit since 2013. With eight of their top nine scorers back, the Fighting Illini opened the season Tuesday with a 78-70 overtime victory against Nicholls State and will follow the GCU visit by playing at Arizona on Sunday.

The Lopes will have to tangle with an Illini front line of post scorer Giorgi Bezhanishivizi, a 6-foot-9 sophomore power forward, and 7-foot freshman Kofi Cockburn, a top-50 national recruit who debuted with 10 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday. Illinois also returns a top point guard in sophomore Ayo Dosunmu and a senior guard, Andres Feliz, who had a 23-point, 11-rebound opener.

Between the loss behind them and the task ahead of them, the Lopes were not lacking on focus or effort over Wednesday's and Thursday's practices.

"It was embarrassing to let our fans down and let ourselves down and let our coaches down," GCU senior power forward Lorenzo Jenkins said. "We know what we're capable of and we can be a very explosive team and a very good defensive team if we all just lock in and stay on the same page."

GCU lost 62-58 at Illinois on Dec. 30, 2017, but this is a far different team than even last season's Lopes. They are grappling with those roster changes on the fly and adjusting to a shorter bench but they began to find themselves offensively late Tuesday, when they made 19 of their final 27 shots.

"As I said, it's going to be a process," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "We've got new guys and we've got to figure things out. We just have to bunker down and just play. I'm not worried about it. Like I said, we've got to play well come conference season so there's going to be some bumps and bruises but we've got to just keep working."

That work began with a stern look at Tuesday's video, where GCU players saw how they did not execute the defensive game plan.

"Everybody took it on the chin like a man," Lopes junior swingman J.J. Rhymes said. "Coach gave us the message that we needed to hear. We've got to do what we've got to do for the team to get better.

"There's a lot of fire behind out butts."

GCU is playing a seven-man rotation with five players who made their Lopes debut on Tuesday night. Three of them were playing their first Division I game.

They figure to improve on 2-of-19 3-point shooting, especially with the open looks they had on Tuesday, and communicate better on ball screen coverage defensively. This game has their full attention, as well as that of pro scouts, extra media and a television broadcast also going back to Illinois.

"We should be shot out of a cannon," Brown said. "We have to come out with an incredible amount of energy. We know they will because that's how they play. Knowing that, we have to be the aggressors and play attack basketball on both ends of the floor. We have an incredible opportunity so we have to take advantage of it."

Illinois is the first Power Five visitor to GCU Arena since the Lopes gave Louisville a scare three years ago.

"Illinois is a tough team but we'll be ready for it, a lot more ready than we were Tuesday, that's for sure," Jenkins said.

"I was talking to my teammates and saying, 'What's done is done.' We can erase all of that by going and winning that game Friday. That's a big game and a big team. It's a tough task but I know we're more than capable of beating them."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.