Lobos light up Lopes with 3s

Tuesday, December 17

Albuquerque, N.M. / Dreamstyle Arena

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-9,0-0WAC

New Mexico

11-2,2-0Mountain West

Grand Canyon

New Mexico

12/17/2019 11:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Postgame with Coach Majerle Photo Gallery

New Mexico moves to 11-2 by hitting 14 3-pointers

By: Paul Coro

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Grand Canyon just finished a three-game stretch in which its opponents have a cumulative 33-3 record this season.

The schedule has been as difficult as managing a shorthanded team but GCU head coach Dan Majerle did not accept a 91-71 loss at New Mexico (11-2) any more readily than losses in Phoenix to Liberty (12-0) and Northern Iowa (10-1). The Lopes were leading in the seventh minute and trailed by six at halftime before allowing a 54-point Lobos second half in front of 10,925 fans at The Pit.

"We're GCU," Majerle said. "I don't care who we're playing. We shouldn't be losing by 20. We shouldn't be getting beat at home. We schedule like this because we're good. Now we don't have the roster we thought. We all get that. But there's no excuse. We expect to win every game. We expected to win this game. In fact, after the first half, I said, 'We can win this game.' It was 37-31 and we didn't really play that well in the first half."

But that was as good as it got for the Lopes (4-9), who could not overcome allowing a 12-0 New Mexico run in each half. Both runs came in two-minute flashes of breakdowns that made it moot that GCU outscored New Mexico by four for the game's other 36 minutes.

The Lobos remained undefeated at home (8-0) with uncanny 3-point shooting for their sixth consecutive victory and the Lopes' third consecutive defeate. New Mexico normally averages five 3-point makes per game and only had been shooting 31.4% beyond the arc until its long-distance day of the season Tuesday.

The Lobos made 14 of 26 shots from 3-point range with the help of Utah transfer Vante Hendrix's debut (4 for 5 on 3s in the second half). GCU also lost track of top Lobos leading shooter JaQuan Lyle, an Ohio State transfer who went 4 for 5 on 3s.

"I think they really just baited us to shoot 3s, and that is not something I really like to do, but we were making them," New Mexico head coach Paul Weir said.

The Lopes played poorly defensively to allow 57.6% percent shooting but they were the fifth New Mexico opponent to allow 90 points to the Lobos in a game this season.

"You're not beating anybody with that kind of defensive effort," Majerle said. "I know they shot 14 for 26 from 3 but a lot of those were from lack of communication and talking. Once again, I thought we had a great time in practice. The way we talked hasn't translated."

Offensively, GCU offered encouraging facets with junior center Alessandro Lever making all nine of his 2-point shots for an 18-point, 11-rebound game, his second double-double of the season. Senior Carlos Johnson, starting at power forward for the first time Tuesday, led GCU with 23 points after scoring nine consecutive points late in the first half as the Lopes kept the margin tight.

Johnson played to his strengths with three drives and added a shot clock-beating 3-pointer.

"When he's going downhill, he's hard to stop," Majerle said.

Johnson accounted for the Lopes' only made 3 of the first half. GCU only made 2 of 11 shots from 3-point range in the game but it was the Lopes' only made 3 on eight first-half tries.

GCU has struggled in the bottom 20 nationally for 3-point shooting percentage (27.4%) but its 11 attempts at 3s on Tuesday marked a season low. The Lopes made 55.1% of their 2-point shots with freshman point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. dishing out eight assists.

Junior guard Mikey Dixon figures to help GCU's perimeter shooting woes but the rust of an 11-month layoff showed in his Lopes debut on Monday. Dixon, a St. John's transfer, showed he was in shape with a 37-minute effort while defending 6-9 guard Vance Jackson as part of GCU's starting lineup. But Dixon made 3 of 14 shots with his only makes coming on drives.

"Mikey's going to be really good," Majerle said. "I know he only went 3 for 14 but he has a great presence about him. He's got great poise. He actually turned down shots. I wish he would've gone 3 for 20. He hasn't played for like a year so I'm really optimistic about what he's going to be able to do for this team now that he has a game under his belt. He's a very smart player who can really shoot it.

"He really moves the ball well. It doesn't stick in his hands. He's really got a knack and an eye for basketball. He's got a good IQ so I'm excited about what the rest of the year is going to hold for him."

The Lopes led 10-8 in the game's seventh minute until half of the ensuing New Mexico 12-0 run came on three successive layups or dunks, two of which were set up by 3-point misses and one was made possible by a turnover.

GCU survived that onslaught with Johnson rallying the Lopes. The Lobos, ranked second in the nation for free throws, still closed out the first half with three consecutive trips to the foul line for a 37-31 halftime lead.

The Lopes trailed 47-39 when the next 12-0 Lobos run hit in the second half. It began with GCU missing two shots at the rim on a fastbreak and continued with two turnovers, including a backcourt violation as the Lopes struggled against a trapping zone defense that New Mexico began using in the second half.

Trailing 59-39 after a Hendrix 3, GCU managed one last push to take the lead to 74-61 with 4:28 remaining but a second-chance New Mexico hoop staved off the threat.

Coming off a 17-point, 17-rebound game in a win against New Mexico State, Lobos senior power forward Carlton Bragg came back with 20 points and 14 rebounds. After previously making one 3-pointer in his collegiate career, the 6-10 former Kansas and Arizona State player made two 3-pointers against GCU.

The Lopes return home Saturday to face Eastern Illinois (7-4) for its final nonconference game. WAC play starts Jan. 4 at CSU Bakersfield.

"I'm excited for the conference season," Majerle said. "I'm disappointed like everyone else. I don't recognize what's going on out there. This is the first time I've been at a loss for how to fix it. We get so encouraged at practice with the way they're talking and their energy and how hard they're playing. Right now, it's not transferring to games.

"I still think this team is good enough to do damage in the conference."

Rhymes out for season

GCU junior forward J.J. Rhymes will miss the remainder of the season due to a hip injury. In 12 appearances this season, Rhymes was averaging 5.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 22.8 minutes per game with 40.4% shooting from the field and 71.9% shooting on free throws.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.