10-0 Liberty meets GCU downtown

Sunday, December 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

4:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Liberty

Tickets

12/6/2019 11:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

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Colangelo Classic tripleheader puts Lopes in Suns' arena

By: Paul Coro

Sunday, Dec. 8 \| 4:30 p.m. \| Talking Stick Resort Arena

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (4-6)	VS	LIBERTY FLAMES (10-0)

WATCH: ESPNU, ESPN.com \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

Each time Grand Canyon travels to downtown Phoenix for a Talking Stick Resort Arena, the basketball event carries more than the weight of a big basketball game.

Lopes head coach Dan Majerle returns to the building where his name and face are part of the Suns Ring of Honor and elsewhere for the lore of his three-time NBA All-Star career. The Sunday tripleheader event is the Jerry Colangelo Classic, named for the Phoenix legend who built the Suns organization and plays a key role in GCU academics and athletics.

But even after facing St. John's and Nevada at the Suns' arena the past two years, GCU enters new weighty territory by taking on a 10-0 Liberty team in a duel of the nation's largest Christian universities.

It will be part of a power-packed schedule with Tulane (7-1) playing Saint Louis (7-1) at 11:30 a.m. and Saint Mary's (9-1) facing 19th-ranked Dayton (6-1) at 2 p.m on the same event ticket as the 4:30 p.m. GCU-Liberty game, which will air on ESPNU.

"It's fun and exciting," Majerle said. "Anytime I get to go back there and experience game atmosphere in that Suns' arena, it's always great. We get a chance to play on TV and play hard."

The Lopes have been an early-season roller-coaster ride at 4-6 but enter Sunday off an improved effort in Tuesday's overtime win against Mount St. Mary's.

They will need that and more against Liberty, which has the second-best scoring margin in the nation at plus-24.2 points per game. The Flames, whose Mesa-raised head coach Ritchie McKay is going for his 300th career win, reached the NCAA tournament's second round last season with the defensive style that McKay learned as Virginia's associate head coach from 2009 to 2015.

Liberty slows the tempo and denies direct drives with a "Pack Line Defense" that allows 48.5 points per game, the second-lowest average in the nation. The Flames also rank fourth in the nation for opponent field goal percentage (33.2%) and opponent 3-point percentage (23.7%) while only fouling 13.2 times per game.

"It's going to be a grind-it-out game," Majerle said. "We've just got to play tough and make it hard for them to score too. If you like defense, it's going to be a great game."

Liberty has not faced any top teams like GCU, which has played two teams ranked in the kenpom.com top 50 (No. 25 San Diego State and No. 45 Illinois). The Flames have faced eight Division I teams with six of those rated below No. 250.

That is not to be taken lightly with a Liberty team that returns four starters from the 29-win team that beat Mississippi State in the NCAA tournament first round. Beyond its defensive reputation, Liberty also ranks in the national top 10 for least turnovers per game (10.1) and 3-point shooting percentage (41.9%).

"Our guys will be ready to play," Majerle said. "It's exciting any time you get to go down and play at the Suns' arena. We're going to get a great effort. I'm not worried about scoring. The reason we won that Mount St. Mary's game was because of our effort. We played a lot harder with multiple efforts. Our effort defensively was a lot better and we have to continue to play hard."

Liberty ranks second in the Mid-Major Top 25 behind Gonzaga but the venue will be just as meaningful to Lopes players, especially those the four Lopes players who grew up in Phoenix watching Suns games at The Stick.

"It's a great opportunity and a blessing but it's just another game that we have to go out there and get a dub," said freshman point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., who played at Phoenix Shadow Mountain High. "We're all competitors so of course we want to knock out someone who is 10-0 and we've got a chance so I think we can make it happen. We need to play our game, play with intensity, play as a team, swing the ball and we'll be fine if we follow Coach's rules and expectations to execute."

Lope tracks

GCU junior center Alessandro Lever needs 12 points to reach 1,000 career points.
The Lopes have outrebounded opponents in four of their past five games.
Including the Sunday game, GCU's first 11 opponents are cumulatively 59-35 (.628).
Blacksher ranks third in the nation for minutes played (360).
Liberty is the first team in the nation to reach a 10-0 record.
The Flames have trailed for 11 of their 400 minutes played this season.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.