Liberty downs GCU, stays unbeaten

Sunday, December 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

4:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-7,0-0WAC

Liberty

11-0,0-0ASUN

Liberty

Grand Canyon

12/8/2019 7:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Postgame with Coach Majerle Photo Gallery

Lopes led midway through 2nd half at Suns arena

By: Paul Coro

When Grand Canyon junior Alessandro Lever was on the court Sunday, the Lopes were better than undefeated Liberty.

The Lopes center was just playing far too little of the Jerry Colangelo Classic finale for GCU to give Lopes head coach Dan Majerle a win on his former Phoenix Suns playing court.

GCU led Liberty with 10 minutes remaining but a 6 1/2-minute scoring drought with Lever fouling out was far too much of a shortcoming against the nation's second-ranked defense. The Flames were challenged as much as any game this season but Liberty kept the best record in the nation (11-0) by pulling away for a 70-61 win at Talking Stick Resort Arena in downtown Phoenix.

With Lever playing for 22 minutes, the Lopes outscored the Flames 40-33. Without Lever for the other 18 minutes, GCU was outscored 37-21.

"We had our chances," Majerle said. "We went a stretch there in the second half where we had a lot of good looks and couldn't knock them down. But I thought we fought and, although disappointed, I think that we can continue to work on the things that we have to. I thought we got a little bit better today. Disappointed in the loss, but I saw some positive things also. Our guys battled and we'll move forward with that and continue to get ready for the conference season."

With about 3,000 Lopes fans packing the southeast corner of The Stick and Majerle's Suns Ring of Honor spot on the southwest side, GCU (4-7) shut out Liberty for nearly five minutes of the first half. Playing a team that has won its games by an average of 24 points, the Lopes grinded with the Flames in a battle where neither team led by more than three points for the game's first 13 minutes.

Once Lever picked up his second foul, he finished the first half on the bench as the Flames closed with a 12-8 run to take a 32-28 halftime lead. His absence took away GCU's best offensive threat (14 points in 22 minutes) and his size (6 feet 10) on defense.

"It puts you behind the 8-ball," Majerle said.

After going 0 for 8 from 3-point range in the first half, GCU enjoyed its best offensive stretch early in the second half with scores on seven of eight possessions. Half of those 14 points came from Lever to take a 49-48 lead with consecutive 3-pointers by Lever and junior swingman Carlos Johnson. Lever's final 3-pointer pushed him over the 1,000-point mark for his GCU career, joining DeWayne Russell and Joshua Braun in GCU's Division I 1,000-point club.

The Lopes missed their next five 3-point attempts amid a 15-0 Flames run that forced Lever to return amid it with four fouls and quickly foul out on the next Liberty possession.

"Grand Canyon's good defensively," said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay, who picked up his 300th career coaching win in his hometown area. "They had us a little off-balance with the switching of man and zone (defenses). They have a very good team. They just have some dry patches in games. When they get their full contingency of players, they're going to be a tough out."

The Lopes made one last push, cutting Liberty's lead to 65-59 with 1:19 to play on a 3-point play by senior power forward Lorenzo Jenkins but the Flames closed out despite erratic free throw shooting.

GCU's 43.4% shooting was not ideal but well above Liberty's previous opponents shooting 33.2%, the second-lowest opponent clip in the nation. The Lopes also scored more than any previous team has against the Flames, who employ the "Pack Line Defense" that made Virginia a national power.

"There were things we could take from this game and take it as progress," said GCU junior guard Isiah Brown, who led his team in points (16) and rebounds (eight). "Disappointed in the loss all in all. There are no moral victories per se. But we definitely did some good things on both sides of the ball that I think we can take into the next game and try to continue to improve on."

The Lopes only made 11 turnovers but the Flames made the most of them for a 16-8 advantage in points off turnovers. Liberty put four scorers in double figures but senior guard Caleb Homesley reached his team-high 17 points on an inefficient 5-for-14 shooting evening.

The game capped a three-game event that also featured No. 19 Dayton (7-1) beating Saint Mary's 78-68 and Saint Louis (8-1) routing Tulane 86-62. The game is named in honor of Phoenix sports legend Jerry Colangelo, who plays a major role in GCU academics and athletics.

Colangelo sat courtside Sunday with fellow Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members Ann Meyers Drysdale, Paul Westphal and George Raveling.

"Mr. Colangelo personally has done so much, not only for my professional career, but for my personal career," Majerle said. "So it's an honor to be around him every day and then to be able to play in this event every year, we don't take it for granted and we love coming here and they do such a great job. Thanks to everybody that has put this together."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.