Redemption awaits vs. NMSU

Saturday, Feb. 9 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| GCU Arena

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (14-8, 7-2)	VS	NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (19-4, 8-1)

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It has been a long four weeks since Grand Canyon was dealt a gut punch at New Mexico State, where the Lopes lost on a 50-foot shot at the buzzer.

It was an even longer night dealing with the first loss since then.

GCU was longing to avenge its NMSU loss when the Aggies came to Phoenix. Now that they are here for a 7 p.m. game at GCU Arena with students camping out on the Quad for prime seating, the Lopes are just ready for the chance to be a better basketball team again.

After suffering its first home loss of the season to Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, GCU (14-8, 7-2 WAC) still can move back into a first-place tie on Saturday if it can topple defending conference champion NMSU (19-4, 8-1 WAC).

"I'm more concerned about us getting better instead of us settling and being complacent," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said.

GCU has dropped its past four meetings with NMSU but showed how evenly matched they could be this season in a 77-75 Aggies victory on Jan. 10, when Lopes sophomore point guard Damari Milstead's two steals and layups within 12 seconds nearly swiped a victory.

Until the shot, a half-court heave from NMSU sophomore Johnny McCants that was played ad nauseam on television and throughout social media.

"It might still be there," GCU senior guard Trey Drechsel said of the vision of the shot. "I've never experienced anything like that before. It was a tough pill to swallow. It just gives a little extra motivation."

It never takes much motivation for a game with New Mexico State, the WAC representative in the NCAA tournament six of the past seven seasons.

"We've just got to get our mentality back on the defensive end," Lopes senior power forward Michael Finke said. "It was pitiful (Thursday), especially rebounding. Guys were driving down the middle, getting whatever shot they wanted and we were just watching the ball go up. If we do that against New Mexico State, we're going to be in for a rude awakening. If we win, we can still do everything we want."

The NMSU loss was the start of better GCU play, leading to a five-game winning streak that included four consecutive double-digit victories until Thursday's stunner to an improving UTRGV team. The Lopes were riddled by dribble drives and second chances and lost a seven-point lead with seven minutes to play.

"Our fans deserve the best effort all the time," Majerle said. "You don't just show up and play. They deserve your 100 percent effort. It was just a bad performance and they got what they deserved. We got outplayed, outhustled. It's human nature. They reverted back to being comfortable because they were winning."

The Aggies started an eight-game winning streak with their victory against GCU. They rank seventh in the nation for rebounding margin (plus-8.7 per game) and are No. 61 on the NCAA NET Rankings of all Division I teams.

GCU and NMSU are the top two WAC teams for scoring defense, opponent field goal percentage, scoring margin, rebounding margin and assists.

Aggies center Ivan Aurrecoechea, who led the first win against GCU with 20 points (all in the paint) and 11 rebounds, is out indefinitely because of a knee injury and has missed the past three games. Junior guard Terrell Brown has been their leading scorer in WAC play with 15.6 points per game, 44 percent 3-point shooting and a steady diet of free throws (six per game).

The Lopes players said they had one of their most difficult practices of the season Friday, coming off their first regular-season home loss since NMSU last visited GCU Arena.

"We felt like we should've played better last game," Drechsel said. "Coach said it best: We got what we deserved. We got complacent. I don't think we looked past them, but we kind of got arrogant and thought we'd walk in and just beat them.

"It was a bitter reality check. We practiced really hard. We're definitely frustrated, but that's something that a mature team is able to compartmentalize and remain focused on the next task at hand, which is a big one."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Saturday, Feb. 9 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | GCU Arena

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Players Mentioned

Trey Drechsel

Michael Finke

Damari Milstead

Grand Canyon University Athletics