Trip to settle 2nd, preview tourney

Thursday, March 7 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Orem, Utah

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (18-10, 10-4)	VS	UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES (21-8, 10-4)

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Everyone associated with Grand Canyon is eager for next week's WAC Basketball Tournament.

This week might offer a sneak peek at the Lopes' first two tourney rounds.

GCU closes the regular season with games at Utah Valley on Thursday night and Seattle U on Saturday. Depending on how the WAC week goes, there is a strong chance that the Lopes will face the same two teams next week at the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, where Seattle could be GCU's first-round opponent and Utah Valley is a potential semifinal foe.

The Lopes (18-10, 10-4 WAC) can finish alone in second place for the first time in their six-year WAC history if they sweep this week's road trip.

It begins with a second-place showdown at 7 p.m. Thursday at Utah Valley (21-8, 10-4 WAC), which is tied for second with GCU and has gone 27-2 at home over the past two seasons. A Lopes win would clinch the tournament's No. 2 seed because they would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Wolverines with a series sweep.

"Our guys know what's at stake," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "Our guys have played pretty good on the road this year so we've got to just continue to play good basketball."

Utah Valley has played good basketball since starting the WAC schedule with losses at GCU and CSU Bakersfield in early January. Since then, the Wolverines have won 10 of 12 games with the only defeats coming competitively to conference champion New Mexico State. The first loss to NMSU ended Utah Valley's 23-game home winning streak.

Utah Valley is the WAC's top shooting team from the field (48.5 percent) and 3-point range (40.4 percent) and averages a conference-best 77.4 points per game in WAC play. On the flip, GCU is allowing conference-low 41.5 percent shooting and kept Utah Valley to 37.5 percent shooting in the first meeting – a 71-60 Lopes win on Jan. 3.

"We're going to have to have that same effort as a team again," Lopes senior power forward Michael Finke said. "The Toolsons are both good threats out there offensively so we've got to lock in and do what we do defensively."

Jake and Conner Toolson, who are cousins, combine for 28.8 points per game with Jake leading the WAC in 3-point shooting at 47.6 percent. They scored 13 points cumulatively in the loss at GCU, with senior Matt Jackson setting the defensive tone.

"We're both playing well," Majerle said. "We're both really good. Going into the year, we knew it was going to be New Mexico State and us and probably Utah Valley so there's no surprises at all. They're a good team. They got guys back from last year and good additions."

One of the reasons the Lopes regained their confidence after team leader Gerard Martin's season-ending injury and the ensuing three-game losing streak is the play of sophomore point guard Damari Milstead. During the current four-game winning streak, Milstead is averaging 7.0 assists and 1.3 turnovers.

"It took a while but we're getting better every day," Milstead said. "We're still not where we need to be. We're not at our peak when he had G (Martin). These two games will be valuable for us going into WAC season."

Milstead's play has helped set up Finke, who is finishing his collegiate career with his best play. He is averaging 26.4 points on 66 percent shooting over the past five games.

"Damari is really finding guys and trying to get guys more involved," Finke said. "With me personally, he's found me in some different spots. When you have a point guard who is really looking for you to get going and be a pass-first point guard, it's fun to play with somebody like that."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Thursday, March 7 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Orem, Utah

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Players Mentioned

Michael Finke

Matt Jackson

Gerard Martin

Damari Milstead

Grand Canyon University Athletics