Lopes locked into 3rd seed for WAC

Thursday, March 7

Orem, Utah

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

18-11

Utah Valley

22-8

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

3/7/2019 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

GCU falls at Utah Valley in battle for 2nd place

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

OREM, Utah — Grand Canyon came to Utah Valley intent on settling its WAC Tournament seeding fate.

Through an unforeseen sequence of events, including an 82-70 loss Thursday night at UCCU Center, the Lopes unfortunately know they will be the No. 3 seed in next week's WAC Tournament. They wanted the No. 2 seed but Utah Valley (22-8, 11-4 WAC) clinched that by dominating the Lopes like no team has since GCU's Dec.15 loss at Texas.

It was as shocking as getting hit in the face with a basketball, starkly turning around the way GCU (18-11, 10-5 WAC) beat Utah Valley in Phoenix two months ago and ending the Lopes' four-game winning streak. But a home win and superb offense is no stunning development from the Wolverines, who are 28-2 at home over the past two seasons and boast a conference-leading offense.

That Utah Valley firepower was able to pull away from GCU twice Thursday, when the Lopes shook off a 22-8 deficit to lead in the first first two minutes of the second half but then gave up the Wolverines' second 10-0 run of the game.

"It was a bad game right from the beginning, mentally, physically," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said. "We were just emotionally weak, physically weak. They beat us to every basketball, 50-50 balls, rebounding, didn't execute offensively, didn't execute defensively. I was just surprised, really, by the way we came out. It was a lack of focus and how we're supposed to do things. I'm just disappointed. Hopefully this is a wakeup call. Utah Valley played really well."

Utah Valley overcame 21 turnovers by shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 50 percent (12 for 24) on 3-pointers. It was only the 28th time in this college basketball season that a team beat a Division I opponent by at least 12 points while making at least 21 turnovers.

Instead of the defense that held Utah Valley cousins Jake and Conner Toolson to 13 points combined at GCU on Jan. 3, the Lopes allowed the Toolsons to team for 37 points on Thursday while the Wolverines enjoyed another 14 points from center Richard Harward in his 19 reserve minutes.

"I couldn't be more proud of my guys," Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope said. "This Grand Canyon team has been a real problem for us and they will continue to be. It seems like they crush us on the glass every time we meet them but I'm proud of our guys for handling that point of emphasis really really well tonight."

The Lopes put five scorers in double figures with sophomores Alessandro Lever and Damari Milstead and junior Carlos Johnson each scoring 15 but GCU had trouble stringing offense together for most of the game. The Lopes shot 42.6 percent from the field, made only 6 of 19 shots from 3-point range and committed 15 turnovers, including 10 in the decisive second half.

GCU opened the game by taking 3s on seven of their first 12 shots and repeatedly giving up open, set 3-pointers to an excellent spot-shooting team.

"I'm just very disappointed in the lack of execution and how we played," Majerle said. "We took some really bad shots early and then defensively, we weren't on point."

GCU was fortunate to be trailing 43-39 at halftime but scrapped back into the game with the help of reserves Trey Drechsel, Tim Finke and Matt Jackson. Finke and Jackson changed the defensive tone while Drechsel, a guard, led the rebounding effort again. Milstead scored seven points over three consecutive possessions to pull GCU within two points with 1:35 remaining in the first half, capping a stretch of almost 12 minutes in which the Lopes outscored the Wolverines 29-17.

Lever opened the second half with a jumper and a 3-pointer to put GCU ahead 44-43. The Lopes tied it at 46-46 on a Johnson spin move but the defense relented and the offense sputtered from there. Utah Valley thrived off 3-pointers and Harward's post work but GCU also gave up 16 fastbreak points.

"I'm shocked right now," Majerle said. "I really am. I thought our guys were ready. We'll bounce back. This isn't the end of the world. It isn't even close to that, but we have to find a way to win on Saturday and refocus and get ready for Vegas. Anything can happen there. I still think we have a really good team."

Last season, GCU and Utah Valley split the regular-season series and met again in the WAC Tournament semifinals, where the Lopes played one of their better defensive games to earn a spot in the championship game.

The Lopes close the regular season on Saturday, when GCU's opponent in Thursday's WAC first round will be determined. GCU will play Kansas City if the Lopes beat Seattle. If Seattle wins, the Lopes likely will open the tournament Thursday against Seattle, assuming that Seattle stays ahead of Kansas City in NET Rating if the two tie in this scenario.

"If we find a way to start playing better and win a couple of games, then this doesn't matter," Majerle said.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.