Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Rapid Recap: Utah Valley 82, GCU 70
3/7/2019 5:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
UVU moves into 2nd place with home win
OREM, Utah — Grand Canyon spent a lot of energy rallying from an early 14-point hole at Utah Valley to take an early lead in the second half Thursday night.
The Lopes did not have a second big rally in them. Just like early in the first half, Utah Valley put another 10-0 run on GCU and ran away with a 82-70 victory at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines (22-8, 11-4 WAC) moved into second place in the conference by moving to 12-1 at home and continue a successful stretch of 11-2 play.
The Lopes (18-11, 10-5 WAC) are locked into the No. 3 seed for next week's WAC Tournament, no matter how Saturday's conference games go.
GCU only had taken a double-digit regulation loss once this season, when it lost at Texas. The Wolverines only have lost twice at home over the past two seasons and looked like the conference's top offense with a 51.9 percent shooting game that included 12-for-24 marksmanship on 3-pointers.
The Lopes defense, on the strength of bench players, rallied from a 22-8 hole to pull within four (43-39) at the half despite Utah Valley's 55 percent first-half shooting. That looked like it might set up GCU to rally in the second half. It was short-lived.
The Lopes took a 44-43 lead on an early 3-pointer by sophomore center Alessandro Lever, whose 15 points marked his best scoring total in the past four games. GCU made one more push back when junior guard Carlos Johnson scored on a spinning move to tie the game with 17:35 to go. But just as they did early in the first half, the Wolverines scored 10 unanswered points and the Lopes crumbled amid 10 second-half turnovers.
GCU never made a push in the final 14 minutes to get any closer than nine points. Utah Valley, the WAC's leading offense, shot 51.9 percent from the field but won despite making 24 turnovers. It was only the 11th game this season in which a team made at least 24 turnovers and won by at least 12 points.
Lever shared GCU's scoring lead with sophomore point guard Damari Milstead and Johnson but those points were offset by turnover and defensive issues.
GCU played its best over the final 14 minutes of the first half, when reserves Trey Drechsel, Tim Finke and Matt Jackson spearheaded a defensive effort that helped the Lopes outscore Utah Valley 29-19 until halftime. Lever opened the second half a jumper and a 3-pointer but the Wolverines' offense got rolling again with 3-pointers and was supplemented by 16 fastbreak points in the game.
Utah Valley led 64-54 with 8:53 remaining and the Lopes holding a bonus situation but the offense remained spotty and the Wolverines remained effective. It was not just their scoring star cousins, Jake Toolson (19 points) and Conner Toolson (18 points), but reserve big man Richard Harward also made all five of his shots and posted 14 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Lopes conclude the regular season at Seattle on Saturday.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from Dan Majerle.
The Lopes did not have a second big rally in them. Just like early in the first half, Utah Valley put another 10-0 run on GCU and ran away with a 82-70 victory at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines (22-8, 11-4 WAC) moved into second place in the conference by moving to 12-1 at home and continue a successful stretch of 11-2 play.
The Lopes (18-11, 10-5 WAC) are locked into the No. 3 seed for next week's WAC Tournament, no matter how Saturday's conference games go.
GCU only had taken a double-digit regulation loss once this season, when it lost at Texas. The Wolverines only have lost twice at home over the past two seasons and looked like the conference's top offense with a 51.9 percent shooting game that included 12-for-24 marksmanship on 3-pointers.
The Lopes defense, on the strength of bench players, rallied from a 22-8 hole to pull within four (43-39) at the half despite Utah Valley's 55 percent first-half shooting. That looked like it might set up GCU to rally in the second half. It was short-lived.
The Lopes took a 44-43 lead on an early 3-pointer by sophomore center Alessandro Lever, whose 15 points marked his best scoring total in the past four games. GCU made one more push back when junior guard Carlos Johnson scored on a spinning move to tie the game with 17:35 to go. But just as they did early in the first half, the Wolverines scored 10 unanswered points and the Lopes crumbled amid 10 second-half turnovers.
GCU never made a push in the final 14 minutes to get any closer than nine points. Utah Valley, the WAC's leading offense, shot 51.9 percent from the field but won despite making 24 turnovers. It was only the 11th game this season in which a team made at least 24 turnovers and won by at least 12 points.
Lever shared GCU's scoring lead with sophomore point guard Damari Milstead and Johnson but those points were offset by turnover and defensive issues.
GCU played its best over the final 14 minutes of the first half, when reserves Trey Drechsel, Tim Finke and Matt Jackson spearheaded a defensive effort that helped the Lopes outscore Utah Valley 29-19 until halftime. Lever opened the second half a jumper and a 3-pointer but the Wolverines' offense got rolling again with 3-pointers and was supplemented by 16 fastbreak points in the game.
Utah Valley led 64-54 with 8:53 remaining and the Lopes holding a bonus situation but the offense remained spotty and the Wolverines remained effective. It was not just their scoring star cousins, Jake Toolson (19 points) and Conner Toolson (18 points), but reserve big man Richard Harward also made all five of his shots and posted 14 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Lopes conclude the regular season at Seattle on Saturday.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from Dan Majerle.
Players Mentioned
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