Change sought for Lopes at NMSU

Saturday, February 1

Las Cruces, N.M. / Pan American Center

7 p.m. (Phoenix time)

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

1/31/2020 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

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GCU aims for 1st victory in Las Cruces after heartbreakers

By: Paul Coro

Saturday, Feb. 1 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Las Cruces, N.M.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (9-12, 4-3)	VS	NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (16-6, 7-0)

WATCH: WAC Digital Network and Fox Sports Arizona Plus \| LISTEN: 1 580 The Fanatic, 99.3 FM, 95.9 FM \| STATS: View

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The best way to kill painful memories is to create better ones.

Recent Grand Canyon trips to New Mexico State were excruciating for the Lopes. Two years ago, GCU led at NMSU by 13 points when Alessandro Lever, then a freshman, fouled out with 16 minutes to go. In last year's visit, Aggies forward Johnny McCants made a half-court shot to beat the Lopes at the buzzer.

"Brutal," Lever said, reflecting Friday night on the Pan American Center.

GCU junior guard Mikey Dixon just had transferred from St. John's last season when he joined the team after it returned from the trip.

"Devastated," Dixon said, recalling how his new teammates looked.

Whether the Lopes have played in the series or are anxious to join it on Saturday night, they know the meaning of a GCU-NMSU game and appreciate the opportunity to snap the Aggies' 10-game winning streak and 25-game conference winning streak.

NMSU (13-6, 6-0 WAC) was fewer than 700 tickets shy of a sellout Friday for its annual "Pack the Pan Am" promotion, which drew a standing-room-only crowd of 12,989 fans against GCU two years ago. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Arizona Plus.

"It is a rivalry," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said. "The first two years we were in the WAC Tournament, we played them in the championship game. Yeah, we haven't beat them a lot (2-13) but it is a rivalry. It'll be a big game. They understand it. We understand it. So both teams will be ready.

"This is what college basketball is about. This is a great venue. They're a cream-of-the-crop team. It's always fun to come here and play."

GCU is 0-7 at New Mexico State and has lost six consecutive meetings, including an 89-57 loss in last season's WAC Tournament championship game. Aggies guard Trevelin Queen scored 27 points off the bench to help erase an early 10-2 GCU lead and secure NMSU's third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

Queen is out for three to five weeks after undergoing knee surgery, which followed a season-ending foot injury to NMSU point guard A.J. Harris.

All the Aggies have done in response is win, going 10-0 since UTEP transfer guard Evan Gilyard became eligible to play. NMSU is averaging 9.8 more points per game (76.9 average during the streak) with Gilyard and shooting far better with him (49.6% overall and 41.3% on 3-pointers).

"Harris and Queen are two really good players but they (the Aggies) are very efficient," Majerle said. "They're patient. They move the basketball. They play unselfish. They play extremely hard. They rebound the basketball. It's going to be a toughness game for us."

GCU (9-12, 4-3 WAC) showed some of that by winning three consecutive WAC road games, all of which were tightly contested. The Lopes have made 58.7% of their 3-pointers during that road streak.

"The crowd is going to give us more energy," Dixon said. "I have no doubt that we'll come out with the energy. We've been playing well on the road and we're trying to make it four consecutive road wins."

The injuries prompted the Aggies to go inside more to senior center Ivan Aurrecoecha, who is averaging 20.3 points on 62.5% shooting in the past three games. He sandwiched two efficient big games (20 and 16 points on 17-of-23 combined shooting) around a scoreless game against the Lopes last season.

GCU will not face the same sort of pressure that UT Rio Grande Valley brought Thursday night, when the Lopes went far beyond their 12-turnover average with 21. But NMSU plays consistently hard and is adept at drawing charges, one of GCU's repeated miscues Thursday night.

With wins in four of their past five games, the Lopes have renewed hope to be the WAC contenders that they were predicted to be. GCU is the conference's winningest program besides NMSU since 2013-14.

"It would be amazing," Lever said. "They have a great atmosphere. They're undefeated in the WAC. It'd be a big accomplishment for us to come here and win a game."

Lope tracks

The game marks the return of GCU associate head coach Marvin Menzies, who went 198-111 and made three NCAA tournament appearances as the NMSU head coach from 2007 to 2016.
Lopes junior small forward Carlos Johnson is a double-digit scoring game away from being the first Lopes to have 10 consecutive double-digit scoring games since Dewayne Russell ended his GCU career with 33 in a row in 2017.
Lever (17.4 points per game) and Johnson (17.0) rank second and third for scoring in WAC games, respectively.
GCU has outrebounded five consecutive opponents.
The Lopes rank 31st nationally for free throw percentage (76.1%).
NMSU has assisted on 40 of 63 made field goals in its past three games.
Aurrecoechea (59.1%) and McCants (57.1%) have the top two shooting percentages in the WAC.