Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Purdue Fort Wayne on November 3, 2025 , Win , 90, to, 71
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M Basketball
vs Purdue Fort Wayne
W 90-71
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Bryce Wheeler
Insider: Cutouts join cut-loose Havocs
11/24/2020 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
Basketball crowd limited to 250 students but filled with familiar faces
There is one place where college basketball will be played with every seat filled and a vibrant mix of famously enthusiastic students, celebrity guests and ever-supportive staffers and alumni.
GCU Arena. The home to the Havocs is creating an uplifting pandemonium amid the pandemic Wednesday night, when the Lopes open their season against Grambling State in front of 250 fans and thousands of familiar faces on cardboard cutouts.
"Who knows? Maybe we won't even notice the difference," GCU sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan said.
With attendance limited to 250 people out of an abundance of caution for the COVID-19 pandemic, GCU is reserving those 250 safely spaced seats for the student fans of the Havocs. The closest fans will be at least 12 feet from the court area.
The remainder of the seats around the attending students are filled with cardboard cutouts of celebrities such as Chance the Rapper and Carole Baskin, local pro sports greats such as Larry Fitzgerald and Charles Barkley, former players such as DeWayne Russell and Josh Braun, GCU dignitaries such as President Brian Mueller, the other Lopes coaches and movie characters.
"Knowing GCU, I knew there was going to be something," Lopes sophomore point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. said. "I saw the cardboard out there in the arena. It's not going to be the same, but it's going to look the same. We're going to have to bring the energy."
GCU Arena will simulate the same notable in-game environment as best as possible, for the few fans on hand and the many more Lope Nation members who can watch the 7 p.m. game with Barry Buetel and Scott Williams calling the action on Fox 10 Xtra, ESPN3, GCU TV and the GCU Lopes app.
The typical sold-out crowd may be lacking in number, but 250 Havocs are surely to be more raucous than any 250-person crowd elsewhere. It will be welcome support for a team that has been practicing in isolation for more than four months.
"I wish we could have the full crowd effect so I could feel what that is like, but our school does such a phenomenal job with the game management," GCU coach Bryce Drew said. "However it is, it'll be a fun atmosphere to be in. Anyone in there screaming will sound really good instead of a quiet, empty gym."
GCU Arena. The home to the Havocs is creating an uplifting pandemonium amid the pandemic Wednesday night, when the Lopes open their season against Grambling State in front of 250 fans and thousands of familiar faces on cardboard cutouts.
"Who knows? Maybe we won't even notice the difference," GCU sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan said.
With attendance limited to 250 people out of an abundance of caution for the COVID-19 pandemic, GCU is reserving those 250 safely spaced seats for the student fans of the Havocs. The closest fans will be at least 12 feet from the court area.
The remainder of the seats around the attending students are filled with cardboard cutouts of celebrities such as Chance the Rapper and Carole Baskin, local pro sports greats such as Larry Fitzgerald and Charles Barkley, former players such as DeWayne Russell and Josh Braun, GCU dignitaries such as President Brian Mueller, the other Lopes coaches and movie characters.
"Knowing GCU, I knew there was going to be something," Lopes sophomore point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. said. "I saw the cardboard out there in the arena. It's not going to be the same, but it's going to look the same. We're going to have to bring the energy."
GCU Arena will simulate the same notable in-game environment as best as possible, for the few fans on hand and the many more Lope Nation members who can watch the 7 p.m. game with Barry Buetel and Scott Williams calling the action on Fox 10 Xtra, ESPN3, GCU TV and the GCU Lopes app.
The typical sold-out crowd may be lacking in number, but 250 Havocs are surely to be more raucous than any 250-person crowd elsewhere. It will be welcome support for a team that has been practicing in isolation for more than four months.
"I wish we could have the full crowd effect so I could feel what that is like, but our school does such a phenomenal job with the game management," GCU coach Bryce Drew said. "However it is, it'll be a fun atmosphere to be in. Anyone in there screaming will sound really good instead of a quiet, empty gym."
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