Frosh trio puts fresh look on Lopes

Tuesday, Dec. 1 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| GCU Arena

	MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE DELTA DEVILS (0-3)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (2-0)

WATCH: FOX 10 Xtra (Ch. 45 / Cable 9), GCULopes.com \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

In any other season, freshmen would be allowed to shake out the jitters in an exhibition game with misses and miscues not going on their permanent statistical record.

Grand Canyon freshmen Liam Lloyd, Chance McMillian and Jayden Stone did not have that luxury, but Lopes head coach Bryce Drew has entrusted the promising trio with rotation time as the 2-0 team enters a Tuesday night home game against ex-Phoenix Suns coach Lindsey Hunter's Mississippi Valley State team.

In Saturday's win, the GCU freshmen trio shared the court simultaneously for a 15-7 Lopes stretching over 5:18 of the second half.

Liam Lloyd

"They really moved the ball well," Drew said. "They were unselfish and they played with a lot of energy. When gyms are a little more quiet this year, energy on the floor is really important."

With the system being new to every Lope in Drew's first GCU season, he said it can be easier for freshmen to learn because upperclassmen are breaking old habits in order to adapt.

McMillian received the most important opportunity thus far when starting GCU point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. picked up his fourth foul in the first minute of Saturday's second half. McMillian scored all 11 of his points in the second half, connecting on each of his three 3-point attempts.

"It's a huge change from high school basketball," said McMillian, whose mother, brother and aunt drove from the Bay Area to watch his first two games. "I'm still getting a feel for it. Practice is good, but the game is really when you see the college basketball experience and I feel that change.

"When Coach called me, I came in ready and proved I was ready on the court. The first few minutes, I got a feel. And then as the game went on, I started to build confidence and play well."

It was McMillian's final 3, off Stone's assist, that gave GCU its largest lead at 84-51 with 7:20 to go.

"He's learning a lot," Drew said. "What our coaches love about him is he's a sponge. He picks things up. He wants to learn. He wants to be good. That attitude is very vital if you want to improve."

Stone has played and scored the most among the freshmen, averaging 6.5 points in 15.5 minutes per game despite not shooting as well (4 of 13 from the field) as the coaches know he can.

"We like his speed, his athleticism and his ability to get to balls," Drew said. "Long rebounds and loose balls hurt us Saturday. When Jayden comes in the game, he seems to get more of those 50-50 balls."

Lloyd was a first-half substitution in the GCU opener, when the Lopes' lead was seven.

"To have a coach trust us is huge being freshmen coming into this place," Lloyd said. "We have a lot of senior leadership on this team so we're going to have to play a bigger role next year. We're all excited.

"It felt normal to play together, which is cool, because I'm going to be playing with them the next four years."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Tuesday, Dec. 1 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | GCU Arena

Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Liam Lloyd

Chance McMillian

Jayden Stone

Grand Canyon University Athletics