Pursuit of No. 2 seed comes home

Thursday, Feb. 13 \| 6 p.m. \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (10-13, 5-4)	VS	KANSAS CITY ROOS (12-13, 4-6)

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For having a season that has gone up and down like a pogo stick, Grand Canyon has its bounce back to be currently in position for the WAC Tournament No. 2 seed.

With seven games to play, starting with Kansas City's Thursday night visit to GCU Arena, the Lopes have an opportunity to overcome an inconsistent journey and finish where they were predicted to be in the preseason.

GCU is coming off its greatest shooting performance (62.7%) and regular-season scoring output (103 points) in its seven-year Division I era and closes the regular season with five of its final seven games at home. The Lopes are tied for third place in the WAC after winning five of their past seven games but second-place California Baptist is not postseason eligible and GCU holds the tiebreaker on Seattle U with one meeting remaining.

"We've got a good opportunity to get back to where we were supposed to be," GCU junior guard Isiah Brown said. "The type of basketball we're playing going into the end of the regular season is the most important thing. We had a good offensive performance the other night but we can't have lapses defensively because we had a 100-point game."

The Lopes' game plan doubled CBU post-up opportunities but Lancers shooters caught fire for 19 3-pointers, making GCU only the second Division I road team in the past decade to win when the host made 19 or more 3-pointers in regulation. UNC Greensboro also did it last season.

GCU countered with sharpshooting and now has posted its two best 3-point shooting games of the season in the past three games. That could prove more difficult against Kansas City, which leads the WAC in opponent 3-point shooting (31.1%).

"It has to carry over now," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said. "We're at the point of the season where these are must-wins for us now. We understand that. We haven't been exceptional at home (5-6) so there's no way that we can come in here and be confident that we're going to win just because we're home. Kansas City is a good team that is talented and well-coached so we're going to have to focus in and play well."

Over the first 20 games, GCU made 29.8% of its 3-pointers. In the past three games, the Lopes are connecting on 46.2% of their 3s. The last two wins ranked second and tied for third for most assists this season.

"It's all predicated on the movement of the ball," Majerle said. "We're driving. We're playing well off two feet now. We've cut down on our charges. When the ball gets into the paint and we kick it out, those 3s tend to go a lot better than when we're just taking one-on-one, challenged 3s."

GCU also is getting back to its most consistent offensive strength of the season – ball care. The Lopes are coming off their lowest two-game total for turnovers, making only eight in each of the past two games for the first time since January 2016. GCU ranks 40th in the nation for least turnovers per game (11.6).

Defensively, the Lopes (10-13, 5-4 WAC) have allowed 46% shooting or better in each of the past four games but held Kansas City (12-13, 4-6) to 38.3% shooting in the teams' first meeting, when GCU won 69-66 in Kansas City despite having its travel from Chicago delayed more than a day and rerouted.

"We have to try to take momentum from Saturday," Brown said. "Coming home is big and we haven't done as good of a job of protecting home court as we needed to this season. We need to take confidence from that game, especially the way we moved the ball."

Lope tracks

In Saturday's win, GCU senior swingman Carlos Johnson became the only player in the nation to have a 25-point game while taking six or fewer shots.
Lopes point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. ranks fifth among freshmen nationally for minutes per game (34.4).
GCU junior center Alessandro Lever ranks first in the WAC for field goal percentage at 53.5%, which ranks 60th nationally.
The Lopes rank 42nd nationally for free throw percentage (75.6%).
Kansas City is coming off a 67-61 home loss Saturday to WAC leader New Mexico State.
The Roos have lost their past five visits to GCU.
Kansas City senior guard Rob Whitfield ranks second in the WAC for 3-point shooting percentage (41.7%).
Roos senior power forward Jordan Giles is averaging 14.4 points in the past 12 games after averaging 6.4 points in the first 13 games.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Thursday, Feb. 13 | 6 p.m. | Phoenix, Ariz.

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Isiah Brown

Carlos Johnson

Alessandro Lever

Grand Canyon University Athletics