Recent play builds for better finish

Saturday, Feb. 15 \| 6 p.m. \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (11-13, 6-4)	VS	CHICAGO STATE COUGARS (4-22, 0-11)

WATCH: FOX 10 Xtra, ESPN3, GCUTV \| LISTEN: 1580 the Fanatic, 99.3 FM, 95.9 FM \| STATS: View

The Grand Canyon schedule can look short with the regular-season finale only three weeks away but Lopes head coach Dan Majerle is reminding his team that it has a long way to go.

While most people see six remaining games for GCU to hold onto the WAC Tournament No. 2 seed, Majerle and the Lopes talk about having nine more games because their improved play has them expecting a run to a third consecutive WAC Tournament championship game in their first three Division I postseason appearances.

To get there, GCU has to handle its home-court business against teams like Chicago State, a 4-22, last-place team on a 16-game losing streak. Coming into their Saturday night game at GCU Arena, the Cougars have led at halftime at UT Rio Grande Valley a week ago and trailed by one with six minutes to play Thursday at CSU Bakersfield.

"They have the feeling that they can get something done here," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said of his team that has won six of its past eight games. "There's no question we can compete for the championship. I think we can beat anybody. It's been an up-and-down year but we've shown we can do it."

With California Baptist ineligible for postseason play, GCU is in the No. 2 tournament seed spot ahead of UTRGV (6-5), Seattle U (5-5) and CSU Bakersfield (5-5) with four of its last six regular-season games at GCU Arena.

"Our goal, of course, is to win another game and go to the WAC Tournament strong, coming from wins," said Lopes junior center Alessandro Lever, who is posting career highs for points per game (15.5), rebounds per game (6.0), assists per game (2.4), field goal percentage (53.5%) and 3-point percentage (38.2%). "We are figuring out how to play better together as a team."

GCU faced the most difficult nonconference schedule in the WAC (.556 opponent winning percentage) amid roster uncertainty but has proven resilient in tight games. The Lopes are 7-3 in games decided by overtime or margins of five points or fewer.

They do not want to be in that type of game tonight against a team that they outscored 43-23 in the first half at Chicago State on Jan. 16. That game began GCU's 6-2 stretch of play that continued with an overtime win Thursday against Kansas City after a potential winning layup missed at the regulation buzzer.

"It takes a lot of courage and mental toughness when you miss a bunny like that to win a game and you've got to go into overtime," Majerle said. "Our guys just sucked it up. Jovan (Blacksher Jr.), Isiah (Brown) and Doobie (Lorenzo Jenkins) all made huge shots but I can't talk enough about our whole team. They've been unbelievable."

Lope tracks

In his first GCU season, graduate transfer Lorenzo Jenkins has posted 10 of his best 14 career scoring games as a Lope. He is averaging career highs for points per game (8.6), rebounds per game (2.9) and field goal percentage (44.2%) after moving from Colorado State.
Lever leads the WAC in field goal percentage and ranks 59th nationally at 53.5% after entering the season with a career shooting percentage of 45.0%.
Blacksher ranks fifth among freshmen nationally for minutes per game (34.8) and, at 5 feet 11, ranks third in the WAC for defensive rebounds per game (5.1) behind two power forwards.
GCU ranks third in the nation for home attendance by percentage capacity. GCU Arena has been 99.4% full for home games, trailing only VCU (101.9%) and Gonzaga (100%).
The Lopes are shooting 50.8% from the field in their past four games.
GCU ranks 37th nationally for free throw percentage at 75.7%.
The Lopes rank 43rd nationally for least turnovers per game at 11.7.
Chicago State is led by junior guard Xavier Johnson, who ranks second in the WAC for points per game (16.0) and is making 41.4% of his 3-pointers and 87.1% of his free throws.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Saturday, Feb. 15 | 6 p.m. | Phoenix, Ariz.

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Players Mentioned

Lorenzo Jenkins

Alessandro Lever

Grand Canyon University Athletics