Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus USC on October 25, 2025 , Loss , 61, to, 67
M Basketball
vs USC
L 61-67
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, February 29
Phoenix, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
12-17,7-8WAC
80
vs
88
UT Rio Grande Valley
13-16,8-7WAC
1
2
F
UTRGV
47
41
88
Grand Canyon
40
40
80
Rally, 56.6% shooting not enough
2/29/2020 6:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes rallied from 16 down; UTRGV finishes strong
Two weeks ago, Grand Canyon looked like a team set to finish the season with its best basketball.
The Lopes have trended the other way since then, piling up a season-long four-game losing streak. GCU posted the fourth-best shooting night (56.6%) of its past five seasons Saturday night but lost 88-80 to UT Rio Grande Valley at GCU Arena because its defense allowed two Vaqueros players to record career scoring highs while Lesley Varner II missed his by one with a 32-point game.
GCU went from trying to secure a top-three WAC Tournament seed to falling into sixth place with its longest losing streak since dropping five in a row in 2013-14, its first Division I season. On their way to their third road win of the season, the Vaqueros zoomed past the Lopes in the first half with 19 fastbreak points to lead by as much as 16 when it was 40-24 with seven minutes to go in the first half.
The Lopes (12-17, 7-8 WAC) closed the gap to seven by halftime and kept coming in the second half, when GCU junior guard Isiah Brown scored 14 of his 17 points. The Lopes took their first lead on a 3-point shot by Lorenzo Jenkins and retook the lead twice more. When Lopes junior center Alessandro Lever made his only second-half basket on a spinning post move with 7:50 to go, GCU seemingly had taken momentum to prompt a Vaqueros timeout.
On the next play, Lever fouled UTRGV guard Chris Freeman as he made a 3 that became a four-point play with Lever's foul. Varner followed with fifth 3-pointer for a 72-68 lead. GCU only had the ball in a single-possession game one more time Saturday but Jenkins threw the ball away.
Meanwhile, UTRGV (13-16, 8-7 WAC) only made six turnovers, one off a GCU opponent season low, and finished a 7-2 February despite playing without leading scorer Jordan Jackson. The national assist leader, Vaqueros junior point guard Javon Levi, turned more aggressive with his shot Saturday and scored a career-high 25 points while handing out four assists and making three steals.
"They came out and just blitzed us from the beginning, offensively," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "And we're always fighting uphill. I thought it was a little bit better in the second half but, again, you just dig yourself a hole and you're fighting through it the whole game."
With GCU's Thursday night loss, it was difficult to talk about anything but rebounding as the reason for it when New Mexico State grabbed 25 offensive rebounds. Defense was the cause for concern Saturday night, when UTRGV made 14 of its first 18 shots of the game with Varner scoring 17 points in the first 12 minutes to set up the 40-24 lead. Freeman added a career-high 18 in his first start since Jan. 25.
"We have to find a way at the end of the year, our next game, our next home game, and then we will see what happens," Majerle said. "It's been disappointing. Right now, there's just not enough toughness."
GCU had not lost a game with a better shooting percentage since Nov. 29, 2014, when it shot 57.4% at Central Michigan and lost 79-77. Only three other teams in the nation have shot that well in a home game and lost this season.
The Lopes closed the first half on a 16-7 run with nine of those coming from Lever, who had a 15-point first half. He finished with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
With 17 points on Saturday and 18 points at UTRGV last month, Brown has posted two of his top-five career scoring games against the Vaqueros. Saturday night marked his first start since Jan. 11 and he made 3 of 6 shots from 3-point range, putting him at 42% from 3-point range over the past 12 games.
GCU lost despite shooting 56.6% from the field because the turnover differential (minus-seven) allowed UTRGV to take five more field goal attempts and eight more free throw attempts.
The Lopes are 7-8 in the WAC with UTRGV in third place at 8-7 and Seattle and Kansas City in fourth place at 7-7. UTRGV closes with California Baptist at home. Seattle finishes at home with Chicago State and Kansas City. Kansas City plays at Utah Valley and at Seattle.
GCU closes against CSU Bakersfield for Jenkins' and Carlos Johnson's Senior Night next Saturday at GCU Arena.
"It's hard losing," Majerle said. "To get a win would be a good thing for us. As we know, anything can happen, but we just have to play better, we have to play tougher, we have to play with a sense of urgency.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
The Lopes have trended the other way since then, piling up a season-long four-game losing streak. GCU posted the fourth-best shooting night (56.6%) of its past five seasons Saturday night but lost 88-80 to UT Rio Grande Valley at GCU Arena because its defense allowed two Vaqueros players to record career scoring highs while Lesley Varner II missed his by one with a 32-point game.
GCU went from trying to secure a top-three WAC Tournament seed to falling into sixth place with its longest losing streak since dropping five in a row in 2013-14, its first Division I season. On their way to their third road win of the season, the Vaqueros zoomed past the Lopes in the first half with 19 fastbreak points to lead by as much as 16 when it was 40-24 with seven minutes to go in the first half.
The Lopes (12-17, 7-8 WAC) closed the gap to seven by halftime and kept coming in the second half, when GCU junior guard Isiah Brown scored 14 of his 17 points. The Lopes took their first lead on a 3-point shot by Lorenzo Jenkins and retook the lead twice more. When Lopes junior center Alessandro Lever made his only second-half basket on a spinning post move with 7:50 to go, GCU seemingly had taken momentum to prompt a Vaqueros timeout.
On the next play, Lever fouled UTRGV guard Chris Freeman as he made a 3 that became a four-point play with Lever's foul. Varner followed with fifth 3-pointer for a 72-68 lead. GCU only had the ball in a single-possession game one more time Saturday but Jenkins threw the ball away.
Meanwhile, UTRGV (13-16, 8-7 WAC) only made six turnovers, one off a GCU opponent season low, and finished a 7-2 February despite playing without leading scorer Jordan Jackson. The national assist leader, Vaqueros junior point guard Javon Levi, turned more aggressive with his shot Saturday and scored a career-high 25 points while handing out four assists and making three steals.
"They came out and just blitzed us from the beginning, offensively," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "And we're always fighting uphill. I thought it was a little bit better in the second half but, again, you just dig yourself a hole and you're fighting through it the whole game."
With GCU's Thursday night loss, it was difficult to talk about anything but rebounding as the reason for it when New Mexico State grabbed 25 offensive rebounds. Defense was the cause for concern Saturday night, when UTRGV made 14 of its first 18 shots of the game with Varner scoring 17 points in the first 12 minutes to set up the 40-24 lead. Freeman added a career-high 18 in his first start since Jan. 25.
"We have to find a way at the end of the year, our next game, our next home game, and then we will see what happens," Majerle said. "It's been disappointing. Right now, there's just not enough toughness."
GCU had not lost a game with a better shooting percentage since Nov. 29, 2014, when it shot 57.4% at Central Michigan and lost 79-77. Only three other teams in the nation have shot that well in a home game and lost this season.
The Lopes closed the first half on a 16-7 run with nine of those coming from Lever, who had a 15-point first half. He finished with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
With 17 points on Saturday and 18 points at UTRGV last month, Brown has posted two of his top-five career scoring games against the Vaqueros. Saturday night marked his first start since Jan. 11 and he made 3 of 6 shots from 3-point range, putting him at 42% from 3-point range over the past 12 games.
GCU lost despite shooting 56.6% from the field because the turnover differential (minus-seven) allowed UTRGV to take five more field goal attempts and eight more free throw attempts.
The Lopes are 7-8 in the WAC with UTRGV in third place at 8-7 and Seattle and Kansas City in fourth place at 7-7. UTRGV closes with California Baptist at home. Seattle finishes at home with Chicago State and Kansas City. Kansas City plays at Utah Valley and at Seattle.
GCU closes against CSU Bakersfield for Jenkins' and Carlos Johnson's Senior Night next Saturday at GCU Arena.
"It's hard losing," Majerle said. "To get a win would be a good thing for us. As we know, anything can happen, but we just have to play better, we have to play tougher, we have to play with a sense of urgency.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Team Stats
UTRGV
GCU
FG%
.517
.566
3FG%
.429
.563
FT%
.760
.647
RB
27
32
TO
6
13
STL
7
3
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
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