Seniors send Lopes to WAC on win

Saturday, March 7

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

13-17,8-8WAC

CSU Bakersfield

12-19,6-10WAC

CSU Bakersfield

Grand Canyon

3/7/2020 8:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Postgame with Johnson & Jenkins Postgame with Coach Majerle Photo Gallery

Johnson scores 33; GCU to face Kansas City

By: Paul Coro

Carlos Johnson has played the best two seasons of his career with Grand Canyon but saved his best GCU Arena scoring game for his final one.

Lorenzo Jenkins has played the best season of his career in his only Lopes year but saved his best GCU Arena rebounding game for his final one.

If there was a Senior Night script, it would have followed closely to how the seniors stepped up in a 64-61 win against CSU Bakersfield to close out the regular season. Johnson posted a regular-season career scoring high with 33 points, one off his all-time high, and Jenkins added 10 rebounds, tying his career high, before the pair walked off the GCU Arena floor for the final time.

Their work helps send the Lopes to Las Vegas as the No. 4 seed in the WAC Tournament, where they will play Kansas City in the first round at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Orleans Arena. GCU swept Kansas City 2-0 in the regular season. The winner will play the New Mexico State-Chicago State winner in a Friday night semifinal.

Johnson scored 23, his uniform number, in the first half on Saturday night to stake GCU to a 33-27 halftime lead and the Lopes never trailed again as they held the Roadrunners to 35.3% shooting, the second-lowest opponent clip of the season.

Several of Johnson's relatives drove from Centralia, Illinois, for his Phoenix farewell and his mother, Constance Leake, watched in a collared shirt with his number and name on the front and a photo of him dunking with "Lopes Up" on the back. Instead of slams, Johnson tortured Bakersfield with four 3-pointers and an array of mid-range shots, post-ups and free throws.

"We wanted to go out with a bang," Johnson said. "Me knowing that my family drove a long way, and they didn't come here to see us lose. They came here to see a show, and that's what I wanted to give them."

GCU (13-17, 8-8 WAC) took a 58-48 lead on two Johnson free throws with 2:50 to go but Bakersfield (12-19, 6-10) closed the gap to 62-59 on a Justin Edler-Davis 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining.

GCU did not score but Lopes freshman point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. poked the ball loose for a backcourt steal with junior center Alessandro Lever diving on the floor and calling time out. After a Lopes inbound violation, Bakersfield cut the lead to 62-61 but the Lopes inbounded to Blacksher and he was fouled for two free throws with three-tenths of a second remaining.

Jenkins, starting for the first time since Nov. 23, intercepted the final Bakersfield inbound pass in front of the Havocs at midcourt as the buzzer sounded.

"It was a good feeling," Jenkins said. "It was crazy the way it just ended with the ball right in my hands. I was glad the way we were able to come out with a win. The crowd was crazy. They always show up. We were happy with it."

Johnson scored 12 points to send GCU to a 17-4 lead as CSU Bakersfield missed 11 of its first 12 shots. The Lopes successfully mixed in zone defense with the Roadrunners making only 4 of 23 shots from 3-point range.

"I would much rather win games where we hold teams like this," Lopes head coach Dan Majerle said. "It means that our defense is a little better and that's how you're going to win games, especially in the tournament and on the road.

"We took a few bad shots (down the stretch) but it's a sign that we fight, and we find a way to win a game. At the end, we didn't do it perfect, but we got a stop."

The win also evened the Lopes record at 8-8 in GCU Arena, where 7,102 fans saw the Lopes end the regular season with a victory against the Roadrunners for the fourth consecutive year.

"We wanted to win by any means necessary, and that's what we were all telling each other," Johnson said. "No matter how we get it, we've got to get it. Then it just so happened to happen on Senior Night. That was a great thing for us, all of us. It's a self-esteem booster going into the tournament."

Jenkins, a graduate transfer, said the crowds at his previous two schools, Arkansas and Colorado State, did not have game atmospheres comparable to GCU. He averaged career highs for scoring and rebounding, as did Johnson with another All-WAC recognition potentially coming.

"I've always been saying this is the best crowd in America," Johnson said. "Our fans, regardless if we win or lose, they're here. We're going to sell out every night. They love to do it.

"They're always cheering for you. They're not bashing you on social media. They just want you to play tough and good GCU basketball. When I was going into the transfer portal, I was like, 'Man I'm going to GCU.' I didn't even think of other schools. I knew exactly that this was the place I needed to go because the fans love you and the atmosphere around campus. Everybody wants to say something to you. It's just friendly around, so why wouldn't somebody want to come here and enjoy this?"

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.