Seeding at stake on Senior Night

Saturday, March 7 \| 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| GCU Arema

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (12-17, 7-8 WAC)	VS	CSU BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS (12-18, 6-9 WAC)

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The to-do list for Grand Canyon's Saturday night regular-season finale against CSU Bakersfield is long but it all has to do with one thing – winning.

To send Lopes seniors Lorenzo Jenkins and Carlos Johnson out right, GCU needs a win.

To end its longest losing streak since 2013-14, GCU needs a win.

To be a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the WAC Tournament, GCU needs a win.

The Lopes have ended the past three regular seasons with a victory against CSU Bakersfield and doing it once more could save GCU from its first losing home record at GCU Arena, where the game tips off Saturday at 6 p.m.

"It's good to be Senior Night but I need a 'dub,' " Johnson said of his final home game. "It doesn't mean anything if I don't get a 'dub.' "

Here is what winning and losing on Saturday means for next week's WAC Tournament in Las Vegas:

If GCU wins and UT Rio Grande Valley loses to California Baptist at home on Saturday, GCU clinches the No. 3 seed and plays a first-round game against Utah Valley at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
If GCU and UTRGV win on Saturday, GCU clinches the No. 4 seed and plays a first-round game against Kansas City at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
If GCU loses on Saturday, GCU clinches the No. 6 seed and plays an 8:30 p.m. first-round game against either Seattle U (if UTRGV wins) or UTRGV (if UTRGV loses).

"There are still memories to be made on this team," Jenkins said. "The season isn't over yet. I'm excited for Vegas and I'm excited for this game. We've got to get this win."

To do so, GCU would do well to replicate most of what it did in the first matchup at CSU Bakersfield. When the teams opened WAC play against each other on Jan. 4., the Lopes led by 12 in the second half and held a six-point lead with 2:46 to play.

The Roadrunners ended the game on a 13-0 run to win with junior guard De'Monte Buckinghman scoring 25 points, which remains his career high. Johnson scored 17 to lead GCU in the loss.

While GCU has lost four games in a row, Bakersfield also is struggling of late with eight losses in its past 10 games. This is the Roadrunners' final WAC regular-season game before it moves to the Big West Conference next season.

Lopes Tracks

GCU junior center Alessandro Lever is one of 24 players in the nation averaging at least 16.0 points per game and shooting at least 54% from the field. That group includes national player of the year frontrunners Luka Garza of Iowa and Obi Toppin of Dayton.
Lever ranks eighth in career points among juniors nationally with 1,306 points.
The Lopes are shooting 50.8% from the field in the past seven games.
Bakersfield 6-foot-5 junior guard Taze Moore scored 18 in each of the past two games and is the team's only player with a double-digit scoring average (11.3). However, the Roadrunners tie for second nationally for most players to have scored at least 20 in a game this season (six).
Bakersfield ranks eighth nationally for most fouls per game (21.5).
The Roadrunners rank 17th nationally for most offensive rebounds per game (12.7).

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Saturday, March 7 | 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) | GCU Arema

Players Mentioned

Lorenzo Jenkins

Carlos Johnson

Alessandro Lever

Grand Canyon University Athletics