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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Insider: Da-da-da, Lopes take Top 10 twice
1/19/2021 11:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
GCU alleyoop dunks highlight SportsCenter on consecutive nights
Sports buffs tune in nightly for their pre-eminent show, ESPN SportsCenter, to watch the best of the best in a day of competition.
This weekend, four Grand Canyon basketball players were highlighted and another was mentioned on conseutive nights for reasons other than the Lopes winning games by 59 and 51 points.
GCU basketball made back-to-back appearances on SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" that are rare for any basketball team, college or pro.
The Lopes could have been idle on the weekend after a canceled Chicago State but replaced the GCU Arena games with a visit from Bethesda and wound up staying sharp for this weekend's Dixie State trip and getting a national showcase.
It started in Friday's second half, when GCU sophomore point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. dribbled the length of the floor and into the paint amid four Bethesda defenders. Blacksher flipped a lob blindly to his right for an alleyoop slam by soaring senior Sean Miller-Moore, who finished with one hand as he was fouled.
"I didn't see him until the last minute," Blacksher said. "As I went up for the layup, I saw that he was there and I know he can jump so I just threw it. That's moreso why I got so happy, because I didn't see him until the last minute and it still played out really well."
Blacksher was headed left with his dribble when he switched to the right for his first game alleyoop with Miller-Moore.
"We talk every day and I tell him in practice, 'You can just throw it up. I'm going to run for it. If you throw it up and I miss the dunk, it's on me because I'm telling you to throw it,' " Miller-Moore said.
Miller-Moore transferred from Oregon State and another senior, Oscar Frayer, sat out Blacksher's freshman season so the point guard is getting accustomed to having high fliers at his playmaking disposal.
"All my friends back home were just sending me "SC Top 10" and I was like, 'What?' " Miller-Moore said. "They were like, 'You're No. 7,' and they'd have to rewind it on their TV and send it to me. I suspected it was that play but I had a ton of other dunks."
GCU had 14 dunks on Friday, but the highlight reel kept rolling Saturday to make the SportsCenter "Top 10" again. This time, the Lopes came in at No. 3 when freshman guard Jayden Stone sacrificed an open fastbreak layup to pass the ball off the glass for his roommate, sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan, to slam as he trailed the play.
"That's the connection we have and the connection we're going to have for years on forward too," McGlothan said. "That's an exciting feeling. You can see how that brotherhood felt. All I wanted to do was high-five him and you could feel the energy."
In the second half, McGlothan started the play by passing ahead to Stone, who zoomed past a Bethesda defender with McGlothan in tow.
"I just had a feeling," McGlothan said. "I ran the floor just in case there was a miss. Everybody else was getting dunks so I might as well get me one if he throws it back. He looked back at me and instantly I knew. I was like, 'Oh, he's throwing it.' I finished the dunk and that's what everyone is giving the praise for but, honestly, Jayden's pass was the main thing. That's what should have got all the credit. He threw a perfect one."
But, wait, there's more.
Each time, SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett followed the "Top 10" clip with a mention of freshman guard Liam Lloyd's stat line. Lloyd was good Friday with season highs of five points, six rebounds and six assists, but it was still a curious mention in a small national airtime window.
Everett and Lloyd share the same hometown – Spokane, Washington. Everett takes any chance to show love for Spokane's athletes. He also proved to be a prophet when Lloyd was the GCU player of the game a night later and his "Liam Lloyd, 15 points, 10 rebounds" highlight capper was on point.
"Both of those Top 10 plays were really cool and it was just cool to hear my name too," Lloyd said. "I knew that if I did anything cool, he might give me a little shout-out. My mom told me. She was all pumped about it."
This weekend, four Grand Canyon basketball players were highlighted and another was mentioned on conseutive nights for reasons other than the Lopes winning games by 59 and 51 points.
GCU basketball made back-to-back appearances on SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" that are rare for any basketball team, college or pro.
The Lopes could have been idle on the weekend after a canceled Chicago State but replaced the GCU Arena games with a visit from Bethesda and wound up staying sharp for this weekend's Dixie State trip and getting a national showcase.
It started in Friday's second half, when GCU sophomore point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. dribbled the length of the floor and into the paint amid four Bethesda defenders. Blacksher flipped a lob blindly to his right for an alleyoop slam by soaring senior Sean Miller-Moore, who finished with one hand as he was fouled.
"I didn't see him until the last minute," Blacksher said. "As I went up for the layup, I saw that he was there and I know he can jump so I just threw it. That's moreso why I got so happy, because I didn't see him until the last minute and it still played out really well."
Blacksher was headed left with his dribble when he switched to the right for his first game alleyoop with Miller-Moore.
"We talk every day and I tell him in practice, 'You can just throw it up. I'm going to run for it. If you throw it up and I miss the dunk, it's on me because I'm telling you to throw it,' " Miller-Moore said.
Miller-Moore transferred from Oregon State and another senior, Oscar Frayer, sat out Blacksher's freshman season so the point guard is getting accustomed to having high fliers at his playmaking disposal.
"All my friends back home were just sending me "SC Top 10" and I was like, 'What?' " Miller-Moore said. "They were like, 'You're No. 7,' and they'd have to rewind it on their TV and send it to me. I suspected it was that play but I had a ton of other dunks."
GCU had 14 dunks on Friday, but the highlight reel kept rolling Saturday to make the SportsCenter "Top 10" again. This time, the Lopes came in at No. 3 when freshman guard Jayden Stone sacrificed an open fastbreak layup to pass the ball off the glass for his roommate, sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan, to slam as he trailed the play.
"That's the connection we have and the connection we're going to have for years on forward too," McGlothan said. "That's an exciting feeling. You can see how that brotherhood felt. All I wanted to do was high-five him and you could feel the energy."
In the second half, McGlothan started the play by passing ahead to Stone, who zoomed past a Bethesda defender with McGlothan in tow.
"I just had a feeling," McGlothan said. "I ran the floor just in case there was a miss. Everybody else was getting dunks so I might as well get me one if he throws it back. He looked back at me and instantly I knew. I was like, 'Oh, he's throwing it.' I finished the dunk and that's what everyone is giving the praise for but, honestly, Jayden's pass was the main thing. That's what should have got all the credit. He threw a perfect one."
But, wait, there's more.
Each time, SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett followed the "Top 10" clip with a mention of freshman guard Liam Lloyd's stat line. Lloyd was good Friday with season highs of five points, six rebounds and six assists, but it was still a curious mention in a small national airtime window.
Everett and Lloyd share the same hometown – Spokane, Washington. Everett takes any chance to show love for Spokane's athletes. He also proved to be a prophet when Lloyd was the GCU player of the game a night later and his "Liam Lloyd, 15 points, 10 rebounds" highlight capper was on point.
"Both of those Top 10 plays were really cool and it was just cool to hear my name too," Lloyd said. "I knew that if I did anything cool, he might give me a little shout-out. My mom told me. She was all pumped about it."
Catch us livin' on SportsCenter. #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/ayynLjSSTy
— GCU Men's Basketball (@GCU_MBB) January 17, 2021
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