Sweet sweep starts WAC slate

Saturday, January 9

Stephenville, Texas

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

6-3,2-0WAC

Tarleton

2-4,0-2WAC

Grand Canyon

Tarleton St.

1/9/2021 9:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Drew Interview Midtgaard Interview

Lopes use late 13-0 run to go 2-0 on Tarleton weekend trip

By: Paul Coro

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — When two nights of tense games and strong finishes ended and Grand Canyon had escaped its first WAC weekend with a road sweep, the work that the Lopes did with a 13-0 stretch run was so impressive that the coach of the nation's second-ranked team delivered part of the locker room victory speech.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew also just happens to be the big brother of GCU head coach Bryce Drew, whose GCU team won on consecutive nights at Tarleton after Saturday's 59-48 victory.

"Really impressive how you guys kept your cool like that," Scott Drew told the Lopes in the locker room just hours after his team beat TCU in Fort Worth. "That ain't easy to come in here and win two games back-to-back. That's really hard to do so hat's off. Impressive."

After winning at TCU, Scott Drew learned that Baylor graduate assistants Rem Bakamus and Matt Gray had rented a car to head to Tarleton and watch GCU, where former Baylor GA Peyton Prudhomme was working as Lopes director of video operations. One car upgrade from a Mustang and a 90-minute drive later, Scott Drew was in Wisdom Gym.

It was worth a proud brother's effort to see Drew guide the Lopes (6-3, 2-0 WAC) to their first road trip sweep since last January and move into an early first-place conference tie. GCU held Tarleton to 30.2% shooting, including only 10-for-36 shooting inside the arc with an effective zone and a career-high five blocked shots from Lopes center Asbjørn Midtgaard.

Midtgaard led GCU dominance on the boards and in paint scoring by recording his third double-double of the season (18 points, 11 rebounds). His five blocked shots tied a GCU Division I-era record, but his 7-foot presence changed many other Texan shots.

"I can see everything down there so I've got to make sure to tell everybody they are and when they can drop down or come up," Midtgaard said. "It's a very communicative zone. If we don't communicate, it's not going to work. I try to be the anchor down there and yell at people where to go and when to go. When they finally do drive, I've got to protect the rim. I'm just trying to protect the rim and win the game."

In Tarleton's WAC debut weekend, the Lopes were tied at halftime of both games and the score knotted again at 46-46 with 4:16 to play. The defense stiffened and Lopes junior forward Oscar Frayer made his fourth 3-pointer to spark the decisive 13-0 run.

"Grand Canyon, whether it's man or zone (defense), is really sound," Tarleton head coach Billy Gillispie said in his postgame interview. "They're sound in every aspect of the game – out-of-bounds plays, offensively, defensively. That's a testament to how good of a coach (Drew) is and how good of a program is going to do. They've got great players who really understand and they've got a great point guard (Jovan Blacksher Jr.) that knows how to lead."

The defensive effort helped GCU overcome a 15-0 turnover game as its peels off the rust of a 17-day layoff and limited time with a full coaching staff over a coaching quarantine-filled holiday break.

"We didn't get off to a great start, but thankfully our team really picked up the intensity and what a great last eight-minute stretch," Bryce Drew said. "Same thing as last night, we saved our best effort for those last eight to 10 minutes."

GCU's depth shined in both wins with bench scoring carrying the Lopes on Friday night and sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan energizing the second-half difference in both games. He set a season high with 11 rebounds Saturday in only 18 minutes. The Lopes won the boards 39-28 to pull out the third DI-era win when scoring less than 60 points.

"As a head coach, I had three hours with our guys before this trip in the last 16 days so credit our whole staff and credit our players for taking some responsibility on themselves to stay in shape and stay ready for these games," Drew said. "Did we play our best? I think we can play much better but Tarleton's a really tough team to play against."

The trip to Stephenville marked GCU's first true road games of the season after playing two neutral-site games last month in Las Vegas. The Lopes added a back-to-back home set for next Friday and Saturday against Bethesda in place of the canceled Chicago State games.

"That's a great experience for the guys," Midtgaard said of the road sweep. "We're a new team with new coaches. We can take a lot from this and become a lot better."

.@BUDREW got the win in Fort Worth then drove to Stephenville to catch his bro's win. 🤝 #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/Nw0eDjOfRZ
— GCU Men's Basketball (@GCU_MBB) January 10, 2021