Friday, Nov. 12 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | GCU Arena
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NORTH FLORIDA
OSPREYS
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GRAND CANYON
LOPES
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Before the season, Grand Canyon head coach
Bryce Drew gathered the team in a circle after a practice and asked each player to use one word that describes himself as a player.
Each Lopes player made thoughtful responses with senior power forward
Dima Zdor submitting "effort." Drew then pointed out that nobody used "winner."
"That stuck in my head," Zdor said. "I have to become a winner."

Zdor has been a player in physical, emotional and spiritual maturation since he transferred from Weber State as one of Drew's first recruits 1 1/2 years ago.
The 6-foot-10 Ukraine native added 32 pounds over that time and has gone from playing 60 minutes all of last season to starting the season-opening win on Tuesday.
When he returns to the GCU Arena court Friday night for the Lopes' second game against North Florida, fans will again see the player who made the largest offseason transformation of mind and body.
He has refined his body and skills to win and has the mindset for it.
"If we lose, I'm mad," Zdor said of practice scrimmages. "It's not because I have to run. It's because I have to go to bed with that feeling that I just lost twice in practice."
Zdor's first season at GCU was limited by an ankle injury just as he had earned rotation time, but he also was behind the premiere WAC frontcourt tandem is Asbjorn Midtgaard and
Alessandro Lever. He remained in Phoenix throughout the offseason to continue working on his strength and lock in on the system.
The results showed in a player that GCU coaches could start the season opener, when he made all three of his shots on dunks, grabbed three rebounds and protected the rim well defensively in 18 minutes.
"Coach (Drew) wanted him to know the offense and execute so that we could trust him, play with a high motor and defensively be big, talk and anchor our defense," said GCU assistant coach
Casey Shaw, a fellow 6-foot-10 post man when he played in the NBA and European pro leagues. "Dima's done all of it. He's just done everything we asked."
Zdor played 55 games in two seasons at Weber State after coming to the U.S. for his high school years. Drew and Shaw recruited him when they were at Vanderbilt, but did not have a scholarship available. When Zdor submitted his name to the transfer portal, he was one of their first recruiting calls.
Since walking onto the GCU campus at 198 pounds, Zdor has progressed with Lopes strength and conditioning coach
Jordan Jackson to reach a more refined 230 pounds.
"That's a lot of hard work from the coaches, putting me in the weight room and giving me all the resources," Zdor said. "It's a lot different right now. It feels a lot better. Putting on weight is one thing, but practicing against Ale and Ash (Lever and Midtgaard) is the biggest thing that helped to get to the point where I can play physical. After you play against Ash for a few months, you're not scared of anything."
Zdor learned to play either power forward or center for GCU. In the opener, he showed he is grasping how to jump for challenging shots without bringing down his arms to potentially foul.
Offensively, he is making quicker moves with angle scores, hook shots and floaters against help defense, but not losing his high motor.
"What we've worked on with him is less thought in his moves," Shaw said. "So when he catches, he doesn't have to think. We want him to get deeper seals and deeper spots and then quick-angle scores. Stuff off the move. We like him ball-screening and then diving hard. Not having to bounce, not having to make a move, not having to think. Just catch and go up and finish."
As of last week, Zdor has been a one-year member of a Valley church that teammate
Jayden Stone introduced to him. That has been a valuable journey for Zdor, who brings questions from church to his coaches.
That opening-night starting introduction came with a deep sense of appreciation for what the program and university has provided to him. Zdor just wants to return the blessing.
"It's an incredible feeling," Zdor said. "The president (Brian Mueller) put so much effort to make a top-level environment for us. You feel like you have to do everything twice better, play twice hard, show twice as much effort to satisfy the coaches, the crowd and the president. It's just the right thing to do. If they cheer for you so hard, you should play hard for them."