Undefeated foe, Suns arena create unique game

Saturday, December 18

Phoenix, Ariz.

5:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

San Francisco

Tickets

12/17/2021 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Jerry Colangelo Classic creates GCU-San Francisco rematch at Footprint Center

By: Paul Coro

Saturday, Dec. 18 \| 5:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Footprint Center \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	SAN FRANCISCO DONS (10-0)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (9-2)

WATCH: FloSports \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

There are several reasons for Grand Canyon's Saturday night game in the Jerry Colangelo Classic being special to a Lopes player.

The 5:30 p.m. game will be played at Footprint Center, the downtown home of the Phoenix Suns.
The opponent is San Francisco, one of seven undefeated teams in the nation.
GCU can avenge a rare 2020-21 loss, when the Dons beat the Lopes in Las Vegas.

Those factors resonate with GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan more than any player.

The Suns factor connects with McGlothan as a Valley native whose boyhood included having a Jr. Suns league at the arena. He played in the Lopes' 68-65 loss to San Francisco last December. And he has not played in the Jerry Colangelo Classic because last year's event was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic and he was sitting out the season in which GCU last played in it against Liberty in 2019.

Gabe McGlothan

"I remember wanting to be on the court then and now I'm sitting here thinking about how I actually get to be out on the court," McGlothan said. "You grew up watching the Phoenix Suns and you're going to be on that home court so you want to do it justice to what they're building there now. It'll be nice to play in that arena and have that home feeling."

For returning Lopes, they do not need to see the Dons' 10-0 record to recognize the challenge at hand. San Francisco returns the backcourt of Khalil Shabazz and Jamaree Bouyea, which combined for 39 points against GCU last season and is part of a starting lineup comprised of four fifth-year players and a sixth-year player.

"I almost feel like I'm playing an NBA team," GCU head coach Bryce Drew joked on his weekly 1580 The Fanatic appearance.

San Francisco takes about half of its shots from 3-point range, averaging 10.6 made 3s per game with 37.9% accuracy. The Dons shoot 48.7% from the field and have a plus-8.5 rebound margin, ranking 25th nationally in both categories.

San Francisco's best wins came against Davidson and UAB, who are in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings' top 50. The Dons rank 26th and have faced one common opponent with GCU: Prairie View A&M (USF won 96-76; GCU won 91-64).

"They play with a ton of poise," Drew said. "They know what they are. They know what they're doing."

Back to 100%

One of the larger regrets from the GCU loss at Arizona State last week was not having McGlothan at full strength. McGlothan was ill during the week and lost 12 pounds before giving his Lopes what he could in the game. He scored 11 consecutive points in the final 2:39 to help rally GCU from a nine-point hole to a four-point deficit, but the Lopes could not get within a possession of tying the game.

"I was distracted by the sickness and trying to get myself going," said McGlothan, who regained his strength two days later "I wasn't able to do certain things. I didn't feel as strong. That went away at the end because it was crunch time and we needed to do anything to win.

"It was frustrating because I really wanted to do those things. My strength and my motor are big parts of my game."

Lloyd's lasting lob

There were 79 GCU points in its last game on Saturday, but most Lopes fans would be hard-pressed to remember anything but the final two.

In the last minute, GCU sophomore guard Liam Lloyd came off the ball to make a steal and raced ahead of an Ottawa defender downcourt. Along the way, sophomore guard Jayden Stone called "Backboard!" for him to lob it off the glass in spite of a defender in between them. The banked assist worked out with Stone dunking over the defender and the highlight making ESPN social media.

"I had blind faith in Stone," Lloyd said. "I saw him running and thought there's no way this guy is going to be able to block Stone if he jumps as high as he can. I kind of got lucky a little bit. I could've dunked it, but I went for the highlight play."

Lope tracks

GCU junior point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. is the only Lopes player who has participated in a Jerry Colangelo Classic game. He had six points, five rebounds and four assists against Liberty in the 2019 downtown Phoenix game.
The Lopes have connections to four of the seven remaining undefeated teams in the nation. Beyond playing San Francisco on Saturday, GCU faced USC in a preseason scrimmage and have family ties to Arizona (Lloyd's father, Tommy, is head coach) and Baylor (Drew's brother, Scott, is head coach).
GCU has not played for a week and San Francisco has not played for 10 days.
The Lopes rank second nationally for rebounds per game (43.9) and offensive rebounds per game (15.5). They also are eighth in rebound margin per game (plus-11.5) and 13th for opponent field goal percentage (37.1%).