Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Rapid Recap: GCU 49, USF 48
12/18/2021 6:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Defensive Lopes become 1st team to beat Dons this season
Grand Canyon reduced the nation's undefeated club to six members by becoming the first team to defeat San Francisco with a 49-48 Jerry Colangelo Classic victory on Saturday night at Footprint Center.
The Lopes (10-2) kept the Dons (10-1) to 35% shooting from the field but needed San Francisco's 39th miss of the game at the buzzer to pull out their first victory at the Phoenix Suns' downtown arena.
GCU led for for the final 10:50 of the game with junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. scoring 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, when he played every minute and made 6 of 9 shots with one turnover. Blacksher added four steals and four assists in the game and made a clutch, pull-up jumper for a 48-45 lead before junior power forward Yvan Ouedraogo added a free throw for a 49-45 lead with 1:04 remaining.
Following Ouedraogo's second free throw missing, GCU drained clock by securing two offensive rebounds before a turnover set up the third 3-pointer by San Francisco, which had been averaging 10 per game this season. Blackher missed a front-end free throw, setting up a final chance for USF with 2.8 seconds, but having fouls to give allowed GCU to reduce that game-winning window to 1.6 seconds.
Left with a catch-and-shoot chance, Dons junior guard Gabe Stefanini airballed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end his team's 3-for-17 3-point shooting game. San Francisco had shot 38% from 3-point range on the season and was averaging 77.6 points per game with 49% overall shooting.
It was a team defensive effort for GCU, starting wtih graduate guard Holland Woods II keeping San Francisco senior guard Jamaree Bouyea to a seven-point total that was 13 below his 20.0 average that ranked 22nd in the nation. The Lopes fouled out his backcourt mate, Khalil Shabazz, who had combined with Bouyea for 39 points when the Dons defeated them in Las Vegas last season.
Saturday's game was technically a neutral site, but the Footprint Center's south end was taken over by Lope Nation, which appreciated the grit and grind of the win. That was defined by Ouedraogo, who grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds with graduate swingman Sean Miller-Moore out for Saturday's game. Ouedraogo and junior power forward Gabe McGlothan stayed on the court with three guards for the final minutes and the post players offered the perimeter defense that kept the Dons out of their system and late in shot clocks.
San Francisco did not win its first 10 games by facing a defense like GCU's. The Lopes, ranked 13th nationally for opponent field goal percentage, played their finest defense to hold the Dons to a season-low scoring half.
Both teams struggled offensively, but GCU did so mightily in the early parts after Blacksher opened with a 3-point attempt that swirled around and around before coming out. The Lopes went into a deep funk from there, missing nine of their first 11 shots but stayed in the game by limiting Bouyea and the Dons' 3-point shooters.
GCU finally found its way to a lead slowly by holding San Francisco scoreless for more than four minutes late in the first half. The Lopes scored seven unanswered points from four different players and took a 22-19 lead to halftime on two Blacksher free throws.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from head coach Bryce Drew and players.
The Lopes (10-2) kept the Dons (10-1) to 35% shooting from the field but needed San Francisco's 39th miss of the game at the buzzer to pull out their first victory at the Phoenix Suns' downtown arena.
GCU led for for the final 10:50 of the game with junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. scoring 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, when he played every minute and made 6 of 9 shots with one turnover. Blacksher added four steals and four assists in the game and made a clutch, pull-up jumper for a 48-45 lead before junior power forward Yvan Ouedraogo added a free throw for a 49-45 lead with 1:04 remaining.
Following Ouedraogo's second free throw missing, GCU drained clock by securing two offensive rebounds before a turnover set up the third 3-pointer by San Francisco, which had been averaging 10 per game this season. Blackher missed a front-end free throw, setting up a final chance for USF with 2.8 seconds, but having fouls to give allowed GCU to reduce that game-winning window to 1.6 seconds.
Left with a catch-and-shoot chance, Dons junior guard Gabe Stefanini airballed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end his team's 3-for-17 3-point shooting game. San Francisco had shot 38% from 3-point range on the season and was averaging 77.6 points per game with 49% overall shooting.
It was a team defensive effort for GCU, starting wtih graduate guard Holland Woods II keeping San Francisco senior guard Jamaree Bouyea to a seven-point total that was 13 below his 20.0 average that ranked 22nd in the nation. The Lopes fouled out his backcourt mate, Khalil Shabazz, who had combined with Bouyea for 39 points when the Dons defeated them in Las Vegas last season.
Saturday's game was technically a neutral site, but the Footprint Center's south end was taken over by Lope Nation, which appreciated the grit and grind of the win. That was defined by Ouedraogo, who grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds with graduate swingman Sean Miller-Moore out for Saturday's game. Ouedraogo and junior power forward Gabe McGlothan stayed on the court with three guards for the final minutes and the post players offered the perimeter defense that kept the Dons out of their system and late in shot clocks.
San Francisco did not win its first 10 games by facing a defense like GCU's. The Lopes, ranked 13th nationally for opponent field goal percentage, played their finest defense to hold the Dons to a season-low scoring half.
Both teams struggled offensively, but GCU did so mightily in the early parts after Blacksher opened with a 3-point attempt that swirled around and around before coming out. The Lopes went into a deep funk from there, missing nine of their first 11 shots but stayed in the game by limiting Bouyea and the Dons' 3-point shooters.
GCU finally found its way to a lead slowly by holding San Francisco scoreless for more than four minutes late in the first half. The Lopes scored seven unanswered points from four different players and took a 22-19 lead to halftime on two Blacksher free throws.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from head coach Bryce Drew and players.
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