Blacksher sustains clutch ways to edge UTSA

Thursday, December 2

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UTSA

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

12/2/2021 11:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

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GCU junior guard scores career-best 25 points, adds 7 assists

By: Paul Coro

Like NBA 2K, JBJ2K keeps coming with upgrades for improved play.

With more than 2,000 college minutes logged, Grand Canyon's Jovan Blacksher Jr. is not the usual junior guard after starting all 62 of his career games and averaging more than 32 minutes per game every season.

The seasoning in Blacksher's skill set left GCU with a good taste about a Thursday night game that had more ups and downs that it would prefer in a home win. The Lopes downed UT San Antonio 74-71 with Blacksher having a clutch hands in 16 of GCU's last 17 points.

Blacksher is on a career-best stretch after Thursday night's career-high scoring game of 25 points. The Phoenix Shadow Mountain High School product has posted three of his six career 20-point games in the last nine days.

Beyond a career-best run of 12 consecutive double-digit scoring games with career-best 44% 3-point shooting this season, Blacksher is a playmaker who protects the ball like family. Blacksher played all but 54 seconds of Thursday night's game and delivered seven assists with only two turnovers, giving him six turnovers in his last 180 minutes of play.

"Jovan was just fantastic, especially those last seven minutes of the game," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "Pretty much put us on his back and carried us to the win."

On a night when the Lopes were uncharacteristically smashed on the boards and shot free throws poorly, the smallest man on the court make the largest impact to overcome an early 18-6 deficit.

Blacksher scored or assisted when UTSA (5-4) was within one possession five times in the game's final 6:07. Twice, Blacksher hit 3-pointers to open a 69-61 lead, but his clutchest shot came when the Roadrunners cut the lead to 79-76 with 1:05 remaining.

GCU drained the shot clock and Blacksher pumped a defender at the 3-point line after making four 3s in the game. He drove the baseline and made a runner for a 71-66 lead with 34.4 seconds remaining. He was 2 for 4 on free throws after that on the Lopes' 9-for-20 free throw shooting game, a waste to getting into the bonus with more than 10 minutes remaining.

Blacksher's last free throw gave GCU the 74-71 lead, leaving UTSA only 2.1 seconds for a midcourt heave as its only shot to tie since Blacksher started the six-minute dominance.

The Lopes' only loss this season came with losing a late lead to Wyoming, a game that graduate guard Holland Woods II did not play because of illness. In the past six days, GCU has won two tight games after also pulling out a 59-56 victory at Pepperdine on Saturday.

"We've definitely grown and our coaching staff does a great job of trying to put us in situation like that in practice so that we're more used to it," Blacksher said. "I think all that helped. We're becoming more mature about it."

Four time in the past five games, Blacksher has played 38 or 39 minutes. Woods has played 38 minutes in consecutive games, both of which included huge second halves. After scoring 20 of his 24 points in the second half of Monday night's win at Loyola Marymount, Woods scored all 13 of his points in Thursday's second half.

"There's a big difference when you have a fifth-year senior who has played over 120 college games," Drew said. "The maturity and the poise at the end of games. Having him out there is a big advantage for us."

The first 11 minutes of Thursday's game did not look headed for a GCU win. The Lopes went six minutes without scoring but only trailed 18-6 because of its defense, which held the Roadrunners to 36.2% shooting for the game.

GCU spoiled its defense by allowing 21 offensive rebounds and a 20-10 UTSA advantage in second-chance points. The Lopes entered the game as a top-five team nationally in rebound margin and offensive rebounding, but the Roadrunners won the glass battle 51-32.

"This is what we've been doing to teams and they did it to us tonight," Drew said. "This is a great re-check. I'll make sure we're more prepared in the future hopefully to rebound better. Very disappointed. We just got outtoughed for most of those rebounds."

GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan made three 3-pointers during a 17-0 first-half run that was sparked by senior forward Taeshon Cherry's 3-point play on a tip-in.

The Roadrunners stayed close for a 29-24 halftime deficit before scoring six of their first 11 second-half points on second chances. They took a 53-48 lead before GCU's switch to zone defense sent UTSA into a 2-for-13 shooting stretch.

"Very disappointing from our man-to-man defense," Drew said. "Depending on lineups, we had Dima (Zdor) in the game, so we thought we'd try zone while he was in the game because he is pretty big in the middle and we had Sean (Miller-Moore) in the wing. Thankfully, they missed a few shots that let us get out in transition and we were able to convert."

The Lopes only had two fastbreak points in the game until transition play flipped the second half with six fastbreak points in a short spell.

"I'm really proud that we found a way to get it done," Drew said.