Title repeat bid tips off at home

Thursday, December 30

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Chicago State

Tickets

12/29/2021 6:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

GCU Notes CSU Notes

Chicago State visits GCU Arena for each team's WAC opener

By: Paul Coro

Thursday, Dec. 30 \| 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| GCU Arena

	CHICAGO STATE COUGARS (4-9)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (10-2)

WATCH: FOX 10 Xtra (Ch. 45/Cable 9), ESPN+ \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

The climb to the top of the WAC was not easy, but it was worth it for Grand Canyon.

To enjoy the view, the Lopes have to keep their footing as they open conference play Thursday night beneath banners in the GCU Arena rafters.

The street to a repeat begins with a 6 p.m. tip-off against Chicago State.

"We've got to expect to have a battle every single night in conference, especially after what we did last year," Lopes junior power forward Gabe McGlothan said. "We have more of a target on our back. We've got to expect everyone's best. Right now, the league is playing really well."

Grand Canyon faces a Chicago State that has not won a conference game since March 2018 and has two WAC wins since the 2015-16 season but looks different this season. Under first-year head coach Gerald Gillion, the Cougars (4-9) already have matched their highest full-season win total of the past four years while being more competitive overall.

Chicago State's scoring margin average was worse than minus-20 in the previous three seasons but is at minus-13.2 this season under the former Samford assistant coach.

"They're really impressive on film," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "They offensive rebound, top 30 in the country. They play extremely hard and take a lot of charges. I think they're a team that's going to surprise a lot of people in our conference, especially when you dig into their film and see a lot of the things they do well."

GCU's other opponent for the night is its layoff. Because its Dec. 21 game at Nevada was canceled because of COVID-19 protocols, the Lopes have not played since handing San Francisco its first loss on Dec. 18. The Lopes resumed practices Sunday night in preparation for its only game of the week.

"We wanted to try to get guys as healthy as possible and then just conditioning," Drew said. "After not playing that (Nevada) game and then being away for Christmas, we're trying to get guys back in basketball shape. Some things won't get worked until you play a game, like rhythm and game timing. Hopefully, we're not too rusty and that stuff picks up right away when the game starts."

The home environment will help that after not playing in GCU Arena since Dec. 11. Knowing how crucial each of its 18 conference games can be will help after needing a win on the final regular-season night to clinch the WAC Tournament's No. 1 seed.

"We talk about how we want to redo that this year," McGlothan said. "It's about holding down that crown this year, making sure it doesn't leave Phoenix.

"We're amped up. The team has a different energy coming back from the break. We should expect the same from Chicago State. We're expecting their best so it should be fun."

Lope tracks

GCU ranks third nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.3), fifth in rebounds per game (43.7), ninth in rebound margin per game (plus-10.4) and 11th in opponent field goal percentage (37.0%).
The Lopes have held nine of their 12 opponents to 36.5% shooting or less.
GCU junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. has scored in double figures in 16 consecutive games (previous long was four) and made a 3-pointer in 14 consecutive games (previous long was six). He also has the WAC's best assist-to-turnover ration at 2.47 to 1.
The Lopes have five guards who shoot at least 37.8% from 3-point range with 12 or more attempts: sophomore Chance McMillian (37.8%), freshman Jalen Blackmon (40.0%), Blacksher (40.6%), graduate Walter Ellis (41.7%) and graduate Holland Woods II (42.6%).
Chicago State's leading scorer, 6-foot-1 junior guard Brandon Betson, is averaging 14.0 points per game but is coming off his first single-digit scoring game on 2-for-11 shooting.
Freshman 6-foot-6 guard Jahsean Corbett is averaging 11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds with three double-doubles.
The Cougars could get freshman 6-foot-3 guard Bryce Johnson, averaging 8.8 points, back from a Nov. 28 injury and debut freshman 6-foot-4 guard Ali Abdoug Dibba, who arrived from Sweden two weeks ago.