Per usual, Lopes-Aggies decides WAC champion

March 13 \| 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| WAC Tournament championship \| Orleans Arena

	NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (12-7)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (16-6)

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LAS VEGAS – Grand Canyon and New Mexico State drive two basketball vehicles that travel different paths, but each of their WAC basketball roads lead to the same destination – the WAC Tournament championship game.

For the third time in GCU's three visits to the WAC Tournament, the Lopes and Aggies meet Saturday night at 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) to determine who advances to Indianapolis for the NCAA tournament.

Unlike the 2018 and 2019 visits that New Mexico State won handily, GCU (16-6) is the tournament's top seed and swept the season series with the Aggies.

Unlike that New Mexico State team of January, the Aggies (12-7) have "sky-high" confidence after beating Utah Valley 78-62 in a Friday semifinal for their fifth consecutive win and are a long way from the team that spent 65 days in Phoenix and had played one Division I game before visiting GCU Arena.

The Shot - Bryce Drew

The ESPNU-televised championship game could be the definitive March Madness moment for GCU basketball, 23 years to the day that its first-year head coach, Bryce Drew, made "The Shot" and a legend with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for Valparaiso to upset 10th-ranked Mississippi in the NCAA tournament.

"All moments have a different heartbeat," Drew said.

This pitter-patter will pick up, as will the limited Orleans Arena crowd with the allotted team passes rising to 250 per team and buses of GCU students on their way to Las Vegas to watch a Lopes team that won its first share of a regular-sesason title a week ago and thumped Seattle U 81-47 in Friday night's semifinal.

"They had a great mindset and focus all week in practice," Drew said. "It was long waiting for this game. They've been ready to play. Just getting them on the court and letting them run up and down and kind of release that energy was good from a coach's standpoint because they've been so excited to play."

Since New Mexico State was an overwhelming WAC preseason favorite and Jabari Rice was WAC Preseason Player of the Year, the detours in the Aggies' path to Las Vegas never made conference followers wonder about their ability to be playing for their eighth WAC Tournament title in the past nine tournaments.

For two months, New Mexico State lived and trained at the Arizona Grand Resort and was slated to play "home" games on GCU's campus before its state eased restrictions to allow team practices again with home games moving to nearby El Paso, Texas.

"We really took that as a learning lesson that we can't get everything we want in life," Aggies senior Johnny McCants said. "We decided to take what we got and try to make the best of it. We always told each other at the beginning of year, when we couldn't play in the Pan Am, that we were going to be able to play and, if we want to give up now, we're going to hand GCU the title."

The Aggies are rounding into form. They shot 52.0% in a first-round win against UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday night and won Friday's semifinal by holding Utah Valley to 29.8% shooting, a season low for an Aggie opponent.

New Mexico State 6-foot-6 forward Donnie Tillman, formerly of UNLV and Utah, is averaging 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in his first string of four consecutive double-digit scoring games.

"I just really believe that they're feeling each other more," Aggies head coach Chris Jans said. "They're confident in each other more. They've come together and it's fun to be a part of.

"They'll execute and they'll play with their hair on fire and some spit will come out of their month. They're going to get after it and play with that passion that some of our teams have been known for."

GCU also is finding its stride. The Lopes have shot 50% in consecutive games for the first time since early December. Its rock-steady defense is coming off a season-best performance, holding Seattle U to 28.3% shooting in an 81-47 semifinal rout of Seattle U. The Lopes rank second nationally for opponent field goal percentage at 37.7%.

"It's kind of surreal, but it's not over," GCU sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan said after his 14-point, 14-rebound semifial performance off the bench. "It's a great moment that we have, but at the end of the day, we want to win the tournament as well and go to March Madness. That's the goal."

Sophomores Jovan Blacksher Jr., with two-way play, and McGlothan, with bench energy, are clicking as much as ever with a GCU senior group that boasts national field goal percentage leader Asbjørn Midtgaard, Alessandro Lever's shooting, Oscar Frayer's and Sean Miller-Moore's defense and Mikey Dixon's versatile scoring.

Even though only two Lopes had played in the WAC Tournament until Friday night and the Aggies went a season without a home game, this title game seemed like it was destined to be and remains a rite of passage for GCU in its eighth season of Division I basketball.

"The attitude is more we're not done yet," GCU sophomore point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. said. "We have a lot more to prove. We accomplished something, but we're not done yet. We haven't finished the main goal."

Lope Tracks

GCU is one of eight teams in WAC Tournament history to reach three consecutive championship games.
The Lopes' 34-point win Friday marked the largest WAC Tournament semifinal margin of victory since 1995.
GCU ranks ninth nationally for scoring defense, allowing 61.3 points per game.
Blacksher ranks 25th nationally with 5.5 assists per game.
Midtgaard is one of 20 players in the nation with at least 11 double-doubles.
The Lopes rank fifth nationally for rebound margin at plus-9.6 per game.
After finishing last in the nation at 1.3 blocked shots per game last season, GCU is blocking 3.1 shots per game this season. Midtgaard blocked four, one off his career high, on Friday.

March 13 | 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) | WAC Tournament championship | Orleans Arena

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Mikey Dixon

Oscar Frayer

Alessandro Lever

Gabe McGlothan

Asbjørn Midtgaard

Sean Miller-Moore

Grand Canyon University Athletics