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
Repeat quest emphasizes home, tests in West
8/27/2021 12:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Defending WAC champs play 18 games at GCU Arena with Havocs, fans back
After a Grand Canyon men's basketball breakthrough season worthy of an encore, the Lopes have a tour of performances that could help them repeat the feat while filling the fans' appetite to get back to the famed GCU Arena atmosphere.
Before the Lopes reach conference play in the expanded, improved WAC, the defending conference champions will push themselves with eight games against nonconference opponents coming off .500 or better seasons and a crosstown visit to Arizona State.
GCU will play 17 regular-season games at GCU Arena, plus two other games in the Valley and a home exhibition game.
"It's a really competitive nonconference schedule," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "We have three West Coast Conference schools, two Mountain West school, a Pac-12 and a Conference USA. That's a really good lineup for the caliber of teams we're going to be playing."
The anticipation for a return to action comes from a historic 2020-21 season in which GCU went 17-7 and made its first trip to the Division I NCAA tournament. The Lopes ranked in the national top 20 for field goal percentage defense (second, 38.3%), rebound margin per game (fifth, plus-9.5), 3-point percentage defense (14th, 29.5%) and assists per game (20th, 16.2) and improved from No. 310 to No. 24 for defensive efficiency in Drew's first season.
"When you look to nonconference, you want to play teams that will help you prepare for conference play," Drew said. "We tried to get some different styles on our schedule to hopefully see styles that we'll see when conference play comes. We also want to stay on this side of the United States for COVID reasons and class schedules."
All-WAC second-team honoree Jovan Blacksher returns as a third-year starter who ranked second in the WAC for assists. He is joined in the backcourt by another local high school product, ASU transfer Holland Woods II, the nation's No. 23 career scorer with 1,555 points.
GCU added another ASU transfer in 6-foot-8 forward Taeshon Cherry, who was a top-35 national recruit coming out of the San Diego area in 2018. That adds intrigue to the Lopes' crosstown trip to play Dec. 9 at ASU, especially after narrowly losing to the Sun Devils 71-70 at home last season.
"We're thankful that Bobby (Hurley) agreed to a deal with us to play games," Drew said. "We wish that we had a full crowd last year when we played them at home. We're really looking forward to staying near Phoenix to play them."
The Lopes will face 11 opponents who finished in the top four of their conference last season, starting with the Nov. 9 regular-season opener against Grambling.
After a season of limited attendance, the Lopes can return to being at the top of NCAA for attendance by capacity percentage with their first five games at GCU Arena. That November stretch will include visits from North Florida (No. 14 nationally in 3-pointers per game), Prairie View A&M (the Southwestern Athletic champion with a 15-game winning streak and Cam Mack, nationally No. 2 in assists), Wyoming (No. 12 in 3-pointers per game with a win against Elite Eight finisher Oregon State).
"It's always a priority in scheduling to get as many games as we can in front of our fan base, which is very difficult," Drew said. "The Havocs are so good that a lot of teams don't want to come."
During Thanksgiving weekend, GCU will head to the Los Angeles area for a two-game trip against winning West Coast programs. The Lopes will start at Pepperdine, the College Basketball Invitational champions who ranked third nationally for 3-point defense, and move on to Loyola Marymount, which finished third in the WCC and ranked 14th nationally for rebound margin.
Pepperdine and LMU will visit GCU Arena for the following season.
"They're good games for us geographically, from a fan perspective and from a competitive perspective," Drew said.
The Lopes will stay in the Phoenix area through Christmas with home games against UT San Antonio and former Suns head coach Lindsey Hunter's Mississippi Valley State team.
GCU will return to the Suns' home, Footprint Center, for the fourth time when it plays in the Jerry Colangelo Classic on Dec. 18. The Lopes will face San Francisco, coached by Phoenix native Todd Golden, as part of a multi-game event with Gonzaga-Texas Tech, Georgia Tech-USC and San Diego-Northern Arizona.
After beating Nevada 87-77 at home last season, GCU will head to Reno for a Dec. 21 game against a Wolf Pack team that went 16-10 last year.
The complexion of the WAC changes with the addition of four Texas programs, including three (Abilene Christian, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin) that finished in the Southland's top four last season with a collective record of 59-19.
GCU's conference play opens Dec. 30 at home against Chicago State before its first two-game road trip on Jan. 6-8 includes a new stop at Lamar.
Abilene Christian, which upset Texas in the NCAA tournament while going 24-5 last season, will make its GCU Arena debut on Jan. 13 while the Lopes will see Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State for the first time on a Jan. 20-22 road trip.
GCU will play an 18-game WAC schedule that ends with three consecutive home games against Sam Houston State (Feb. 26), Utah Valley (March 3) and Dixie State (March 5) before the March 10-12 WAC Tournament.
"Everyone is going to look at the WAC schedule and like part of it and wish some parts were different," Drew said. "It'll be interesting for all the team because there are new teams, new venues, new travel trips. It'll be somewhat of a learning experience as we feel each other out."
Season tickets, starting at $83, are available by visiting the schedule page on gculopes.com or calling 602-639-8979.
The Lopes averaged 6,978 fans per game at their 7,000-seat arena two seasons ago when full capacity was allowed. As GCU returns to its raucous environment with the acclaimed Havocs student section, GCU will include a new pregame tailgate experience for season-ticket holders and feature halftime acts like legendary Red Panda.
Go to the full schedule here.
Before the Lopes reach conference play in the expanded, improved WAC, the defending conference champions will push themselves with eight games against nonconference opponents coming off .500 or better seasons and a crosstown visit to Arizona State.
GCU will play 17 regular-season games at GCU Arena, plus two other games in the Valley and a home exhibition game.
"It's a really competitive nonconference schedule," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "We have three West Coast Conference schools, two Mountain West school, a Pac-12 and a Conference USA. That's a really good lineup for the caliber of teams we're going to be playing."The anticipation for a return to action comes from a historic 2020-21 season in which GCU went 17-7 and made its first trip to the Division I NCAA tournament. The Lopes ranked in the national top 20 for field goal percentage defense (second, 38.3%), rebound margin per game (fifth, plus-9.5), 3-point percentage defense (14th, 29.5%) and assists per game (20th, 16.2) and improved from No. 310 to No. 24 for defensive efficiency in Drew's first season.
"When you look to nonconference, you want to play teams that will help you prepare for conference play," Drew said. "We tried to get some different styles on our schedule to hopefully see styles that we'll see when conference play comes. We also want to stay on this side of the United States for COVID reasons and class schedules."
All-WAC second-team honoree Jovan Blacksher returns as a third-year starter who ranked second in the WAC for assists. He is joined in the backcourt by another local high school product, ASU transfer Holland Woods II, the nation's No. 23 career scorer with 1,555 points.
GCU added another ASU transfer in 6-foot-8 forward Taeshon Cherry, who was a top-35 national recruit coming out of the San Diego area in 2018. That adds intrigue to the Lopes' crosstown trip to play Dec. 9 at ASU, especially after narrowly losing to the Sun Devils 71-70 at home last season.
"We're thankful that Bobby (Hurley) agreed to a deal with us to play games," Drew said. "We wish that we had a full crowd last year when we played them at home. We're really looking forward to staying near Phoenix to play them."
The Lopes will face 11 opponents who finished in the top four of their conference last season, starting with the Nov. 9 regular-season opener against Grambling.
After a season of limited attendance, the Lopes can return to being at the top of NCAA for attendance by capacity percentage with their first five games at GCU Arena. That November stretch will include visits from North Florida (No. 14 nationally in 3-pointers per game), Prairie View A&M (the Southwestern Athletic champion with a 15-game winning streak and Cam Mack, nationally No. 2 in assists), Wyoming (No. 12 in 3-pointers per game with a win against Elite Eight finisher Oregon State).
"It's always a priority in scheduling to get as many games as we can in front of our fan base, which is very difficult," Drew said. "The Havocs are so good that a lot of teams don't want to come."
During Thanksgiving weekend, GCU will head to the Los Angeles area for a two-game trip against winning West Coast programs. The Lopes will start at Pepperdine, the College Basketball Invitational champions who ranked third nationally for 3-point defense, and move on to Loyola Marymount, which finished third in the WCC and ranked 14th nationally for rebound margin.
Pepperdine and LMU will visit GCU Arena for the following season.
"They're good games for us geographically, from a fan perspective and from a competitive perspective," Drew said.
The Lopes will stay in the Phoenix area through Christmas with home games against UT San Antonio and former Suns head coach Lindsey Hunter's Mississippi Valley State team.
GCU will return to the Suns' home, Footprint Center, for the fourth time when it plays in the Jerry Colangelo Classic on Dec. 18. The Lopes will face San Francisco, coached by Phoenix native Todd Golden, as part of a multi-game event with Gonzaga-Texas Tech, Georgia Tech-USC and San Diego-Northern Arizona.
After beating Nevada 87-77 at home last season, GCU will head to Reno for a Dec. 21 game against a Wolf Pack team that went 16-10 last year.
The complexion of the WAC changes with the addition of four Texas programs, including three (Abilene Christian, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin) that finished in the Southland's top four last season with a collective record of 59-19.
GCU's conference play opens Dec. 30 at home against Chicago State before its first two-game road trip on Jan. 6-8 includes a new stop at Lamar.
Abilene Christian, which upset Texas in the NCAA tournament while going 24-5 last season, will make its GCU Arena debut on Jan. 13 while the Lopes will see Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State for the first time on a Jan. 20-22 road trip.
GCU will play an 18-game WAC schedule that ends with three consecutive home games against Sam Houston State (Feb. 26), Utah Valley (March 3) and Dixie State (March 5) before the March 10-12 WAC Tournament.
"Everyone is going to look at the WAC schedule and like part of it and wish some parts were different," Drew said. "It'll be interesting for all the team because there are new teams, new venues, new travel trips. It'll be somewhat of a learning experience as we feel each other out."
Season tickets, starting at $83, are available by visiting the schedule page on gculopes.com or calling 602-639-8979.
The Lopes averaged 6,978 fans per game at their 7,000-seat arena two seasons ago when full capacity was allowed. As GCU returns to its raucous environment with the acclaimed Havocs student section, GCU will include a new pregame tailgate experience for season-ticket holders and feature halftime acts like legendary Red Panda.
Go to the full schedule here.
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