Thrice as nice: keep 1st, honor O, show ESPN

Saturday, January 15

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-2, 5-0WAC

Tarleton

8-11, 3-3WAC

Tarleton St.

Grand Canyon

1/15/2022 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Postgame - Miller-Moore Postgame - Drew Photo Gallery

Lopes rock GCU Arena crowd of 7,499 with 39-15 start in 7th consecutive win

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon players and coaches left the GCU Arena floor with an extra shine to their smiles and hop to their steps for a win that carried triple the special meaning.

First, GCU delivered a thoroughly dominating 80-59 win in front of the program's third-largest crowd of 7,499 fans who showed the Havocs home game environment to a national television audience for the first time. Second, the Lopes (13-2, 5-0 WAC) stayed in a first-place conference tie with New Mexico State. Third, they honored their late former teammate, Oscar Frayer, in the best way possible on what would have been his 24th birthday.

"I told them, 'O is so proud of you guys right now because O always played with such charisma and such joy and that's what we did tonight,' " GCU head coach Bryce Drew said of Frayer, who died in a car accident three days after GCU's NCAA tournament appearance last March. "He was always such a great teammate and that's what our guys were tonight. His legacy definitely lived through the game and our team tonight."

Holland Woods II

The Lopes are demanding attention with the last three victories of a seven-game winning streak coming by an average of 20.7 points with the season's best three shooting performances – 58% at UT Rio Grande Valley, 63% vs. fellow 2021 NCAA tournament team Abilene Christian and 53% vs. Tarleton.

GCU connected on 12 of 28 shots from 3-point range, with junior point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. going 4 for 5 to move to 45% this season and sophomore guard Chance McMillian making a career-high four 3s. The Lopes have made at least nine 3-pointers in four consecutive games, going from a 35.6% 3-point shooting team to 43.4% in the past four games.

"It was really nice to see the ball moving and the guys getting more comfortable with each other," Drew said. "Hopefully, we can keep improving with this rhythm. I really credit the players because when you get a lot of new guys, blending them and being cohesive is a challenge.

"It really starts with Holland (Woods II) and Jovan. They had such a great connection from Day 1. With them being the primary ballhandlers and them creating and doing things, it starts with them. When those two are so aligned with each other, it just rubs off to the other guys on the team."

Woods and Blacksher followed up combined for 31 points, 12 assists and two turnovers on Thursday night by tallying 23 points, 12 assists and two turnovers on Saturday night.

With an electric crowd for the "Electrolope" theme, Blacksher emerged as bright as the neon that lit up ESPNU screens. He scored eight points and delivered two assists during a 19-8 start in which the Lopes defense put Tarleton through a 2-for-12 shooting stretch by answering isolation challenges.

McMillian made his third 3 of the first half for a 42-17 lead while junior power forward Gabe McGlothan piled up nine first-half rebounds, part of GCU's effort to deny a Tarleton offensive rebound for nearly the entire first half.

GCU's efficiency was defined by graduate swingman Sean Miller-Moore going 8 for 10 for a team-high 18 points, one off his career high and 11 more than his season average, and McGlothan posting an 11-point, 11-rebound, two-block effort that made him plus-31 in 21 minutes.

"This one was different," McGlothan said. "The Havocs always show out, but, man, everyone was full force. We had everyone standing, even in the upper deck. It's just a blessing. It can't get much better than this. If it can, that's going to be hard because the Havocs continue to raise the roof.

"We're playing with J.O.Y. – Jesus, Others, Yourself – and it's in that order. You can see guys are really putting other people first. It's just the love for one another that we're playing with."

When the team gathered for pregame chapel Saturday, they talked about how Frayer would have been celebrating his 24th birthday and how much he would have relished seeing his guys and his second home on a national stage.

"He embodies all the things our program is about --- being able to grow and love one another," McGlothan said. "The joy he had in his life, you'd walk around and see his smile shine from the darkest corner in every arena. Being able to see that show in our team is a beautiful testament. We played for him and it was a beautiful thing."

Chance McMillian

The Lopes have rebounded and defended at an exceptional level this season, ranking in the national top six for rebound margin and 3-point defense. They maintained those advantages with a 37-29 edge on the boards and prompting Tarleton to go 0 for 10 from 3-point range. It marked the second time in the program's Division I era that GCU kept an opponent from making a 3.

"We go hard in practice every single day," Miller-Moore said. "If we don't stay in a stance or cut hard or anything like that, Coach will have us run it back. We take pride in our defense for sure."

On the flip side, this has been the best ball-sharing stretch of the season with GCU tying its season high for assists (19) in two of the games and getting 18 in the other. Woods delivered seven assists without a turnover, setting off the party in the Havocs section by continuing his alleyoop parade.

A Havocs sign, read "Welcome to the Party, ESPN," and the crowd and the team showed out.

"It's so good in here," Drew said. "It was electric from before the game started. In the back, we could hear the crowd during warmups. When Jovan got that first shot down and Sean got some of those dunks, you weren't hearing anything in the building for a lot of that game."