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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Insider: Lopes net NET high
1/18/2022 5:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
GCU hoops notebook highlights national ranking, coverage
Grand Canyon is growing a national basketball reputation, whether it be through making its first NCAA Division I basketball tournament, creating a renown game-night environment or winning in blowout fashion on ESPNU on Saturday night.
But the NCAA's primary metric for ranking teams sticks to game outcomes, scoring margins and quality of opponents and it put GCU higher than ever. The Lopes netted their nine-year Division I era's highest ranking on NET, the NCAA Evaluation Tool, by landing at No. 59 among 358 Division I programs on Tuesday.
That puts GCU in the top 17% of the nation with a seven-game winning streak that moved the Lopes to 14-2 this season.
GCU heads into this week's difficult conference trip to Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston after routing Abilene Christian 95-68 and Tarleton 80-59 at home last week. It marked the Lopes' first consecutive home wins with 20-plus margins since 2019.
"It was definitely two of our better two games of the year," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "We really shared the ball, got in the paint and made the extra pass. When you can make shots, you usually play better defense."
The Lopes also received one vote in the coaches' top-25 poll this week.
Numerous shots highlighted a student section that looked like highlighters on neon-tinged "Electrolope" night.
"It's been a party all night long at Grand Canyon," said ESPNU play-by-play announcer Roxy Bernstein, whose Twitter profile photo shows Havocs holding a Fathead cutout of him. "They just can't get enough."
A drone shot showed the pregame scene of students filling the Quad outside GCU Arena and an in-game segment (see below) told the history of the basketball program by showing the inaugural 1949-50 team and mentioning the three NAIA national championships (1975, 1978, 1988).
ESPNU analyst Adrian Branch submitted his rankings of best college basketball student sections, putting GCU ahead of Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Arizona and Brigham Young.
The broadcast also paid tribute to Oscar Frayer, the former GCU basketball star who would have turned 24 on Saturday. Frayer died in a car accident three days after starting in the Lopes' first NCAA Division I tournament game.
"This is a faith community," Branch said. "It's a faith-based school and they really try to help the perspective on life with this, so God bless Oscar and his family."
GCU senior forward Taeshon Cherry is on his best four-game scoring roll since the first month of his collegiate career in 2018.
Despite not playing a game for nearly 11 months, Cherry's transfer from Arizona State to GCU is revitalizing his skill set into a dynamic two-way player for the Lopes.
"We're going to play scrappy and we're going to play defense," Cherry said. "That defense leads into our offense."
The 6-foot-8 reserve forward is proving that, averaging 8.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game over the past four contests. Cherry is 6 for 15 (40%) on 3-pointers during that stretch.
"He's played really well, especially these last two games," Drew said. "I love that they're appreciating how hard he plays and I love that he's feeding off it too. He's had a couple of challenging years and it's so nice to see him just happy out there playing basketball. We love it. Hopefully, the keep chanting his name and he keeps playing well."
But the NCAA's primary metric for ranking teams sticks to game outcomes, scoring margins and quality of opponents and it put GCU higher than ever. The Lopes netted their nine-year Division I era's highest ranking on NET, the NCAA Evaluation Tool, by landing at No. 59 among 358 Division I programs on Tuesday.That puts GCU in the top 17% of the nation with a seven-game winning streak that moved the Lopes to 14-2 this season.
GCU heads into this week's difficult conference trip to Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston after routing Abilene Christian 95-68 and Tarleton 80-59 at home last week. It marked the Lopes' first consecutive home wins with 20-plus margins since 2019.
"It was definitely two of our better two games of the year," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "We really shared the ball, got in the paint and made the extra pass. When you can make shots, you usually play better defense."
The Lopes also received one vote in the coaches' top-25 poll this week.
ESPNU lens loves Lopes
The first ESPN network telecast of a GCU basketball home game did not disappoint for showcasing the level of play in the team and the level of revelry among the Havocs.Numerous shots highlighted a student section that looked like highlighters on neon-tinged "Electrolope" night."It's been a party all night long at Grand Canyon," said ESPNU play-by-play announcer Roxy Bernstein, whose Twitter profile photo shows Havocs holding a Fathead cutout of him. "They just can't get enough."
A drone shot showed the pregame scene of students filling the Quad outside GCU Arena and an in-game segment (see below) told the history of the basketball program by showing the inaugural 1949-50 team and mentioning the three NAIA national championships (1975, 1978, 1988).
ESPNU analyst Adrian Branch submitted his rankings of best college basketball student sections, putting GCU ahead of Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Arizona and Brigham Young.
The broadcast also paid tribute to Oscar Frayer, the former GCU basketball star who would have turned 24 on Saturday. Frayer died in a car accident three days after starting in the Lopes' first NCAA Division I tournament game.
"This is a faith community," Branch said. "It's a faith-based school and they really try to help the perspective on life with this, so God bless Oscar and his family."
Cherry scores like wild
GCU senior forward Taeshon Cherry is on his best four-game scoring roll since the first month of his collegiate career in 2018.Despite not playing a game for nearly 11 months, Cherry's transfer from Arizona State to GCU is revitalizing his skill set into a dynamic two-way player for the Lopes.
"We're going to play scrappy and we're going to play defense," Cherry said. "That defense leads into our offense."
The 6-foot-8 reserve forward is proving that, averaging 8.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game over the past four contests. Cherry is 6 for 15 (40%) on 3-pointers during that stretch.
"He's played really well, especially these last two games," Drew said. "I love that they're appreciating how hard he plays and I love that he's feeding off it too. He's had a couple of challenging years and it's so nice to see him just happy out there playing basketball. We love it. Hopefully, the keep chanting his name and he keeps playing well."
𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟗-𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬. #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/Mnv2sweE4C
— GCU Men's Basketball (@GCU_MBB) January 17, 2022
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