Offensive woes halt win streak in 1st SFA trip

Thursday, January 20

Nacogdoches, Texas

5:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

14-3,5-1WAC

Stephen F. Austin

12-6,4-2WAC

Grand Canyon

SFA

1/20/2022 6:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes miss chances to move atop the WAC with blowout road loss

By: Paul Coro

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Grand Canyon survived an ugly first half Thursday night with a one-point deficit, only to crumble in the second half for a 71-46 loss at Stephen F. Austin.

GCU (14-3, 5-1 WAC) was in position to move into sole possession of first place in the conference with New Mexico State getting blown out by the identical score at Sam Houston, the Lopes' Saturday afternoon destination. Despite Lopes junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. rallying GCU with a career-best 18-point first half, GCU was routed during a 15-turnover second half that included 5-for-21 shooting and one made field goal in the first 10 minutes.

A more physical Lumberjacks team delivered GCU's worst loss since Nov. 13, 2019, at San Diego State, where the Lopes lost 86-61. Thursday night marked the program's first 20-point loss since it happened four times during the 2019-20 season, including an 82-58 loss vs. Northern Iowa, a 91-71 loss at New Mexico and a 72-52 loss at New Mexico State). It was GCU's lowest scoring total of its Division I era, edging a 46-point total in its 2014 opener at Kentucky.

"In the second half, it started with our turnovers," said Lopes assistant coach Jamall Walker, part of a staff that coached the team while head coach Bryce Drew remained in Phoenix for health and safety protocols. "They take a lot of pride in getting turnovers and being tougher. I felt like they were the tougher team, to be quite honest with you for most of the game."

The Lopes were outworked for a Stephen F. Austin 16-4 advantage in second-chance points. The Lumberjacks outmuscled them for a 36-16 edge in paints in the point and outexecuted GCU, which opened the second half with eight missed shots and two turnovers on its first 11 possessions.

Blacksher's first-half scoring included him scoring the Lopes' last 15 points to close a nine-point margin to a workable 32-31 Lumberjacks edge at halftime.

"We're in great shape because he ain't doing it for 40 minutes against our defense," Stephen F. Austin head coach Kyle Keller said he told his team after Blacksher's 18-point half.

Blacksher finished with a game-high 22 points, his 21st consecutive double-digit game, but Keller felt like the Lumberjacks wore him down as the point guard also matched his career high for turnovers with seven.

"Jovan did a great job of kind of bailing us out with making some tough shots and playing off penetration," Walker said. "After that happened, we were trying to find ways to get other guys involved in the second half. It just didn't quite happen. They did a great job of staying basically in our face and trying to deny our catches, making it really hard for our guards to get any type of room.

"You've got to respond. It's like when someone in your neighborhood comes up and punches you in the face. You either take it or you got to fight it. We took it a little bit tonight. This was a learning lesson for all of us, including myself."

Even after GCU's first second-half field goal came with a 3-pointer by freshman guard Jalen Blackmon, the Lopes could not stay within single digits despite coming up with consecutive defensive stops. GCU missed six consecutive shots from the field and three free throws, making it 1 for 9 with nine turnovers in the second half at that point.

Dima Zdor

Stephen F. Austin (12-6, 4-2 WAC) only shot 39.4% from the field with leading scorer Gavin Kensmil going 5 of 15, but the Lumberjacks put four scorers in double figures. Reserve freshman Sadaidriene Hall nearly posted a double-double (eight points, 10 rebounds) in 16 minutes and another freshman, guard Latrell Jossell scored a team-high 16 points.

The Lumberjacks were more opportunistic, outscoring the Lopes 20-2 in points off turnovers by effectively trapping GCU in front of 2,304 fans. Keller called it an "angry and desperate" effort from his team, which had lost four of the previous seven games but is a top-10 defense nationally for turnovers forced (18.1 per game). GCU had its highest turnover total (20) in two seasons.

"Here's a team that never has played against us before and I think the first time you see our defense is really tough," Keller said.

In addition to Drew's absence, the Lopes were playing without sophomore guard Jayden Stone, who was ill, and lost senior forward Taeshon Cherry to an injury when he tried to save the ball 16 seconds after entering. Junior power forward Gabe McGlothan fouled out in 15 minutes without scoring on the Lopes' 32.7% shooting night.

"That was really tough when Tae went down and then Gabe got in foul trouble," Walker said. "I think, in the second half, they just wore on us physically and we just did a poor job of handling their pressure."

Seattle U (14-4, 5-0 WAC) moved into first place in the conference with Sam Houston (11-9, 6-1 WAC) jumping GCU (14-3, 5-1 WAC) and New Mexico State (15-3, 5-1 WAC) in the standings.