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
Lopes-Aggies holds weight to get atop WAC
1/26/2022 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Conference favorites meet with intentions to work way back to 1st
There is company atop the WAC race, but Grand Canyon and New Mexico State only see each other this week.
The Lopes and Aggies often view each other as a potential roadblock to their NCAA tournament aspirations. Until GCU beat New Mexico State for the third time last season in the WAC Tournament championship, the Aggies had been the WAC representative for seven of eight NCAAs.
But after New Mexico State (16-3, 6-1 WAC) went 1-1 and GCU (14-4, 5-2 WAC) went 0-2 last week on their Stephen F. Austin/Sam Houston trips, the Aggies and Lopes lost status as conference co-leaders and look upon their Saturday night matchup in Las Cruces, New Mexico, as a crucial step back into the title mix.
"Now we're behind and we've got to play catch-up," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "Our margin of error becomes smaller because of this road trip."
Both teams suffered 71-46 knockouts last Thursday, but the Aggies rebounded to win at Stephen F. Austin. Their retribution is more big picture for losing to the Lopes twice at GCU and again in Las Vegas last season, when it did not have home games because of state COVID-19 rules.
"That was a tough pill to swallow for me and for our staff and our program, in general, because we hadn't lost to them since we arrived," New Mexico State head coach Chris Jans said of the Lopes. "We were 8-0 (vs. GCU). They're big games in the fact that there is some proximity between the schools. They're a good program. They've got great leadership. They want to win. They've made no bones about that. When you're playing the better teams in your league, they're bigger games."
The Lopes' visit to the Pan American Center is the target of New Mexico State's largest promotion for the third time in its past four home campaigns. GCU's visits have drawn crowds of 12,989 and 13,960 fans, more than double the venue's season average in each instance. Another big crowd is anticipated for Saturday's iteration, which will include Havocs coming from GCU by bus.
The Lopes are 0-8 at New Mexico State, where Drew will be visiting for the first time.
"It'll be a charged environment," said Jans, whose Aggies teams have gone 111-28 in five seasons. "I think both teams are going to be playing really, really hard. I think it'll be an awesome game for fans to watch, both in person and on TV just because of what's at stake.
"We just have a lot of respect for Coach Drew and his staff and the players and what they've done since they arrived. They hit the ground running and they put together an unbelievable team last year. They've lost some key pieces and here they've turned around and are having a great season already. That's hard to do. We know we're going to take their best shot. We're going to have to be able to put up one of our better games in order to win."
New Mexico State has familiar fifth-year faces in senior Johnny McCants and redshirt junior Sir'Jabari Rice, starters-turned-reserves Donnie Tillman and Clayton Henry and much-improved, 6-foot-10, 265-pound center Will McNair Jr.
The Aggies' game-changer has been Phoenix native Teddy Allen, a redshirt junior who attended West Virginia, Wichita State, Western Nebraska Community College and Nebraska before thriving this season at New Mexico State. The 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 18.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. He matched his career high on Jan. 15 against Abilene Christian with 41 points, a total Allen also had posted against Penn State as GCU power forward Yvan Ouedraogo's teammate at Nebraska.
Drew sees the Aggies' continuity and age as two keys in college basketball.
"New Mexico State is off to a great year," Drew said. "We've heard that this is one of the best teams that they've had there in years, since the team that almost upset Auburn in the NCAA tournament and Auburn went to the Final Four that year. This team is supposed to be even better. This is one of the best teams they've had. They've brought nearly all of their main guys back from last year that are just a year older."
After the Aggies lost 71-46 at Sam Houston on Thursday, New Mexico State held team and individual meetings late and considered Saturday's game at Stephen F. Austin "a must-win." The Aggies won 72-58.
"I always try to flip it and think about how they're feeling," Jans said of the Lopes. "This is a huge, huge game. They're coming off a couple losses and I'm sure that didn't sit well with their program and coaches and players. They're looking at this like, 'We've got to have it. We have to have this game.' We have to have the same mentality."
The Lopes and Aggies often view each other as a potential roadblock to their NCAA tournament aspirations. Until GCU beat New Mexico State for the third time last season in the WAC Tournament championship, the Aggies had been the WAC representative for seven of eight NCAAs.But after New Mexico State (16-3, 6-1 WAC) went 1-1 and GCU (14-4, 5-2 WAC) went 0-2 last week on their Stephen F. Austin/Sam Houston trips, the Aggies and Lopes lost status as conference co-leaders and look upon their Saturday night matchup in Las Cruces, New Mexico, as a crucial step back into the title mix.
"Now we're behind and we've got to play catch-up," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "Our margin of error becomes smaller because of this road trip."
Both teams suffered 71-46 knockouts last Thursday, but the Aggies rebounded to win at Stephen F. Austin. Their retribution is more big picture for losing to the Lopes twice at GCU and again in Las Vegas last season, when it did not have home games because of state COVID-19 rules.
"That was a tough pill to swallow for me and for our staff and our program, in general, because we hadn't lost to them since we arrived," New Mexico State head coach Chris Jans said of the Lopes. "We were 8-0 (vs. GCU). They're big games in the fact that there is some proximity between the schools. They're a good program. They've got great leadership. They want to win. They've made no bones about that. When you're playing the better teams in your league, they're bigger games."
The Lopes' visit to the Pan American Center is the target of New Mexico State's largest promotion for the third time in its past four home campaigns. GCU's visits have drawn crowds of 12,989 and 13,960 fans, more than double the venue's season average in each instance. Another big crowd is anticipated for Saturday's iteration, which will include Havocs coming from GCU by bus.The Lopes are 0-8 at New Mexico State, where Drew will be visiting for the first time.
"It'll be a charged environment," said Jans, whose Aggies teams have gone 111-28 in five seasons. "I think both teams are going to be playing really, really hard. I think it'll be an awesome game for fans to watch, both in person and on TV just because of what's at stake.
"We just have a lot of respect for Coach Drew and his staff and the players and what they've done since they arrived. They hit the ground running and they put together an unbelievable team last year. They've lost some key pieces and here they've turned around and are having a great season already. That's hard to do. We know we're going to take their best shot. We're going to have to be able to put up one of our better games in order to win."
New Mexico State has familiar fifth-year faces in senior Johnny McCants and redshirt junior Sir'Jabari Rice, starters-turned-reserves Donnie Tillman and Clayton Henry and much-improved, 6-foot-10, 265-pound center Will McNair Jr.
The Aggies' game-changer has been Phoenix native Teddy Allen, a redshirt junior who attended West Virginia, Wichita State, Western Nebraska Community College and Nebraska before thriving this season at New Mexico State. The 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 18.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. He matched his career high on Jan. 15 against Abilene Christian with 41 points, a total Allen also had posted against Penn State as GCU power forward Yvan Ouedraogo's teammate at Nebraska.
Drew sees the Aggies' continuity and age as two keys in college basketball.
"New Mexico State is off to a great year," Drew said. "We've heard that this is one of the best teams that they've had there in years, since the team that almost upset Auburn in the NCAA tournament and Auburn went to the Final Four that year. This team is supposed to be even better. This is one of the best teams they've had. They've brought nearly all of their main guys back from last year that are just a year older."
After the Aggies lost 71-46 at Sam Houston on Thursday, New Mexico State held team and individual meetings late and considered Saturday's game at Stephen F. Austin "a must-win." The Aggies won 72-58.
"I always try to flip it and think about how they're feeling," Jans said of the Lopes. "This is a huge, huge game. They're coming off a couple losses and I'm sure that didn't sit well with their program and coaches and players. They're looking at this like, 'We've got to have it. We have to have this game.' We have to have the same mentality."
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