Nevada stymies GCU offense

Saturday, November 12

Reno, Nev. / Lawlor Events Center

2 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

2-1,0-0WAC

Nevada

2-0,0-0Mountain West

Grand Canyon

Nevada

11/12/2022 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes hold Wolf Pack to 35% shooting but only hit for 29%

By: Paul Coro

RENO, Nev. — Grand Canyon's defense held Nevada to 35% shooting on its home floor but still did not have a chance to win the game down the stretch Saturday.

Lopes junior point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 16 points with little offensive help to make his team's defensive effort stand up. GCU lost a second-half lead to the Wolf Pack and did not make a shot for the final seven minutes of a 59-46 loss at Lawlor Events Center.

The Lopes led by seven about five minutes into the second half before Nevada (2-0) used 13-0 and 10-0 runs to win in spite of a meager offensive day. GCU missed its final 13 shots to finish at 29.1% field-goal shooting, the second-worst shooting game of the Lopes' Division I era to match their lowest-scoring game of last season.

Reno, NV. Nov. 12, 2022: Grand Canyon drops their afternoon game to Nevada 59-46 in Reno.

Reno, NV. Nov. 12, 2022: Grand Canyon drops their afternoon game to Nevada 59-46 in Reno.

"We're playing a really challenging nonconference season and, when you play good teams, you make one mistake and they make you pay," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We lost (Jarod) Lucas one time the whole game in transition and that was three points. Twice, we didn't rotate to 50 (Will Baker) and that was six points. So there were nine points in three seconds, one mistake. We explained to them that who we are right now, we have a lot of room to grow. These are controllables, things we can control and get better at to beat a team like Nevada next time."

After a physical, defensive first half left the score tied at 24-24, Blacksher lifted the Lopes (2-1) to open the second half by scoring 10 of their first 12 points and assisting on the other bucket. GCU led by as much as seven and took a 36-31 lead with 13:46 to go before putting Nevada in the bonus situation with 12:33 remaining and allowing 3s on three consecutive trips to trail 44-36.

GCU answered with a drive by sophomore guard Ray Harrison for his only made shot on a 1-for-10 shooting day and five consecutive Blacksher points to pull within three. But the Lopes did not make another shot and made the Wolf Pack's offense easier with free throws or points in the paint on its decisive 13-0 run.

Reno, NV. Nov. 12, 2022: Grand Canyon drops their afternoon game to Nevada 59-46 in Reno.

"It's a learning lesson," said GCU sophomore guard Chance McMillian, who added 13 points off the bench. "We'll learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen any more. Our offense will come around us, especially our starters. They'll get in a rhythm and we won't have to worry about this."

The Lopes starters went 1 for 16 from 3-point range with Blacksher outscoring the other four starters combined, 16-13. Nevada did not shoot well but only committed six turnovers and only set the Lopes to the line for 12 attempts, limiting ways for GCU to get its offense going.

Harrison went 1 for 10 from the field and was 0 for 5 on 3s, making him 0 for 11 this season. Junior power forward Gabe McGlothan grabbed a team-high eight rebounds but was 1 for 6 from the field. Graduate forward Noah Baumann, a career 42% 3-point shooter, is 0 for 9 on 3s in the past two games.

"It's going to be hard to win on the road when three starters go 3 for 23," Drew said. "Got to make shots. We've just got to get better. The good thing is we believe that those guys can make shots and they have in the past. Reno, NV. Nov. 12, 2022: Grand Canyon drops their afternoon game to Nevada 59-46 in Reno.

"Ray is still trying to figure things out. You can just see it out there. His brain is just going. When he should shoot, he doesn't shoot it when he's wide open. And then he tries to drive it sometimes when he shouldn't. Once he gets comfortable and fits in, our offense is going to really take off."

The Lopes played well enough defensively to be tied 24-24 at halftime with the help of McMillian delivering eight points off the bench. McMillian's two 3-pointers and another 3 from fellow reserve Walter Ellis, a senior, made up for some of the misfires from the starters, who went 0 for 8 on 3s with Harrison being held scoreless in 19 minutes.

GCU did not take its first lead until midway through the first half when Ellis made a 3, but the Lopes could not get offensive traction, going late into shot clock often and being stymied by the physical nature of the game.

Drew used all 10 available players in the first half with GCU wing players Kobe Knox and Josh Baker being unable to make the trip because of illness. The Lopes held the Wolf Pack to 32% shooting from the field in the first half but only shot 31% to keep things even.

McGlothan navigated early foul trouble well to give the Lopes 13 first-half minutes, grabbing five rebounds and even taking a charge with two fouls.

The Lopes get tested again Friday night at GCU Arena with a visit from Grambling State, which is off to a 2-0 start after defeating Colorado 83-74 on Friday night with four players scoring 14 points or more.

"Now the formula is putting it into the game and putting it all together," Drew said. "It's exciting because we haven't done it yet. It's upsetting because we didn't do it today. But the future we're excited about because, once we do put it together, it's going to be a fun team to watch."