Offensive outage costs Lopes in KC

Monday, November 21

Kansas City, Mo. / T-Mobile Center

1 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

3-2,0-0WAC

Wichita State

3-1,0-0AAC

Grand Canyon

Wichita St.

11/21/2022 12:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

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Wichita State holds GCU to its Division I-era lows for points, FG%

By: Paul Coro

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Grand Canyon's lowest-scoring and worst-shooting games are not spotted with victories, so having the lowest Division I-era effort for each category did not give the Lopes a chance on Monday against a NCAA tournament regular.

GCU posted its lowest point total (43) and shot its lowest field goal percentage (27.1%) of 10 Division I seasons, but it still defended Wichita State well enough to be within striking distance until the Lopes did not score for nine second-half minutes of the Shockers' 55-43 Hall of Fame Classic victory at T-Mobile Center.

The Lopes have to rediscover their offense in a hurry after posting two of their four lowest-scoring DI games in a 10-day span. GCU moves to the Hall of Fame Classic third-place game at 9:30 a.m. (Phoenix time) on Tuesday against Northern Iowa, which is stewing over losing a 15-point, second-half lead to San Francisco earlier Monday.

Kansas City, MO. Nov. 21, 2022: Grand Canyon drops their game against Wichita State 55-43 during the Hall of Fame Classic at the T-Mobile Center.

Kansas City, MO. Nov. 21, 2022: Grand Canyon drops their game against Wichita State 55-43 during the Hall of Fame Classic at the T-Mobile Center.

The Lopes (3-2) were dominated on the boards in the first half to let Wichita State (3-1) take the lead, but were within four until a 12-0 Shockers run lasted 9 minutes, 10 seconds of the mid-second half. GCU did not have a fastbreak point, much like getting two at Nevada, and went 0 for 10 on 3-pointers in the second half until a last-minute 3 by the last substitute, redshirt freshman Isaiah Shaw.

"Wichita State is one of the better defensive teams in the country," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "You can see how they mix up their defenses, have a lot of length, have a lot of athleticism. I have to go back and watch the film, but I liked our shots. I thought our shots were pretty good. We really had open looks. Some of them weren't even that highly contested. We missed a lot of shots. I think what the game boiled down to is they were tougher. They got a lot of 50-50 balls, got a lot of offensive rebounds early and that really set a tone that we could never overcome."

The Lopes revisited the feeling it had from the first half of a loss at Nevada on Nov. 12. GCU matched that first half's 24-point total but fell into a worse situation by allowing Wichita State to score half of its first-half baskets on second chances.

The Shockers grabbed more of their misses than the Lopes with 12 offensive rebounds that turned into 12 second-chance points, a huge chunk of their 30-24 halftime lead.

"I don't think our guys are not trying to be not tough," Drew said. "We're just playing against a team that's really tough. When you play a team that thrives off of aggressiveness, they are bigger and longer at every position. We have to make up for it with intelligence. You have to make up for it with a little bit more heart. At times, we did. But we didn't do it enough to get over that hump."

GCU reserve center Aidan Igiehon gave the Lopes their best first-half presence with four points and five rebounds in six minutes, a stretch in which GCU outscored Wichita State by 5. Another reserve, graduate forward Noah Baumann, kept the Lopes in the game by making a pair of 3-pointers and scoring eight in 10 minutes to somewhat offset another long scoreless stretch of six minutes.

With a chance to regroup after halftime, junior power forward Gabe McGlothan shook off a first half without a point or rebound to score twice at the rim on a follow and off one of sophomore guard Ray Harrison's five assists. Wichita State head coach Isaac Brown called time out with the lead at 32-28 and the Lopes stayed within four on four points from Jovan Blacksher Jr. until the nine-minute drought ensued.

Blacksher and Harrison each went 2 for 12 from the field and they combined with McGlothan to be 0 for 11 on 3s.

Wichita State continued how it won Saturday at Richmond with changing defenses, going from a three-quarter press to a 2-3 zone and mixing in its stalwart zone defense. The Shockers are holding opponents to 54.3 points per game and 34.6% shooting this season.

"We had prepared and knew," Drew said of the Shockers' defenses. "We had a couple instances where a player didn't know what he was supposed to do, which he should have. But everyone else was pretty much in the right spots. At the end of the day, we got shots. This is how Wichita is going to play all year, a lot of really low-scoring games. They play late in the clock. When you play late in the clock, you have to finish off possessions. On your side, you have to have some shotmakers late in the clock."

Baumann was GCU's leading scorer with 10 points and was the only regular to make most of his shots, going 4 for 7 from the field.

Wichita State senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. was brilliant at both ends, sharing the scoring lead with reserve guard Xavier Bell at 14 points while adding 10 rebounds and four blocked shots at 6 feet 2.

"Our emphasis coming into the game was defending," Porter told The Wichita Eagle. "Holding them under 45 points is astronomical. That's what we've been preaching since everybody got here. We may not have played our best offensive game, but defense definitely won this game for us."

The Shockers only shot 29.6% on the initial shots of first-half possessions and was at 38% overall for the game.

"We had to guard them sometimes two times or three times, and then they score on that third possession," Drew said. "That hurts when you have to play defense 50 seconds. You play good defense, you just can't get a good rebound and eventually they make a shot. Those are deflating. Those are opportunities when you play a really good team, you have to capitalize on those opportunities. Like I said, this schedule is not one for the weary. We're playing good teams. We're getting better as a team. These games are going to help us."

The GCU-Northern Iowa game will air on CBS Sports Network and 1580 The Fanatic at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.