Clinical closeout claims win in WAC opener

Thursday, December 29

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-4,1-0WAC

California Baptist

8-6,0-1WAC

California Baptist

Grand Canyon

12/29/2022 9:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Blacksher, Harrison take turns on scoring halves; Baker's defense shines

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon started Thursday night with questions about how it would fare without injured Yvan Ouedraogo, how freshman Isaiah Carr would fare with starting his collegiate debut and how much healthier Jovan Blacksher Jr.'s ankle could be.

GCU ended its conference opener with all the answers, finishing with a 11-0 flourish to put away California Baptist for a 73-59 WAC win at GCU Arena.

The Lopes pulled a shocker by starting Carr, a 6-foot-11 freshman center from Las Cruces, New Mexico, who was redshirting until Ouedraogo's left hand fracture two weeks ago. Carr played poised to tag-team with junior Aidan Igiehon in the post for 29 combined minutes, while small-ball lineups handled the rest.

With Blacksher moving better after a month plagued by a high ankle sprain, the Lopes also moved better on both sides. The junior point guard's 11-point first half spurred GCU (10-4, 1-0 WAC) and GCU's 10 steals and five blocks helped feed a 15-2 advantage in fastbreak scoring.

The Lopes led the final 12:45 of the game, starting with back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore guard Ray Harrison, who scored all of his team-high 16 points in the game's final 14:18.

"Every game, there's a little bit different rhythm to our team," said GCU head coach Bryce Drew, who won his 50th game in 2 1/2 Lopes seasons. "Today, I thought we really made strides. As far as the transition, you can get Jovan, Rayshon, Josh (Baker) out there together, I think we can get more opportunities. Especially if Aidan and Carr can block shots, it allows you to get out in transition."

The Lancers (8-6, 0-1 WAC) made one last push to cut the lead to 62-59 with 5:29 to go. That is when GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan, on a 2-for-11 shooting night, made a 3-pointer off junior guard Josh Baker's assist to start the 11-0 closing run that included a Harrison 3-point play on an airborne follow.

CBU went 0 for 6 with three turnovers in those final five-plus minutes to give the Lopes their fifth win in the teams' past six meetings.

After leading the Dec. 17 defensive effort against NBA first-round draft prospect Maxwell Lewis of Pepperdine (nine points, 2-for-

15 shooting), Baker did most of the containment work Thursday night on CBU 6-foot-6 point guard Taran Armstrong, another NBA first-round draft prospect who is the essence of the Lancers' offense.

"He doesn't look really big or super long, but then when he stretches his arms out with those hands, he covers a lot of ground," Drew said of Baker. "He made a lot of really nice recovery plays at Taran, in the paint and at the rim when Taran had a look. He's probably used to getting those shots off."

The Phoenix native used his 6-foot-4 frame and longer wingspan to keep Armstrong to 3-of-13 shooting and 10 points.

"I just try to do everything and anything I can to win, whether that's defense, passing the ball, shooting the ball scoring," said Baker, who also delivered 10 points and four assists. "I just like to win and try to do my best every night."

The Lopes shot 39.1% but only made eight turnovers and kept the Lancers to 36.7% shooting. GCU now ranks 14th nationally for opponent field goal percentage (37.7%).

Junior forward Noah Baumann gave the Lopes a fourth double-digit scorer, making three of his four 3-point shots for a 10-point, five-rebound game.

"I'm j

ust trying to cause chaos with ball movement and some screens and get matchups that help us," said Baumann, who ranks 17th nationally with a 42.1% career 3-point shooting percentage. "I know where my shots are going to be and what plays I can get shots up. When the plays are called, I'm going to be ready to shoot the ball.

"Going in or out, I'm going to be confident when I shoot. Teams do a good job, but it's a long game. You got me for a couple minutes, but there's going to be a minute when you slip up and I'm going to get three up and they're going to go in."

Blacksher hit three consecutive jumpers early to GCU an early lead that it gave back when CBU went on a 12-2 run. The Lopes countered with six players scoring the final 17 points of the first half to hold a 31-27 halftime edge.

GCU shot 42% from the field in the second half, when it made 6 of 12 attempts from 3-point range and 10 of 13 free throws.

"Our ball movement was really good," Drew said. "We have some guards that can get in the lane off the bounce. The more we can move it, hopefully, it makes the other team have to defend us. First half, we took some quick ones. Second half, a little bit better, a little more patient on offense."