LMU duo rebuffs GCU comeback

Wednesday, December 7

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-3,0-0WAC

Loyola Marymount

8-3,0-0WCC

LMU (CA)

Grand Canyon

12/7/2022 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Minus Blacksher, Lopes 13-0 rally winds up for naught

By: Paul Coro

As much as Jovan Blacksher Jr.'s presence is known when he plays, his absence is felt when he does not.

Grand Canyon overcame the loss of its leader at Wyoming on Saturday, but missed the WAC Preseason Player of the Year when it needed an opposing point guard stopped, the pace of play sped up, a scoring drought ended or clutch plays in a tight finish on Wednesday night.

GCU (7-3) took its first home loss to Loyola Marymount (8-3), which won 69-55 at GCU Arena by riding its two stars to deliver the best offensive performance of any Lopes opponent this season.

Eight of the Lopes' previous nine opponents had shot less than 42% with the outlier being Northern Iowa's 46.6% clip, but LMU made 50.9% of its shots with two-thirds of the made field goals coming from graduate point guard Cam Shelton (26 points, 10 for 17) and senior power forward Keli Leaupepe (17 points, 8 of 13).

"Coming into the game, we knew they were two good players," said GCU sophomore guard Ray Harrison, who scored a team-high 18 points. "I don't feel we gave them the respect they deserve and I don't think we're going to make that mistake again, hopefully."

When Shelton made a four-point play for LMU's largest lead at 56-44 lead with 10:45 to go, the former Northern Arizona standout had accounted for nearly half of the Lions' points with all of his 26 coming at the rim, arc or free throw line.

"I know he's made some tough shots before, but he made an awful lot of tough shots tonight," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "He hit three 3s tonight that guys were right in his face on. Chance (McMillian) did a really good job those last 10 minutes and really got into him. That's when they turned and, unfortunately, we couldn't stop 34."

No. 34 was Leaupepe, an Australian 6-foot-6, 240-pounder who was the only LMU player to score in the final 10 minutes until the game-ending free throws.

The Lopes wiped away that 56-44 lead with 13 unanswered points, including three-point plays from Harrison and junior power forward Gabe McGlothan in addition to a Harrison 3 and McGlothan tip-in to cap the run.

That is when LMU turned to Leaupepe, who got started on an unguarded slam off an inbound pass but then tortured GCU by scoring from the post to the 3-point line with a fadedaway in between.

Even with that, the Lions lead was stuck on 67-63 for almost all of the final two minutes as GCU committed two of its 14 turnovers, missed two free throws and missed two open 3-pointers.

"The effort was tremendous going to the glass," Drew said after his team's 15 offensive rebounds followed a win without one offensive rebound. ""We just didn't finish enough plays off. In the first half, we had several layups that we just blew. When you're playing good teams, you can't do stuff like that. That's why this stretch of schedule is really difficult, but it's really good for our team. One possession can flip the game."

Going without Blacksher, GCU was not the low-turnover team it had been this season in an eight-turnover first half. But both teams emerged hot with LMU leading 14-13 in less than seven minutes of play before each team went dark offensively. For the Lopes, it lasted longer with five points over more than eight minutes to fall into a 24-18 hole.

"We had other times where we went through lapses and was going through the motions," Harrison said. "We allowed them to dictate the game. That's ultimately what hurt us."

Foul trouble exacerbated the issues with three starters carrying two fouls, prompting Drew to go to the redshirt freshman duo of Isaiah Shaw and Kobe Knox again.

Shaw sparked the Lopes with a scoring drive as he was fouled and a 3-pointer consecutively, but LMU's mix of 3s and drives scored on five consecutive trips for a 36-28 halftime lead.

"For whatever reason, some of our guys were tired in the first half," Drew said. "We saved their legs the last couple days of practice and we had a guy come out and say, 'I can't breathe.' We kept subbing a lot and then we got in some foul trouble that hurt us."

On the flip, GCU did not take advantage of LMU's fouls. After going 16 for 17 on free throws to win at Wyoming, the Lopes made 9 of 16 free throws in a four-point loss Wednesday night.

"That just doesn't add up," Drew said.

The game marked Blacksher's second consecutive missed game since spraining his ankle in the latter minutes of a home win against Alcorn State. The WAC Preseason Player of the Year started every game in his first three Lopes seasons.

GCU only has two off-days before playing Saturday against North Texas in the Jerry Colangelo Classic at Footprint Center, the home of the Phoenix Suns.

"In the last 24 hours, Jovan made major strides to get better," Drew said. "We're hopeful that he plays Saturday, but it will be a season decision and not just a one-game decision. We don't want to do jeopardize anything that could set him back for conference play."