Marquee matchup puts Lopes on Suns' stage

Saturday, Dec. 10 \| 3:30 p.m. \| Footprint Center \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN (7-2)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (7-3)

WATCH: ESPN+ \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

When Grand Canyon takes the Footprint Center court for the fourth Jerry Colangelo Classic on Saturday, the rim will still be situated at 10 feet high even if the background turns deeper and darker than GCU Arena.

The crowd will be overwhelmingly in the Lopes' favor inside, even if the surroundings are downtown Phoenix and a 30-year NBA arena.

The opponent, North Texas, could be different in level than what GCU has seen during its most difficult nonconference schedule of 10 Division I seasons. Every element contributes to a hype about the 3:30 p.m. game, but there is nothing more motivating that righting the ship off a Wednesday loss.

"They say that the Havocs travel real good," said Lopes forward Noah Baumann, a Phoenix native from Desert Vista High School. "I'm excited about that. Especially in this kind of event, it's going to be fun. I'm excited for them to show out, and we need to come back so I'm excited for that too."

GCU (7-3) is lamenting losing a second-half lead to Loyola Marymount (8-3) at home Wednesday, but it now faces another team in the national top 100. North Texas (7-2) posted the best record in Conference USA last season, giving the Lopes a chance to be the first team in the nation to defeat a reigning conference champion for the fourth time this season.

The Mean Green will challenge the Lopes offense with a defense that allows only 51.8 points per game (fourth lowest in the nation).

"We've got to get better and quickly move on," Drew said. "One of the best defensive teams in the country. They play a little bit different style. They keep you on the side and make a lot of rotations. And offensively, they have two really good players who do the majority of their scoring and shooting. We have to do a much better job on those two guys than we did (Wednesday) on the two we played."

After Loyola Marymount's Cam Shelton scored 26 points in the first 30 minutes and Keli Leaupepe scored 11 straight LMU points to pass GCU late Wednesday, the Lopes turn their attention to the North Texas senior backcourt of 5-foot-11 Tylor Perry and 6-foot-3 Kai Huntsberry.

Perry went 7 for 7 on 3-pointers in a 35-point performance against San Jose State and did not play in one of the Mean Green's losses, when the team shot 23.5% in a Saint Mary's 63-33 home romp.

North Texas is 3-2 away from home, but this is a hometown game for Lopes such as Baumann, junior point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. (Phoenix's Shadow Mountain High School), junior power forward Gabe McGlothan (Chandler's Basha High School) and junior guard Josh Baker (Tempe's McClintock High School).

"I've been to a couple dozen Suns games growing up, so now I get to play at where some of my favorite basketball memories have been," said Baumann, who won a high school game on the Suns' floor. "It's going to be an awesome experience."

The Valley products grew up as Suns and Mercury fans, but Baker's attachment was deeper with an aunt, Ceola Coaston, who is a longtime Suns and Mercury administrative assistant. He went to games often and was able to watch his favorite players, Steph Curry and LeBron James, play where he will Saturday on ESPN+.

"It's going to be fun," Baker said. "I can't wait to get in there and get in that atmosphere and play on an NBA court at home."

In a five-game stretch of high-quality opponents, Saturday marks another opportunity for a statement win with North Texas rated No. 69 by the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).

Blacksher's status for the game remains in question, but his ankle sprain recovery is progressing. He played in the first two Jerry Colangelo Classic games and won Most Valuable Player last season when the Lopes delivered San Francisco's first loss in a 49-48 grinder.

In unfamiliar surroundings, the three previous GCU games (one Valley of the Sun Shootout) at Footprint Center were defensive affairs with cumulative sub-40% shooting by the Lopes and their opponents.

"Honestly, I like home court because it's home," McGlothan said. "It's just as good. But it'll be exciting either way because the Havocs make anywhere super cool."

Lope tracks

Drew played at the Suns' arena three times as a pro but was part of his first win there last season in his first visit as a GCU coach.
Blacksher scored 23 points and added four rebounds and four assists in last year's Jerry Colangelo Classic.
The Lopes are 6-0 when they make at least eight 3-point shots in a game or score at least 66 points.
GCU and Alabama are the nation's only teams to defeat three reigning regular-season conference champions this season. The Lopes toppled Montana State, Northern Iowa and Alcorn State.
The GCU defense ranks 20th nationally for opponent field goal percentage (37.4%) and 18t for opponent points per game (58.5).
The Lopes rank third in the new WAC Resume Seeding System, which will decide WAC Tournament seeding with consideration to nonconference play.
North Texas averages the eighth-fewest fastbreak points per game (4.4) in Division I.
The Mean Green shoots the 15th-lowest field goal percentage (39.1%) but grabs the 11th-most offensive rebounds per game (14.2). Abou Ousmane, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, ranks 24th in the nation with 3.6 offensive rebounds per game.

Saturday, Dec. 10 | 3:30 p.m. | Footprint Center | Phoenix, Ariz.

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Players Mentioned

Josh Baker

Noah Baumann

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Gabe McGlothan

Grand Canyon University Athletics