Offense erupts for 51 in 2nd half of win at UVU

Thursday, February 10

Orem, Utah

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

17-5,7-3WAC

Utah Valley

15-8,6-5WAC

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

2/10/2022 10:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Postgame - Drew Postgame - Miller-Moore Photo Gallery

Blacksher, Woods each score 23; Miller-Moore matches career high of 19

By: Paul Coro

OREM, Utah — Grand Canyon shared a WAC regular-season title with Utah Valley last season and has not given up its edge in the battle since then.

The Lopes settled last season's tie by winning the WAC Tournament and kept ahead of the Wolverines on Saturday night with pent-up offensive frustration exploding like a volcano into a 51-point second half.

GCU kept pace in the conference race by controlling Utah Valley's offense all night until its firepower was set off in the second half. A Lopes 23-6 run took the lead and sprinted off the UCCU Center floor with a 79-69 win, GCU's first victory at Utah Valley since 2017.

The Wolverines (15-8, 6-5 WAC) were 8-1 at home, but the Lopes (17-5, 8-3) were motivated to dispel notions that an 0-3 road trip defined their abilities away from home.

Utah Valley became the GCU defense's 15th victim to fail to shot better than 40%. The Wolverines were held to 39.7% shooting and made 12 turnovers that the Lopes efficiently flipped into 25 points, boosting an offense that went 9 for 28 until a 7-2 first-half close.

GCU shot 55% in the second half, when graduate guard Holland Woods II scored 18 of his 23 points and sophomore guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. tallied 15 of his 23 points.

"Players making plays," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "Jovan and Holland were just sensational in that second half, making tough shot after tough shot. Our bigs set some really good screens and spaced the floor for them."

They had scoring company with graduate swingman Sean Miller-Moore adding 19 points in addition to being an integral part of the defense. Drew's wrinkle to put Miller-Moore in post-up situations and the defense's ability to create fastbreak finishes for the team's most athletic player allowed him to keep the offense afloat in the first half. He had eight of GCU's 16 points when that was all the Lopes could muster in the game's first 14 minutes.

Miller-Moore was the highest scoring Canadian on the floor, making 9 of 11 shots for a career-high tying 19 points, while the GCU big-man trio of sophomore Yvan Ouedraogo, sophomore Aidan Igiehon and junior Dima Zdor tag-teamed WAC Player of the Year Fardaws Aimaq to a 6-of-17 shooting night.

"He had 15 (points) and 12 (rebounds) and you feel like you did a good job on him," Drew said of Aimaq, the nation's double-double leader with 19. "He's just that good of a player with the soft touch that he has and the skill level he has. We tried to rotate our three bigs and I thought they did a really good job at different points of the game, giving him different looks with how they defended him."

Sean Miller-Moore

GCU trailed 38-32 early in the second half when the 23-6 run began with Woods driving and dishing for Miller-Moore's baseline run to a dunk and Miller-Moore scoring on a post-up the next trip.

"When I get there and perimeter to post, there's a lot of space for me to work," Miller-Moore said. "Once I get in there, I just try to make the right play."

Amid that stretch when GCU took over the game, the Lopes scored 12 unanswered points and grabbed their first lead since 6-5. Igiehon, a plus-16 in six minutes, deflected a pass to Aimaq and Blacksher snatched it for a fastbreak that ended with a Woods 3-pointer. The Woods 3 gave GCU a 43-42 lead, but he added a heat-check deep 3 moments later off junior forward Taeshon Cherry's steal and nailed a corner 3 out of a half-court set for a 55-44 lead.

"We hold everyone accountable on the defensive end because no matter how we start the game on offense, we know we have to keep it going on defense," Woods said. "For us to continue to get stops and be able to get out and run, that's probably our best offense."

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

On the next play, Cherry made another steal and was airborne for a breakaway dunk when Utah Valley sophomore power forward Tim Fuller shoved him in the back. Cherry's momentum took him off the court into a Utah Valley cheerleader but was not injured. Fuller was ejected.

The Wolverines made a challenge at 58-51 but Blacksher answered immediately with a jumper and again at 66-57 when Blacksher made an and-one fadeaway. Blacksher went 9 for 16 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free throw line, where the Lopes made 18 of 22 tries.

The victory keeps GCU even with Sam Houston (9-3 WAC) in the loss column and within one game of second-place Seattle U (9-2).

The Lopes have not allowed more than 72 points in a game this season and have kept each opponent below 40% shooting during this three-game winning streak.

"It's effort and heart," Miller-Moore said. "It's toughness. It's something we can control. You can control how hard you can go."