Rematch gives shot to atone, tighten WAC race

Saturday, Feb. 26 \| 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| GCU Arena

	SAM HOUSTON BEARKATS (17-12, 12-4 WAC)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (19-7, 10-5 WAC)

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Defending WAC titles was going to be hard enough for Grand Canyon this season with one returning starter and conference expansion bringing in quality teams.

Then, GCU made it more difficult with the two conference road games that got away – a 58-56 loss at Sam Houston on Jan. 22 and a 61-60 loss at Dixie State on Feb. 12.

The next two Saturdays are dedicated to vindication for those losses that put the Lopes in a WAC standings position of looking up to where they want to finish when March 5 games are done. First, GCU (19-7, 10-5 WAC) can pull even with Sam Houston (17-12, 12-4 WAC) in the loss column with a 6 p.m. meeting Saturday night at GCU Arena. Dixie State visits for the season finale next Saturday with a Utah Valley visit in between on Thursday night for a closing three-game homestand.

"We just weren't playing our best basketball," Lopes sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan said of the loss at Sam Houston, where Taeshon Cherry and Jayden Stone were out and head coach Bryce Drew traveled into Huntsville, Texas, just before game time after being cleared from COVID-19 protocols. "We had a few lapses during that time. Guys are locked in. We definitely owe them something bigtime. They're coming into this conference and what we showed them wasn't what GCU basketball is. Now, we have to have a reintroduction."

The postseason picture for the WAC, ranked the 14th-best conference by kenpom.com, is murky even with just two to three games remaining for conference teams. The Lopes are in fifth place with a desire to land the No. 3 or No. 4 seed, which gives each team a bye into the WAC Tournament quarterfinals.

The difference between a No. 4 seed and a No. 5 seed is having to win three games in three nights or four games in four nights to be WAC Tournament champions.

New Mexico State, at 13-2 in conference play, is close to clinching the regular-season title and tournament No. 1 seed. Here is how the race looks otherwise at the top:

Seattle U: 12-4, at Dixie State on Saturday and vs. Chicago State next Saturday;
Sam Houston: 12-4, at GCU on Saturday and vs. Tarleton on Thursday;
Stephen F. Austin: 11-4, at Abilene Christian on Saturday, at New Mexico State on Wednesday and at UT Rio Grande Valley next Saturday;
GCU: 10-5, vs. Sam Houston on Saturday, vs. Utah Valley on Thursday and vs. Dixie State next Saturday.

GCU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Seattle (1-0 series), can split it against Sam Houston and lost it to Stephen F. Austin (1-0 series). Tiebreakers for three or more teams are broken according to the cumulative head-to-head records among tied teams.

"I like where we are," Drew said. "I wish we could have a couple games back. We very easily could be 21-5 (with Sam Houston and Dixie State road wins) or 22-5 (with Lamar road game that was forfeited for conference standings only). We just want to finish strong in our last three home games and position ourselves as well as we can to make a great tournament run."

In the loss at Sam Houston, GCU led by nine in the first half and was tied with 1:54 to go before losing. Leading scorers Jovan Blacksher Jr. and Holland Woods II combined to go 9 for 30 from the field, but the Lopes held the Bearkats to 32.8% shooting. Star Savion Flagg, who averages 19.1 points per game, went 6 for 19 mostly against graduate forward Sean Miller-Moore's defense.

"We need to finish out strong," McGlothan said. "That's the main thing. As of now, we haven't had the path that we would've wished to have originally. But if we just continue to compete, focus on us and win, we'll see where the seeding falls and take it to the tournament and lock in. We're really focused on us."

Lope tracks

Two top defensive teams are meeting Saturday with GCU allowing 61.8 points per game (21st nationally) and 38.8% field-goal shooting (14th nationally) and Sam Houston allowing 64.1 points per game (37th nationally) and 40.9% field-goal shooting (53rd nationally).
GCU ranks No. 6 in the nation for lowest opponent 3-point percentage (28.2%).
Sam Houston has the nation's worst free-throw percentage (59.4%) among 350 Division I teams.
Flagg and Bearkats teammate DeMarcus Lampley have combined to attempt 377 shots from 3-point range this season. By comparison, GCU's most frequent 3-point shooters, Blacksher and Woods, have 259 combined 3-point attempts.
Blacksher made his 48th steal of the season on Wednesday, tying his GCU Division I-era record for steals in a season that he set last year.
GCU is 14-0 when scoring more than 70 points this season.

Saturday, Feb. 26 | 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) | GCU Arena

Lope tracks

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Taeshon Cherry

Gabe McGlothan

Sean Miller-Moore

Jayden Stone

Holland Woods II

Grand Canyon University Athletics