WAC Tournament means Lopes-Aggies

WAC Tournament semifinal Friday, March 11 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Orleans Arena \| Las Vegas, Nev.

	NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (24-6)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (23-7)

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LAS VEGAS — Grand Canyon is the WAC Tournament defending champion with a five-game winning streak and a defense ranked in the national top five but will be an underdog Friday night against a team that has lost two of its past three games.

When it comes to New Mexico State, there is more to prove for the Lopes after going 0-2 against the Aggies this season. Friday night's WAC Tournament semifinal at 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) makes for a proving ground at Orleans Arena, much like when GCU shook off eight consecutive losses in the series to beat New Mexico State three times last year.

If it is a WAC Tournament, GCU vs. New Mexico State will happen. Since the Lopes finished their Division I transition in 2017, GCU and New Mexico State have met in all four WAC Tournaments that have been held.

This will be the first time that it happened before a championship game, where Friday's semifinal winner will advance for a Saturday night title game against the Seattle U-Abilene Christian semifinal winner.

"We're excited to play them," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said of the top-seeded Aggies (24-6). "They're an excellent team. They've had a sensational season. They were in contention for an at-large bid a couple weeks ago. They're just really good players. We're going to rest up, trying to recover the best we can after this really tough, emotional, really physical game and try to be as fresh as we can for that game."

GCU lost 71-61 at New Mexico State on Jan. 29, when the Lopes led 49-43 with 10:24 remaining despite shooting 29.5% for the game and having a 34-18 foul disparity.

GCU lost 82-66 at home on Feb. 19, when the Aggies enjoyed their season's best 3-point shooting game (13 for 25) and the Lopes' second-half rally was stunted on a missed layup midway through the second half.

Teddy Allen and Holland Woods II

New Mexico State outrebounded GCU by an average of 11.5 in the two games. WAC Player of the Year Teddy Allen, an Aggies guard from Phoenix, averaged 29.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 56.3% shooting against the Lopes this season. His season averages are 19.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists on 44.9% shooting.

"We are who we are right now," Drew said. "We're going to try to do what we did and just try to do it better and hopefully have better results."

The bench has been notably better for GCU during its five-game winning streak. After going to a nine-man rotation, the Lopes reserves are outscoring opponents' reserves by an average of 16 points per game with guard Chance McMillian scoring in double digits in four of those five wins. In the prior nine games, the GCU bench was being outscored by three points per game.

"Chance has been terrific in this final stretch of games," Drew said. "Aidan (Igiehon) has come in and given us some interior scoring. Walter Ellis really stretches the floor and Taeshon gives us a lot of energy. Our bench is a really big part."

The Aggies bench appears to have taken a hit with the Las Cruces Sun-News reporting that forward Donnie Tillman was in a walking boot with crutches after not playing in a win against Utah Valley on Saturday, the last time New Mexico State played. He averaged 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds and scored 10 at GCU on Feb. 19.

Tillman was one of four starters that New Mexico State returned from last year's WAC Tournament championship game, which GCU won 74-56 with 19 points from point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., the Lopes' only returning starter. Those Aggies returnees included the most familiar faces of Johnny McCants, a fifth-year senior, and Sir'Jabari Rice, who has averaged 16.0 points against the Lopes this season (four above his season average).

"They're a talented team," GCU graduate guard Holland Woods II said. "They're the Goliath of the league, so we've got to come out and not take it lightly. We've got to punch first."

Lope tracks

GCU has made 73.2% of its free throws in the past 12 games after being among the nation's worst free-throw shooting teams at 63.6% for the first 18 games. The Lopes closed Thursday's win with nine made free throws in a row.
Woods is 40 points shy of 2,000 career points. The Glendale Apollo High School graduate ranks 26th for scoring among active players and ninth for career assists at 655.
The Lopes are 7-2 in the WAC Tournament, including a 3-0 mark in semifinal games.
GCU (No. 88) and New Mexico State (No. 85) are the only WAC teams in "Quad 1" of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.
The Lopes are 18-0 when scoring 67 or more points this season. They are 5-7 when scoring fewer than 67.
The GCU defense ranks fifth nationally for opponent field-goal percentage (38.2%), third for opponent 3-point percentage (27.0%) and 13th for point per game allowed (60.8). The Aggies averaged 76.5 points in the two wins against the Lopes this season.

WAC Tournament semifinal
Friday, March 11 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Orleans Arena | Las Vegas, Nev.

Lope tracks

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Walter Ellis

Chance McMillian

Holland Woods II

Grand Canyon University Athletics