McGlothan powers Lopes with Ouedraogo out

Wednesday, Jan. 19 \| 7 p.m. \| GCU Arena \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	UTAH TECH TRAILBLAZERS (9-9, 1-4 WAC)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (12-6, 3-2 WAC)

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From December 2021 to December 2022, Grand Canyon junior power forward Gabe McGlothan joined the fray every start with just as much brawn and experience next to him in junior center Yvan Ouedraogo.

But when Ouedraogo suffered a left hand fracture on Dec. 17, McGlothan needed to take more of GCU's frontline burden upon his sturdy shoulders. Despite the losing result Saturday, McGlothan's 24-point, eight-rebound game at California Baptist showed how well built he is to handle the load as the Lopes (12-6, 3-2 WAC) head into a homestand with Utah Tech on Wednesday night and Utah Valley on Saturday night.

McGlothan's 20-point second half nearly rallied GCU from a 15-point hole and prompted CBU head coach Rick Croy to call him "relentless."

Without relent, McGlothan's game has been on the ascent all season with career-high averages of 11.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while dropping his fouls to a career-low 2.2 per game when GCU needs him most.

"It's been a learning curve throughout the whole season," said McGlothan, who also lost starting point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. to a season-ending knee injury. "I've been trying to nail down being more aggressive and being someone the team can look toward when the team needs to win the game or we need a bucket or we need a stop. Let's do this together and, also, if we need to rely on Gabe, I can be that for us."

McGlothan, at 6 feet 7, and graduate forward Noah Baumann, at 6 feet 6, are frequently paired with three-guard lineups, putting McGlothan back at center for the first time since his years at Basha High School in crosstown Chandler. But against more size, it has been his cunning to use angles and speed as a counter.

"Our team, how we're built, we have to make 3s," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "If not, we'll try to post it a little bit more and try to get it going that way."

McGlothan delivers an interior threat to keep defensive pressure from sticking to guards. His Saturday onslaught featured four scores on offensive follows, including an and-one play, and three scores with his left hand, including an alleyoop finish and two post-ups.

In the six games without Ouedraogo this season, McGlothan is averaging 12.3 points and 8.9 rebounds.

"I'm just trying to bring more rebounding and more toughness on the defensive end," McGlothan said. "Being able to attack teams down low with a smaller lineup has been good, but they're trying to attack us because we're smaller. We have to be tougher and more together."

A capable shooter, McGlothan is more inclined to drive off the perimeter, post up or roll off screens when he is paired with Baumann's shooting ability. The Valley duo faced off in the Arizona high school playoffs with McGlothan's Basha team ousting Baumann's Desert Vista team.

"Twice," McGlothan added. "Make sure to remind him it was twice."

Lope tracks

Redshirt freshman forward Kobe Knox was named WAC Freshman of the Week. He averaged 8.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game with 75% shooting.
GCU is 3-1 vs. Utah Tech since the Trailblazers joined the WAC for 2020-21.
The Lopes are ranked 99th nationally by NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
Harrison has scored at least 16 points in a career-high 11 consecutive games. In his previous two seasons at Presbyterian, Harrison's longest such streak was six games.
The Lopes are 10-2 when they shoot better than 41%.
GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan ranks 57th nationally with 8.6 rebounds per game.
The Lopes' 14-game streak of making more free throws than their opponents ended Saturday.
After going 18 for 37 on 3-pointers in the past seven games, GCU graduate forward Noah Baumann ranks 17th nationally among active players for career 3-point shooting percentage at 42.5%. He is the only player besides Pacific's Luke Avdalovic and Loyola Chicago's Braden Norris with 200 made 3s and 42% accuracy.
GCU ranks No.14 nationally for opponent field goal percentage (38.5%) and 24th for opponent points per game (61.7).

WAC Resume Seeding System (updated Jan. 15)
Rank	Team	Record (WAC only)	WAC points
1.	Utah Valley	14-5 (5-1)	3.19
2.	Seattle U	14-4 (5-0)	3.15
3.	Sam Houston	13-5 (3-3)	3.07
4.	Southern Utah	13-6 (5-1)	1.89
5.	GCU	12-6 (3-2)	1.78
6.	Stephen F. Austin	13-6 (5-1)	0.94
7.	Tarleton	10-8 (3-2)	0.03
8.	California Baptist	11-8 (3-3)	-0.57
9.	Utah Tech	9-9 (1-4)	-1.35
10.	UT Rio Grande Valley	10-8 (1-4)	-1.65
11.	Abilene Christian	9-9 (1-4)	-2.63
12.	New Mexico State	7-11 (0-6)	-2.68
13.	UT Arlington	6-13 (1-5)	-3.94

The WAC Resume Seeding System will determine WAC Tournament seeding.

Wednesday, Jan. 19 | 7 p.m. | GCU Arena | Phoenix, Ariz.

Lope tracks

WAC Resume Seeding System (updated Jan. 15)

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Players Mentioned

Noah Baumann

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Kobe Knox

Gabe McGlothan

Yvan Ouedraogo

Grand Canyon University Athletics