Tarleton defeats GCU to go 10-0 at home

Saturday, January 28

Stephenville, Texas / Wisdom Gym

6 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

14-8,5-4WAC

Tarleton

12-10,5-4WAC

Grand Canyon

Tarleton St.

1/28/2023 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Knox scores career-high 17 but 19-0 Texans run buries Lopes

By: Paul Coro

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – In a game about aggression, toughness and speed, Grand Canyon did not have enough of it from the jump ball Saturday night at Tarleton.

GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan won the tip, and it was the last thing the Lopes would control. In a sign of the lopsided play to come, Tarleton guard Shamir Bogues darted from a few feet away to beat Lopes guards Ray Harrison and Chance McMillian to the bouncing ball in between them and threw down a tone-setting dunk four seconds into the game.

It was just the start of the GCU's second-worst defensive night of its Division I era, as Tarleton shot 61.6% to stack a 19-0 run in the first half with a 33-point lead in the second half. The Texans moved to 10-0 at Wisdom Gym with an 81-62 conference rout.

"We have expectations on our team of what we want to do," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We definitely never want a performance like this tonight. Hopefully, the talk we had in there and the practices we have next week, this will hurt the guys and they'll respond the rest of the season for it."

Stephenville,, TX Jan 28, 2023: GCU drops their game 81-62 against Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX

Stephenville,, TX Jan 28, 2023: GCU drops their game 81-62 against Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX

The Lopes (14-7, 5-4 WAC) were looking to hit the midpoint with a 2-0 Texas trip that kept them within two losses of the conference lead. Instead, the Texans (12-10, 5-4 WAC) smacked them with an intense defense, stout rebounding and several step-ahead drives that gave them a 42-10 scoring advantage in the paint.

Tarleton, coming off a 50-point first half in its Thursday win against Utah Tech, led 29-8 after the first 13 minutes Saturday night. The Lopes offense opened the game with a shot clock violation and an off-target McGlothan pass, prompting Drew to bench Harrison and McGlothan for "soft plays" in the first 1:14.

"You can't have that from your two best players setting the tone for the rest of your team," Drew said. "This is a learning experience.

"This isn't what we expect in a GCU uniform. For our best players to go out and not be tough from the very own tip. You can't win a championship when you're not tough for 40 minutes."

Lopes redshirt freshman Kobe Knox scored a career-high 17 points, including 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. It was little solace as the Lopes moved to 3-4 since the season-ending knee injury to WAC Preseason Player of the Year Jovan Blacksher Jr., whose absence was exaggerated with the loss of another playmaker, GCU junior guard Josh Baker (concussion protocol), for this week's games.

"It doesn't feel good at all," Knox said. "I'm not really worried about the career high because we got embarrassed.

"It started from the jump. We knew they were a physical team and they were undefeated at home, so we had to come out and hit them in the mouth first. That wasn't the case. We got hit in the mouth first."

The Lopes have allowed 45% shooting or better in five consecutive games after being ranked 13th in the nation for a defense that was allowing 38.1% opponent shooting on the season.

"It was all five positions," Drew said. "There wasn't one guy on our team that I could say, 'Hey, he had a good defensive game,' because nobody did. We've got to get Yvan (Ouedraogo) really acclimated back. He's the one guy who could solidify our defense"

The Lopes have a week to repair the holes before they play Stephen F. Austin (15-7, 7-2 WAC) next Saturday at GCU Arena.

Stephenville,, TX Jan 28, 2023: GCU drops their game 81-62 against Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX

GCU committed seven turnovers in the first 11 minutes against the WAC's turnover margin leader. Over a stretch of nearly 12 minutes in the first half, the Lopes made 1 of 9 shots with four turnovers.

The Lopes faced a 45-21 halftime deficit, its worst since a 26-point hole at Texas in 2018. That was worsened by allowing eight second-chance points to a team they were expected to control on the boards.

"The rebounding was really disappointing," Drew said. "That was a game we didn't get to the ball quick enough. We didn't get to it quick enough on offense. We didn't get to it quick enough on defense. And then we couldn't guard the dribble."

Harrison's streak of 14 straight games with 16 or more points ended with an 11-point total, four points of which came in the first half. McMillian scored nine, ending his streak of five consecutive double-digit scoring games since moving into the starting lineup for Blacksher. McGlothan and Ouedraogo combined for seven points and two rebounds on the frontline.

Knox has played 179 of his season's 278 minutes since Jan. 5. He moved into a starting role Thursday in Baker's absence and recorded a career scoring high on the road Saturday.

"We just had a long talk in the locker room with everyone," Drew said. "For a freshman, we shouldn't have to rely on him to do what he did tonight to lead us in scoring and bring us that much energy. It should be coming from other guys on our team that have been in our program. We're really proud of his progression. He was definitely the bright spot."