Intense GCU defense puts eyes on game vs. South Carolina

Sunday, November 19

Glendale, Ariz. / Desert Diamond Arena

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

South Carolina

Tickets

Phoenix, AZ Nov. 16 , 2023: GCU tops San Francisco 76-72 during the Arizona Tip-off at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Intense GCU defense puts eyes on game vs. South Carolina

11/18/2023 4:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

GCU Notes SC Notes

Undefeated teams meet in Glendale for Arizona Tip-Off championship on national TV

By: Paul Coro

Arizona Tip-Off championship \| Sunday, Nov. 19 \| 5 p.m. \| Desert Diamond Arena \| Glendale, Ariz.

	SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (4-0)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (3-0)

WATCH: CBS Sports Network \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

GLENDALE, Ariz. — With size and spunk, Grand Canyon is making itself known defensively.as a team that fills passing lanes and blinds shooting vision lines with a trademark aggression.

On Sunday, the Lopes can use that to make their program known nationally. Playing a second consecutive game on CBS Sports Network, GCU faces its first SEC opponent in nine years in a 5 p.m. Arizona Tip-Off Cactus Division championship game against South Carolina at Desert Diamond Arena.

Arizona Tip-Off vs. USF

The length of the Lopes (3-0) helped move them to the title game against the Gamecocks (4-0) after they kept a talented, efficient San Francisco team to 40% shooting from the field with 14 turnovers on Friday night.

GCU's starting unit proved disruptive most of the game with tight on-ball defense, activity in passing lanes against the Dons' constant cuts and challenging closeouts on perimeter shots. The latter will be vital again Sunday against South Carolina, which is shooting 39% 3-point shooting team even after only making 5 for 21 in its 73-68 semifinal win against DePaul.

"They showed tremendous grit, tremendous effort, especially getting down in the second half and the way they responded," San Francisco head coach Chris Gerlufsen said of GCU.

The Lopes have more of a physical presence before the aggressive mentality even takes to action. Their starting guards are each 6 feet 4, but ball-hawking junior Collin Moore has a plus wingspan to bother point guards. His late-game blocked shot from behind gave GCU the chances to take a lead.

The Lopes' athletic starting forwards are each 6 feet 7, but senior Tyon Grant-Foster's length and graduate Gabe McGlothan's strength are disruptive in passing lanes and change shots at the rim and on the perimeter.

"The casual fan that doesn't follow their program won't know how great they are," South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said on his Friday night postgame radio interview.

McGlothan teamed with senior reserve center Sydney Curry for a volleyball-type block on a drive, and 6-foot-10 sophomore center Duke Brennan is adding to a shot-blocking presence the Lopes have not enjoyed in recent years.

GCU is blocking 5.3 shots per game in the 3-0 start after the team has averaged 2.2 to 3.2 blocks per game in the previous three seasons. When he does not block shots, Brennan is challenging them well often without fouling as often as last season at Arizona State. His foul rate has nearly been cut in half in the three-game sample vs. last season.

"There are new principles on defense for him, things that he's trying to get used to, but that last five minutes (in Friday night's win), he was really good," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "Just his presence down low. The physicality that he brings. Him playing in the Pac-12 and the NCAA tournament last year, he's used to some really intense games. He's used to big games like this."

Lope tracks

The CBS Sports Network broadcast crew will be play-by-play announcer Jack Benjamin and analyst Matt McCall, a former head coach at Chattanooga and UMass.
GCU is facing a SEC opponent for the second time. The Lopes lost at Kentucky 85-44 in the season opener of GCU's second Division I season.
Grant-Foster ranks 12th in the nation with 23.0 points per game.
Harrison, averaging 13.0 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds, is a South Carolina native of Greenville, a 90-minute drive from the Gamecocks' home in Columbia. "I ain't got nothing to say," Harrison said about the possible matchup after Friday's win.
McGlothan set the program's Division I-era record for career rebounds Friday, when his eight-board game gave him 634 to pass Keonta Vernon.
The Lopes went 28 for 38 on free throws in Friday night's win vs. San Francisco for the Lopes' most free throw attempts in a game since January 2017 at UT Rio Grande Valley (31 for 41). The Lopes now rank second nationally with 31 free throw attempts per game.
South Carolina ranks 39th nationally with 39.1% 3-point shooting.
Gamecocks graduate point guard Ta'Lon Cooper, a Minnesota transfer, has 22 assists with just three turnovers in the team's 4-0 start against USC Upstate, Virginia Tech, VMI and DePaul.
Tickets start at $15 for the two-game session. DePaul and San Francisco play at 2:30 p.m.