Down 13, Lopes flip Bison for 15-point win

Saturday, November 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-1,0-0WAC

North Dakota State

4-3,0-0Summit League

North Dakota St.

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

11/25/2023 10:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU goes without 2nd-half turnover, gets 25 from Grant-Foster

By: Paul Coro

There are many comebacks when a team comes into a halftime locker room after a lackluster effort and is implored and corrected into flipping its work.

Grand Canyon's 28-point turnaround did not need to get to that point Saturday night. GCU looked within itself during the first half and closed with an 8-0 run that ended up feeling like a marathon to North Dakota State.

The Lopes' momentum bridged halftime to extend the game flip into a 25-3 stretch that bulldozed the Bison for an 86-71 victory at GCU Arena.

The Lopes (4-1) found the defense to make their optimum ball-care stand up. They did not commit a second-half turnover and had their least turnovers in a game against a Division I opponent (four) since Nov. 19, 2019 (four vs. Montana State).

GCU junior guard Tyon Grant-Foster continued his emergence as a national top-20 scorer with a team-high 25 points, and graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. But junior guard Ray Harrison stirred the drink, absorbing North Dakota State's physical efforts and double teams to come away with 18 points, six assists and no turnovers while mostly running the point for most of his 35 minutes.

Phoenix, AZ Nov. 25 , 2023: GCU moved to 4-1, executing a 28-point turnaround for an 86-71 victory against North Dakota State on Saturday night at GCU Arena.

Phoenix, AZ Nov. 25 , 2023: GCU moved to 4-1, executing a 28-point turnaround for an 86-71 victory against North Dakota State on Saturday night at GCU Arena.

"They had two quick guards, and they tried to pressure him," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said of Harrison. "They tried to turn him over. He was excellent making decisions. We have a lot of natural scorers by nature, so I thought tonight was the best they've done balancing passing and shooting. There were still some shots in there where we want to get better ones, but you also don't want to take the aggressiveness away from guys that are natural scorers."

The offense was explosive, but the spark came from the relentless energy of senior center Sydney Curry, who recorded his fifth career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) off the bench. Curry scored twice on offensive follows during the 8-0 run that closed the first half, cutting North Dakota State's 13-point lead to 40-35 at halftime.

Curry started the second half, when his defense continued the run with a blocked shot and a miss-inducing contest on two early possessions.

The 6-foot-8, 270-pounder recorded his double-double in 13 minutes of court time Saturday, making it the quickest double-double by a Lope in the program's Division I era. It was also the nation's fifth double-double in 13 minutes or fewer against a Division I opponent over the past five seasons.

" Sydney Curry

He's so important to this team," McGlothan said of Curry. "I don't even think he even realizes how important he is. His energy definitely changed the game."

When sophomore center Duke Brennan relieved Curry, the roll continued with GCU taking the lead for good when it had 13 unanswered points by scoring on six consecutive possessions. That spurt finished with a six-point possession, starting with Grant-Foster making a 3 while being fouled and then Brennan getting a three-point play by following the free throw miss.

North Dakota State found traction to stay close until McGlothan made three 3-pointers in a five-minute stretch after missing 12 of his first 14 tries from 3-point range this season.

McGlothan attributed his in-game turnaround and the team's one to the team pregame chapel message of God breathing life into the world.

"It was like, 'Why don't we breathe life into each other?' " McGlothan said. "Give life instead of some negatives or complaining. Let's focus on us and let's turn this around."

Phoenix, AZ Nov. 25 , 2023: GCU moved to 4-1, executing a 28-point turnaround for an 86-71 victory against North Dakota State on Saturday night at GCU Arena. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

After getting four points from the GCU bench in the previous two games combined, Curry and fellow reserve Isaiah Shaw combined for 17 points on Saturday. Shaw, a redshirt freshman guard, hit a 3-pointer and attacked the rim for two other scores.

North Dakota State (4-3), which has reached five consecutive Summit League Tournament title games, could not keep pace with the effort after guard Boden Skunberg's 18-point first half and point guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas never resting in the first half.

"We just didn't come out with the firepower that we usually do," Shaw said.

"What's a basketball season without a little adversity. We live for the adversity. We love it. Because we know at the end of the day, it's going to make us better."

The Lopes led 71-68 with 4:55 to go before an 11-0 run put the Bison away. Some of the flip came with the use of a zone defense and a smaller lineup, putting McGlothan at center with long wings to his sides. The Bison ended the game on an 0-for-5, three-turnover stretch.

"Even at the beginning when they were scoring, guys were talking to each other and trying to motivate each other on getting some stops and getting out in transition," Drew said "Proud of the guys. They could have really come apart during some of those segments there against a team that really executes. But they kept talking to each other. We talk about speaking life. They were speaking life into each other, trying to be positive with each other. That's a great sign for our team."

The Lopes enter conference play early with a Wednesday night game at UT Rio Grande Valley. Because of the WAC's move to a 20-game, round-robin conference schedule, each team is playing a two-game WAC set next week before resuming conference play in January. Following the game at UTRGV, GCU will play UT Arlington at home next Saturday.