Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Northwestern State on November 21, 2025 , Win , 85, to, 72
M Basketball
vs Northwestern State
W 85-72
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Valuable wins put GCU in nation's top 40
12/10/2023 9:34:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes rise to program-best NET ranking of No. 37 after win at Liberty
Gonzaga, Duke, Ohio State, Miami (Fla.) North Carolina, Kentucky.
That is the college basketball company that Grand Canyon is keeping in national rankings after notching consecutive wins against top-50 opponents — vs. San Diego State (79-73) and at Liberty (69-64).
The best consecutive regular-season wins in GCU history translated into another Lopes-best NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking at No. 37 on Sunday, amid the aforementioned blue bloods of college basketball in NET's Nos. 33-39. GCU slipped to No. 38 on Monday.
"A lot of times in college, you're only as good as your last game," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We wish we could've enjoyed the San Diego State game longer before coming (to Liberty) and playing. Thankfully, we have finals now for a week, and we don't play until next Saturday. It'll really let us soak in some of the emotion from these two games and regroup for next Saturday.
"I'm really proud of our guys. It was a really difficult week against two top-50 teams in the country, and I'm proud of how they fought for both games from beginning to end."
The Lopes (8-1) will play in Saturday night's Colangelo Classic quadruple-header at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix, where GCU is matched up with Portland for the 7:30 p.m. nightcap. Games start at noon with Washington State-Santa Clara before a 2:30 p.m. UC Santa Barbara-Loyola Marymount game and a 5 p.m. Saint Mary's-UNLV game.
GCU is off to its best nine-game start in its Division I history and is one of 23 teams in the nation with a winning percentage of .889 or better. The Lopes rank second nationally for free throw points per game (22.2), trailing only Tulane.
On Monday, the Lopes received one top-25 vote from Associated Press voters.
That is the college basketball company that Grand Canyon is keeping in national rankings after notching consecutive wins against top-50 opponents — vs. San Diego State (79-73) and at Liberty (69-64).The best consecutive regular-season wins in GCU history translated into another Lopes-best NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking at No. 37 on Sunday, amid the aforementioned blue bloods of college basketball in NET's Nos. 33-39. GCU slipped to No. 38 on Monday.
"A lot of times in college, you're only as good as your last game," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We wish we could've enjoyed the San Diego State game longer before coming (to Liberty) and playing. Thankfully, we have finals now for a week, and we don't play until next Saturday. It'll really let us soak in some of the emotion from these two games and regroup for next Saturday.
"I'm really proud of our guys. It was a really difficult week against two top-50 teams in the country, and I'm proud of how they fought for both games from beginning to end."
The Lopes (8-1) will play in Saturday night's Colangelo Classic quadruple-header at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix, where GCU is matched up with Portland for the 7:30 p.m. nightcap. Games start at noon with Washington State-Santa Clara before a 2:30 p.m. UC Santa Barbara-Loyola Marymount game and a 5 p.m. Saint Mary's-UNLV game.
GCU is off to its best nine-game start in its Division I history and is one of 23 teams in the nation with a winning percentage of .889 or better. The Lopes rank second nationally for free throw points per game (22.2), trailing only Tulane.
On Monday, the Lopes received one top-25 vote from Associated Press voters.
NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings — Dec. 10 |
||
| Rank | Team | Record |
| 1. | Arizona | 8-0 |
| 2. | Houston | 10-0 |
| 3. | BYU | 8-1 |
| 4. | Purdue | 9-1 |
| 5. | Creighton | 8-1 |
| 6. | Baylor | 8-0 |
| 7. | UConn | 8-2 |
| 9. | Tennessee | 6-3 |
| 10. | Iowa State | 7-2 |
| 11. | Princeton | 9-0 |
| 12. | Indiana State | 8-1 |
| 13. | Oklahoma | 9-0 |
| 14. | Clemson | 9-0 |
| 15. | Texas A&M | 7-2 |
| 16. | Alabama | 6-3 |
| 17. | Kansas | 8-1 |
| 18. | Florida Atlantic | 7-2 |
| 19. | Illinois | 7-2 |
| 20. | Wisconsin | 7-3 |
| 21. | Virginia | 8-1 |
| 22. | Colorado State | 9-1 |
| 23. | Washington State | 7-1 |
| 24. | Auburn | 6-2 |
| 25. | New Mexico | 9-1 |
| 26. | Cincinnati | 7-1 |
| 27. | James Madison | 8-0 |
| 28. | South Carolina | 8-1 |
| 29. | Mississippi State | 7-2 |
| 30. | San Diego State | 7-2 |
| 31. | Utah State | 7-1 |
| 32. | Utah | 7-2 |
| 33. | Gonzaga | 6-2 |
| 34. | Duke | 6-3 |
| 35. | Ohio State | 8-2 |
| 36. | MIami (Fla.) | 7-1 |
| 37. | Grand Canyon | 8-1 |
| 38. | North Carolina | 7-2 |
| 39. | Kentucky | 7-2 |
| 40. | McNeese | 4-2 |
🚨 NEW #Power36 from @TheAndyKatz 👇
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 11, 2023
1. Arizona
2. Kansas
3. UConn
4. Purdue
5. Baylor
6. Houston
7. Clemson
8. Marquette
9. Oklahoma
10. North Carolina
📰: https://t.co/4nA4Fpm7XU pic.twitter.com/0p9ONHViqy
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