Pair of Lopes rallies douses Flames

Saturday, December 9

Lynchburg, Va.

12 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

8-1,2-0WAC

Liberty

7-3,0-0CUSA

Grand Canyon

Liberty

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

12/9/2023 4:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU ends Liberty's 20-win home streak, claims week's 2nd top-50 win

By: Paul Coro

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Grand Canyon is making it impossible to go unnoticed.

Much of the college basketball world took note of the Lopes making the NCAA tournament twice in the previous three seasons, but the Lopes just put together a week in which they made it hard for pundits to look away.

GCU snapped Liberty's 20-game home winning streak on Saturday for a second straight win against a top-50 opponent. The Lopes rallied from large deficits in each half Saturday to put out the Flames 69-64 in front of a Liberty Arena record crowd of 4,052 fans.

For the second consecutive game in front of ESPNU audiences, the Lopes (8-1) showed an indomitable will to hit rare air.

On Tuesday, it was never trailing for the final 14:19 to record the program's first-ever win against a top-25 opponent, beating No. 25 San Diego State 79-73

On Saturday, it was rallying from a 17-point, first-half hole and a nine-point, second-half deficit before never trailing in the final 8:12 to hand Liberty its first home loss since Nov. 18, 2022 against Southern Miss.

"That's what makes us dangerous and intimidating to other teams," said GCU junior guard Ray Harrison, who scored 19 points with 10-for-10 free throw shooting. "They know, no matter how much they get ahead, it's always possible for us to come back."

The Lopes held the Flames to 38.1% shooting. In the past 12 months, only No. 11 Florida Atlanta held Liberty to a lower field goal percentage. GCU joins Arizona, Clemson, Kansas and Purdue as the only programs with three Quad 1 wins.

"That was an intense game," said Lopes head coach Bryce Drew, who picked up win No. 72 in his 100th GCU game. "It felt like it took five minutes to play the game, and it also took like it took five hours all in one.

"I'm really proud of our guys. The Lord's blessed them all with a toughness and athletic ability. We tried our best to put them in situations where they could play free of mind, use their gifts and play as hard as they possibly could. You have to against this team every possession, especially on their home court where they're so explosive."

The start could not have gone much worse for the Lopes when the Flames (7-3) shot out to a 23-6 lead before the defensive activity kicked in and translated to offensive aggression. GCU shut out Liberty for nearly seven minutes to have a 15-0 run and defended the Flames into 12 consecutive missed shots from the field.

"That was as fun of basketball as we've seen in a long time," Drew said. "Josh Baker came in and really helped change the game with his defense. He did a really good job of recovering to shooters. We made them pass a couple extra times, and then we had some great recovery blocks at the rim."

GCU power forward Gabe McGlothan, on his 9-for-10 shooting, 21-point day, made a 3-pointer for a 32-28 lead before Liberty closed well to tie the game at 32-32 for halftime.

"Once we got punched in the mouth, we responded and was able to lock in on defense, lock in on each other and start fighting back and crawling back," McGlothan said.

McGlothan opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Lopes quickly slid again. Liberty, with its offensive precision at one end and "Pack Line Defense" at the other, hit its fifth and sixth 3-pointers on its way to a 46-37 lead with 15:20 to go.

But the No. 10 3-point shooting team in the nation never made another 3, as the Lopes' chases and challenges from longer guards helped cause the Flames to miss their final 10 attempts from 3-point range.

"At the end, I think they got a little bit worn down and that really helped us," McGlothan said.

GCU went through a stretch in which McGlothan's interior scoring and senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster's size advantage on shots and drives retook the lead.

"They're a hard guard," Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. "You expend so much energy on the defensive end, trying to guard their bounce and their individual

playmakers."

A 7-0 run and a 62-55 Lopes lead came from junior guard Ray Harrison tipping back his own miss, Grant-Foster scoring on drive while being fouled and junior guard Collin Moore being fouled on a drive for a free throw.

GCU's lead was trimmed to 62-61, but Harrison made six icy consecutive free throws in the faces of the "Lunatics" student section down the stretch. Twice, Harrison converted in bonus situations in which a miss gives Liberty a chance to take a lead.

"In those moments, I go to the line with a clear mind," said Harrison, who grew up four away in Greenville, South Carolina, and had family and friends on hand. "I'm not thinking anything. I try to focus on muscle memory. I don't hear anything."

Liberty had a chance to go ahead in the final minute when GCU led 62-61, but Grant-Foster recorded one of his three blocks to go with his 18 points and seven rebounds and McGlothan challenged Colin Porter's jumper miss.

After the Lopes took a 66-62 lead with 19.6 seconds remaining, McGlothan read Porter's eyes and stunted toward him before backing off to steal his interior pass and secure the Lopes' win.

"Being able to conquer history with them is one of the best feelings," McGlothan said.

GCU entered the game at No. 48 in NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, and Liberty was at No. 39. Add the road factor into the equation and the Lopes are poised for a significant jump and possible top-25 votes.

"There was a lot of resiliency showed by our guys," Drew said. "Throughout the game, the ups and downs and the back and forth, they really stuck together. It was really good to see them fight through adversity. It's never easy. The huddles sometimes weren't easy, but by the end of the huddle, guys were on the same page and had the same common goal."

Gabe McGlothan at Liberty

GCU often implored a small lineup, especially with sophomore center Duke Brennan facing foul trouble that limited him to 21 minutes before fouling out. The look was effective with active hands in passing lanes and often translated to transition opportunities.

"It was not only a statement win, but good for our confidence as well," Harrison said. "We thought we were playing hard, but obviously we weren't. I was encouraging everybody to pick up our intensity and play our style of basketball."

Entering finals week at GCU, the Lopes will not play again until Saturday night against Portland in the Colangelo Classic at Footprint Center.

The Lopes could have reinforcements for that game. Drew said graduate point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., out since a Jan. 5 knee injury that required surgery, is a possibility to play in that game or soon. Even when not in uniform, Blacksher has been active and helpful on the bench.

"We're hopeful," Drew said. "It'll still be his decision ultimately. He had a really good practice out here on the road. We'll see how he practices this week. We're optimistic. We're hopeful. But at the end of the day, we want to make sure he's ready.

"I think he senses that he is really close to returning, so I think it's building excitement with him and our other guys too."