Senior Night means shot at redemption, WAC rise

Friday, Feb. 24 \| 7 p.m. \| GCU Arena \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	SEATTLE U REDHAWKS (18-10, 9-6 WAC)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (18-10, 9-6 WAC)

WATCH: ESPNU \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

Despite the injuries, the heartbreakers and the disappointments, everything Grand Canyon wants lies ahead of it in the next two weeks.

The Lopes remain on a quest for a 20-win season and a NCAA tournament berth, but the first step in front of them is to avenge a recent regret at Seattle U, uphold Senior Night in the home finale and move into WAC Tournament first-round bye territory while doing the first two in Friday night's game against Seattle U at GCU Arena.

The Lopes and Redhawks enter the 7 p.m. game with identical records (18-10, 9-6 WAC) with GCU having a chance for a win to move it into the WAC Resume Seeding System's top four, which receives a bye in the conference tourney that starts just 12 days later in Las Vegas. In between, the Lopes also will have a chance to jump Southern Utah when it finishes the regular season next week at Southern Utah and Utah Tech.

Phoenix, AZ Feb. 8 2023: GCU beats NMSU 78-67 at GCU Arena.

Phoenix, AZ Feb. 8 2023: GCU beats NMSU 78-67 at GCU Arena.

"A lot of our goals are still in front of us," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We wanted to win the regular-season conference championship. We're hopeful we're going to do that next year, but the rest of our goals are still ahead of us. There's still a lot to play for with seeding and then to make the NCAA tournament. I thought we played our best game of the season Friday, and hopefully we can build on that every Friday."

On Feb. 11, the Lopes lost 64-58 at Seattle U despite taking a 56-47 lead with 7:15 to go. GCU went 1 for 13 for the remainder of the game to miss a chance at becoming the Redhawk Center's first winning visitor this season.

Seattle U connected on four fewer 3-pointers than its season average of nine made 3s per game. The Redhawks average the 10th most 3-point attempts per game (27.8) but rank 301st for 3-point percentage (31.6%). On that night, Seattle U junior guard Alex Schumacher scored a season-high 26 points, more than double his season average of 12.6

"It was overall some of our best defensive numbers of the year," Drew said. "We just didn't shoot the ball well that game."

Senior Night will recognize a trio of Lopes contributors at their final home game:

Noah Baumann

Noah Baumann, a graduate student and 6-foot-6 sharpshooter, continued to be one of the nation's best 3-point shooters since transferring from Georgia to GCU last summer.

After going 37 for 78 (47.4%) on 3-pointers since Nov. 29, the Phoenix Desert Vista High School graduate ranks 20th nationally among active players for career 3-point shooting percentage at 42.4%. He is the only active Division I player besides Pacific's Luke Avdalovic to have at least 250 made 3s and 42% accuracy.

Baumann has averaged 7.5 points, above his career average, and matched his career-high rebounding average of 3.5. His versatility to play either forward spot was critical when the Lopes lost power forward Yvan Ouedraogo for eight games to a hand fracture. This season, Baumann has posted double-digit scoring 11 times and made four 3s in a game three times.

Drew said: "We're thankful that Noah chose to spend his last year of eligibility at GCU. It caps off a great college career for him to finish in his hometown. He's brought a lot of maturity to our team and has really stretch the floor to allow our offense to be really productive."

Walter Ellis

Also a graduate student, Walter Ellis played two seasons at GCU after transferring from Bucknell. His way of bonding teammates has been just as valuable as his 3-point accuracy, which has been the best of his career this season.

The 6-foot-5 guard is making 47.5% of his 3-point shots while increasing his offensive and rebounding efficiency and improving his defense.

Ellis, whose father is former NBA star and ESPN analyst LaPhonso Ellis, scored a career-high 24 points in a Tuesday against Park (Ariz.) and is earning more playing time down the stretch, logging 20 or more minutes in three of the past four games. He also has grabbed at least four rebounds in four of the past eight games.

Drew said: "We love Walt's charisma. He always brings a smile to the floor in both practices and games, and he increases the energy in our locker room. Besides his tremendous 3-point shooting, we're really going to miss all the intangibles that Walt brings to our program."

Aidan Igiehon

Aidan Igiehon, the 6-foot-10, 245-pound "Irish Hulk," made steps to increase his role to 11 minutes per game in his second GCU season and has averaged 2.9 points and 3.7 rebounds in that time. He leads the Lopes in rebound rate with 13.6 boards per 40 minutes of play, including near double-doubles against Park (12 points, nine rebounds) and Benedictine (nine points, nine rebounds) this season.

Igiehon, who was born in Ireland and went to high school in New York, played his first two collegiate seasons at Louisville before transferring to GCU. He scored his career high of nine points on four occasions and blocked two shots in a game three times.

Igiehon's free throw shooting improved tremendously from 37.5% in two years at Louisville to 64.7% this season at GCU.

Drew said: "It's been enjoyable to see Aidan's growth in his two years at GCU. I know this place means something special to him, and he wanted to make sure that he was able to walk on Senior Night to let people know how special this place has been to him."

Lope tracks

GCU is 15-5 against Seattle U and had won three in a row in the series until this season's Feb. 11 loss at the Redhawk Center.
Sophomore guard Ray Harrison (38 points vs. Utah Tech), junior power forward Gabe McGlothan (18 rebounds vs. Northern Iowa) and injured junior Jovan Blacksher Jr. (seven steals vs. Grambling) hold the WAC season highs for each category.
Harrison's career-best streak of 21 consecutive double-digit scoring games was snapped Tuesday when he played 15 minutes against Park in a game that GCU added recently in light of New Mexico State's forfeiture of Wednesday's game.
Harrison has made 136 free throws this season, ranking 18th in the nation.
Sophomore guard Chance McMillian is averaging 12.9 points in his 14 starts since replacing WAC Preseason Player of the Year Jovan Blacksher Jr., who underwent season-ending knee surgery.
McGlothan's season average of 8.0 rebounds per game ranks second in the WAC and 88th nationally.
McGlothan needs five points to reach 1,000 for his career.
The Lopes are 14-3 this season when making eight or more 3s and 7-0 when making more than 10
The Lopes were 11-0 when scoring 78 ot more points. They are 10-0 when they shoot 48% or better.
GCU ranks No. 20 nationally for opponent field goal percentage (40.1%) and 37th for opponent 3-point percentage (37.3%)

WAC Resume Seeding System (updated Feb. 24)
Rank	Team	Record (WAC only)	WAC points
1.	Utah Valley	21-7 (12-3)	5.82
2.	Sam Houston	21-6 (11-4)	5.55
3.	Southern Utah	19-9 (11-4)	3.41
4.	Seattle U	18-10 (9-6)	2.64
5.	GCU	18-10 (9-6)	2.03
6.	Stephen F. Austin	18-10 (10-5)	1.44
7.	Tarleton	15-14 (9-8)	0.51
8.	California Baptist	15-13 (7-8)	-1.48
9.	Abilene Christian	13-14 (7-9)	-1.95
10.	Utah Tech	12-16 (4-11)	-2.79
11.	UT Rio Grande Valley	14-15 (5-11)	-3.11
12.	UT Arlington	10-18 (5-10)	-4.83
13.	New Mexico State	Disqualified

The WAC Resume Seeding System will determine seeding for the 12-team WAC Tournament. The top four seeds will receive first-round byes.

Friday, Feb. 24 | 7 p.m. | GCU Arena | Phoenix, Ariz.

Noah Baumann

Walter Ellis

Aidan Igiehon

Lope tracks

WAC Resume Seeding System (updated Feb. 24)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Noah Baumann

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Walter Ellis

Ray Harrison

Aidan Igiehon

Gabe McGlothan

Chance McMillian

Yvan Ouedraogo

Grand Canyon University Athletics