Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 at 2 p.m. (MST)
M Basketball
2 p.m. (MST)
at Baylor
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, March 1
Cedar City, Utah / America First Event Center
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
19-11,9-7WAC
83
at
78
Southern Utah
19-11,11-6WAC
1
2
F
Grand Canyon
35
48
83
Southern Utah
35
43
78
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Down 14, Lopes rally for T-birds' 2nd home loss
3/1/2023 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Harrison scores 29 at Southern Utah to give GCU chance at WAC Tournament 1st-round bye
CEDAR CITY, Utah — Grand Canyon made a decision to not play victim to the circumstances of coming off a disappointing loss, playing where Southern Utah had not lost since November and trailing by 14 points in the first seven minutes Wednesday night.
The Lopes, with resiliency formed in a Tuesday night players meeting, did not accept any definition of a turbulent season or Southern Utah visitors' fates and stormed back for a confidence-building 83-78 victory at America First Event Center.
GCU (19-11, 10-7 WAC) put itself in fifth place in the WAC Resume Seeding System and re-opened scenarios to grab one of four WAC Tournament first-round byes Friday night if the Lopes win at Utah Tech and get help from California Baptist winning at Southern Utah or UT Arlington winning at Seattle U.
The Lopes are unable to control all of those circumstances, but they did put themselves in a better position to enter the WAC Tournament playing well when they turned around a nightmarish start on the strength of sophomore guard Ray Harrison's 29-point, nine-rebound performance.
"It starts with Ray," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We've seen that all year. When Ray is good, we're good. When Ray is not as good, we're not as good. He and Chance (McMillian) have to have monster games, and I thought Gabe (McGlothan) played really well for us offensively. And Yvan (Ouedraogo), it was probably his best game since he came back from hand surgery (in late January)."
Harrison scored 10 points in the first half, including five points of the 12-0 run that began to wipe out a 31-18 hole that GCU was facing with 8:31 until halftime. The Lopes held the Thunderbirds scoreless for five minutes, despite four Southern Utah shots in the paint.
"When we started missing shots, they were able to get flowing in transition and that's when they were able to make their run," Southern Utah head coach Todd Simon said.
The Lopes tied the game 35-35 at the break when McMillian, who scored 16, made a 3 and graduate guard Walter Ellis followed with a tying drive in his seven-point half.
Ellis' first two baskets shifted energy upon his entry, when he continued his late-season surge with a left-handed drive and a 3 to answer Southern Utah taking a 21-7 lead with GCU getting one defensive stop in the first 6:20. Ellis has set season highs for minutes played (29 and 32) in consecutive games.
"It was huge for us," Drew said of Ellis' impact. "We were struggling to score during that stretch. I think they were being more physical and tougher than us. Walt made some really good aggressive moves to the rim where he finished with contact. When he did that, it gave our guys some energy and some momentum when they saw him attacking the rim."
Southern Utah (19-11, 11-6) tied the game three more times in the second half but never led with Harrison executing a balanced offensive arsenal for 19 second-half points. On the night, he went 10 for 16 from the field, 3 for 6 on 3-pointers and 6 for 8 on free throws for his second-highest scoring game of the season.
Harrison drove for scores following each of the first two times that the Thunderbirds tied the game and scored 11 of the Lopes' 14 points as they held off late pushes.
"We had a good meeting last night as a team," Harrison said. "It really helped us as far as what we're playing for and to come closer as brothers. The main thing we talked about was just how we want to finish the season. We know things haven't gone our way or how we expected them to coming into the season. All that matters at this point is just how we finish."
The Lopes played their 10th conference game decided by five points or fewer (5-5), recording their best-quality win since pulling out a 72-68 overtime win at Sam Houston on Jan. 5.
GCU looked like it might not have the opportunity to play another close game when the Thunderbirds flew to a 21-7 lead. It was the type of dominance that Southern Utah had flexed in Cedar City for a 12-1 home record and its past six home wins coming by an average margin of 14.7 points.
"When we looked up and saw that it was 21-7 and came to the media time out, Coach Drew was telling us we had to be tougher," Harrison said. "That's all it was. We just had to be tougher, so we bit down and did what we had to do on the defensive end."
The Lopes did it without shooting a free throw until 6:45 remained in the game, when McMillian was fouled on a fastbreak score and converted the free throw to cap an 8-0 run for a 66-58 lead. GCU wound up 13 for 19 at the line.
Staving off the Thunderbirds in the second half was difficult, given Southern Utah senior Maizen Fausett's career-high 31 points and the second half's foul differential of 10-1 that put the Thunderbirds in the bonus situation with 11 minutes to go.
"We were being physical," Drew said. "It shifted in the second half. We don't want to foul that much, but we have to be more physical. That's been a point of emphasis since our last game. We had a really demanding long practice the next day (after the Seattle U loss) and the next day back after that. We talked about a lot of toughness, pride, rising up, attitude, commitment. Big words that resonated with the guys, and they did all of those in the game tonight."
The Lopes faced more difficulty when junior guard Josh Baker re-injured his shoulder, a season-long nagging injury, in practice earlier this week. He will be a game-time decision to play Friday at Utah Tech.
McMillian also left in the second half with a thigh bruise but returned to make a key steal down the stretch, when GCU had tweaked the zone defense that was scorched earlier to be effective late and protect foul trouble.
The Lopes' defense was bolstered by having Ouedraogo in the middle after he was removed from the starting lineup Wednesday for junior Aidan Igiehon's third start of the season. Ouedraogo finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
After making 13 of its first 18 shots to lead 31-18, Southern Utah shot 33% from the field for the remainder of the game.
"This is s a character win," Drew said. "It shows pride in yourselves coming out on the road, especially getting down and coming out of a 14-point deficit."
The Lopes, with resiliency formed in a Tuesday night players meeting, did not accept any definition of a turbulent season or Southern Utah visitors' fates and stormed back for a confidence-building 83-78 victory at America First Event Center.
GCU (19-11, 10-7 WAC) put itself in fifth place in the WAC Resume Seeding System and re-opened scenarios to grab one of four WAC Tournament first-round byes Friday night if the Lopes win at Utah Tech and get help from California Baptist winning at Southern Utah or UT Arlington winning at Seattle U.
The Lopes are unable to control all of those circumstances, but they did put themselves in a better position to enter the WAC Tournament playing well when they turned around a nightmarish start on the strength of sophomore guard Ray Harrison's 29-point, nine-rebound performance.
"It starts with Ray," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We've seen that all year. When Ray is good, we're good. When Ray is not as good, we're not as good. He and Chance (McMillian) have to have monster games, and I thought Gabe (McGlothan) played really well for us offensively. And Yvan (Ouedraogo), it was probably his best game since he came back from hand surgery (in late January)."Harrison scored 10 points in the first half, including five points of the 12-0 run that began to wipe out a 31-18 hole that GCU was facing with 8:31 until halftime. The Lopes held the Thunderbirds scoreless for five minutes, despite four Southern Utah shots in the paint.
"When we started missing shots, they were able to get flowing in transition and that's when they were able to make their run," Southern Utah head coach Todd Simon said.
The Lopes tied the game 35-35 at the break when McMillian, who scored 16, made a 3 and graduate guard Walter Ellis followed with a tying drive in his seven-point half.
Ellis' first two baskets shifted energy upon his entry, when he continued his late-season surge with a left-handed drive and a 3 to answer Southern Utah taking a 21-7 lead with GCU getting one defensive stop in the first 6:20. Ellis has set season highs for minutes played (29 and 32) in consecutive games.
"It was huge for us," Drew said of Ellis' impact. "We were struggling to score during that stretch. I think they were being more physical and tougher than us. Walt made some really good aggressive moves to the rim where he finished with contact. When he did that, it gave our guys some energy and some momentum when they saw him attacking the rim."
Southern Utah (19-11, 11-6) tied the game three more times in the second half but never led with Harrison executing a balanced offensive arsenal for 19 second-half points. On the night, he went 10 for 16 from the field, 3 for 6 on 3-pointers and 6 for 8 on free throws for his second-highest scoring game of the season.
Harrison drove for scores following each of the first two times that the Thunderbirds tied the game and scored 11 of the Lopes' 14 points as they held off late pushes.
"We had a good meeting last night as a team," Harrison said. "It really helped us as far as what we're playing for and to come closer as brothers. The main thing we talked about was just how we want to finish the season. We know things haven't gone our way or how we expected them to coming into the season. All that matters at this point is just how we finish."
The Lopes played their 10th conference game decided by five points or fewer (5-5), recording their best-quality win since pulling out a 72-68 overtime win at Sam Houston on Jan. 5.GCU looked like it might not have the opportunity to play another close game when the Thunderbirds flew to a 21-7 lead. It was the type of dominance that Southern Utah had flexed in Cedar City for a 12-1 home record and its past six home wins coming by an average margin of 14.7 points.
"When we looked up and saw that it was 21-7 and came to the media time out, Coach Drew was telling us we had to be tougher," Harrison said. "That's all it was. We just had to be tougher, so we bit down and did what we had to do on the defensive end."
The Lopes did it without shooting a free throw until 6:45 remained in the game, when McMillian was fouled on a fastbreak score and converted the free throw to cap an 8-0 run for a 66-58 lead. GCU wound up 13 for 19 at the line.
Staving off the Thunderbirds in the second half was difficult, given Southern Utah senior Maizen Fausett's career-high 31 points and the second half's foul differential of 10-1 that put the Thunderbirds in the bonus situation with 11 minutes to go.
"We were being physical," Drew said. "It shifted in the second half. We don't want to foul that much, but we have to be more physical. That's been a point of emphasis since our last game. We had a really demanding long practice the next day (after the Seattle U loss) and the next day back after that. We talked about a lot of toughness, pride, rising up, attitude, commitment. Big words that resonated with the guys, and they did all of those in the game tonight."The Lopes faced more difficulty when junior guard Josh Baker re-injured his shoulder, a season-long nagging injury, in practice earlier this week. He will be a game-time decision to play Friday at Utah Tech.
McMillian also left in the second half with a thigh bruise but returned to make a key steal down the stretch, when GCU had tweaked the zone defense that was scorched earlier to be effective late and protect foul trouble.
The Lopes' defense was bolstered by having Ouedraogo in the middle after he was removed from the starting lineup Wednesday for junior Aidan Igiehon's third start of the season. Ouedraogo finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
After making 13 of its first 18 shots to lead 31-18, Southern Utah shot 33% from the field for the remainder of the game.
"This is s a character win," Drew said. "It shows pride in yourselves coming out on the road, especially getting down and coming out of a 14-point deficit."
Team Stats
GCU
SUU
FG%
.508
.453
3FG%
.417
.333
FT%
.684
.647
RB
31
37
TO
7
8
STL
6
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
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