Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg
NCAA tourney pits GCU vs. Gonzaga
3/12/2023 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
No. 14 seed Lopes' 2nd regional in 3 seasons comes vs. No. 3 seed Zags in Denver
This is not Grand Canyon's first NCAA tournament trip, but it felt like it Sunday when the players and coaches gathered with fellow students and fans at GCU Arena to roar in unison when its regional pairing was unveiled.
GCU (24-11), a No. 14 seed, will play Gonzaga (28-5), a No. 3 seed, on Friday in a West Region game played at 4:35 p.m. (Phoenix time) in Denver's Ball Arena. The winner of the Lopes' NCAA tournament first-round game will advance to a second-round game against the winner of TCU vs. Wednesday's First Four winner between Arizona State and Nevada. This marks the first NCAA Division I tournament with three in-state programs, including Arizona.
"Having all your peers around you is a crazy, unbelievable feeling," said Lopes junior power forward Gabe McGlothan, the only player besides sophomore guard Chance McMillian who will play in the Lopes' 2021 and 2023 NCAA tournament appearances. "It was interesting. This one took a little bit longer for our name to pop up. My heart was racing the whole time. It had everyone as anxious as ever."
When GCU punched its Big Dance ticket for the first time, all teams were sent to Indianapolis during the COVID-19 pandemic and crowds were restricted. This time, the Lopes will get the conventional NCAA tournament experience with an eight-team site and Lope Nation expected to travel in force, just as it did when purple blanketed Orleans Arena last week for GCU's WAC Tournament championship run.
The Lopes are on a six-game winning streak with 50% percent shooting or better in each game despite none of the victories coming at GCU Arena. After losing 86-74 to Iowa two years ago as a No. 15 seed, the Lopes will be challenged just as much this time against a Gonzaga team that is ranked No. 9 in the most recent AP poll and is the No. 1 scoring team in the nation at 87.5 points per game and the No. 1 shooting team at 52.9%.
"It's been a player-led team," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "They've really come together, and I think it shows with how well we've shared the ball, how hard we've competed together and just the emotion they've played with. I know they're really excited to be in this situation and have this opportunity, and they're going to make the most of it this week."
The matchup puts Drew against one of his best friends, Gonzaga assistant coach Roger Powell Jr., who was his assistant coach when Drew was the Valparaiso head coach from 2011-16 and Vanderbilt from 2016-19.
"He's sat by me on the bench for years, so that's a difficult one with him," Drew said. "Gonzaga is one of the best programs in the country over the last decade plus and one of the best offensive teams in the country."
With an average scoring margin of plus-14.6 points per game, Gonzaga is led by 6-foot-10 senior Drew Timme, who averages 20.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and shoots 62.4% from the field. Julian Strawther, a 6-foot-7 small forward, has come on with a 17-point average and 44% 3-point shooting during the Zags' nine-game winning streak. The Lopes will counter with a defense that ranks 26th nationally for opponent field goal percentage.
Gonzaga has not played since March 7, when it won its ninth consecutive game with a 77-51 rout of Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship. Defensively, Gonzaga ranks No. 216 nationally in opponent field goal percentage (44.4%) and No. 238 for opponent 3-point defense (34.7%).
Under 24-year head coach Mark Few, the Zags have reached the NCAA tournament every year, the Elite Eight four times since 2015 and the national championship game twice (2017 and 2021 runners-up).
"We're here to win, not just to be happy we're here," McGlothan said. "I'm super excited. Gonzaga is a great team, but I think we're a great team too. It's going to be something that surprises them and a lot of people watching the game that it could be very close and a tough one."
There was a moment when Drew thought the NCAA committee might have gone for the brothers storyline and put him against his brother, Baylor coach Scott Drew. The third-seeded Bears are in a different region of the bracket, but will also play their first two rounds in Denver.
"When they went up there, I was like, 'Oh, I think it's us,' " Drew said. "I talked to Scott this morning. We're obviously really close. We know how competitive the college basketball world is. We'd rather go fishing together or play ping pong, not play in the NCAA tournament against each other. Both of us are thankful for that. We both said, if we ever want to meet, we want it to be in the Final Four, but nothing earlier."
The programs' first-ever meeting will be broadcast on truTV with Lisa Byington on play by play, Steve Smith and Avery Johnson as analysts and Andy Katz as the sideline reporter.
The entire first-round schedule (Phoenix times) in Denver plays out as follows:
GCU (24-11), a No. 14 seed, will play Gonzaga (28-5), a No. 3 seed, on Friday in a West Region game played at 4:35 p.m. (Phoenix time) in Denver's Ball Arena. The winner of the Lopes' NCAA tournament first-round game will advance to a second-round game against the winner of TCU vs. Wednesday's First Four winner between Arizona State and Nevada. This marks the first NCAA Division I tournament with three in-state programs, including Arizona.
"Having all your peers around you is a crazy, unbelievable feeling," said Lopes junior power forward Gabe McGlothan, the only player besides sophomore guard Chance McMillian who will play in the Lopes' 2021 and 2023 NCAA tournament appearances. "It was interesting. This one took a little bit longer for our name to pop up. My heart was racing the whole time. It had everyone as anxious as ever."When GCU punched its Big Dance ticket for the first time, all teams were sent to Indianapolis during the COVID-19 pandemic and crowds were restricted. This time, the Lopes will get the conventional NCAA tournament experience with an eight-team site and Lope Nation expected to travel in force, just as it did when purple blanketed Orleans Arena last week for GCU's WAC Tournament championship run.
The Lopes are on a six-game winning streak with 50% percent shooting or better in each game despite none of the victories coming at GCU Arena. After losing 86-74 to Iowa two years ago as a No. 15 seed, the Lopes will be challenged just as much this time against a Gonzaga team that is ranked No. 9 in the most recent AP poll and is the No. 1 scoring team in the nation at 87.5 points per game and the No. 1 shooting team at 52.9%.
"It's been a player-led team," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "They've really come together, and I think it shows with how well we've shared the ball, how hard we've competed together and just the emotion they've played with. I know they're really excited to be in this situation and have this opportunity, and they're going to make the most of it this week."
The matchup puts Drew against one of his best friends, Gonzaga assistant coach Roger Powell Jr., who was his assistant coach when Drew was the Valparaiso head coach from 2011-16 and Vanderbilt from 2016-19.
"He's sat by me on the bench for years, so that's a difficult one with him," Drew said. "Gonzaga is one of the best programs in the country over the last decade plus and one of the best offensive teams in the country."With an average scoring margin of plus-14.6 points per game, Gonzaga is led by 6-foot-10 senior Drew Timme, who averages 20.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and shoots 62.4% from the field. Julian Strawther, a 6-foot-7 small forward, has come on with a 17-point average and 44% 3-point shooting during the Zags' nine-game winning streak. The Lopes will counter with a defense that ranks 26th nationally for opponent field goal percentage.
Gonzaga has not played since March 7, when it won its ninth consecutive game with a 77-51 rout of Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship. Defensively, Gonzaga ranks No. 216 nationally in opponent field goal percentage (44.4%) and No. 238 for opponent 3-point defense (34.7%).
Under 24-year head coach Mark Few, the Zags have reached the NCAA tournament every year, the Elite Eight four times since 2015 and the national championship game twice (2017 and 2021 runners-up).
"We're here to win, not just to be happy we're here," McGlothan said. "I'm super excited. Gonzaga is a great team, but I think we're a great team too. It's going to be something that surprises them and a lot of people watching the game that it could be very close and a tough one."
There was a moment when Drew thought the NCAA committee might have gone for the brothers storyline and put him against his brother, Baylor coach Scott Drew. The third-seeded Bears are in a different region of the bracket, but will also play their first two rounds in Denver.
"When they went up there, I was like, 'Oh, I think it's us,' " Drew said. "I talked to Scott this morning. We're obviously really close. We know how competitive the college basketball world is. We'd rather go fishing together or play ping pong, not play in the NCAA tournament against each other. Both of us are thankful for that. We both said, if we ever want to meet, we want it to be in the Final Four, but nothing earlier."
The programs' first-ever meeting will be broadcast on truTV with Lisa Byington on play by play, Steve Smith and Avery Johnson as analysts and Andy Katz as the sideline reporter.
The entire first-round schedule (Phoenix times) in Denver plays out as follows:
Friday, South Region
- No. 6 Creighton vs No. 11 North Carolina State, 1 p.m.
- No. 3 Baylor vs No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, 10:20 a.m.
Friday, West Region
- No. 6 TCU vs No. 11 Arizona State/Nevada winner, 7:05 p.m.
- No. 3 Gonzaga vs No. 14 GCU, 4:35 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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