Harrison points GCU to WAC quarterfinals

Tuesday, March 7

Las Vegas, Nev. / Michelob ULTRA Arena

3 p.m. MT / 2 p.m. PT

Grand Canyon

21-11,10-7WAC

UT Arlington

11-21,6-12WAC

UT Arlington

Grand Canyon

3/7/2023 7:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes guard scores 30, helps advance team to rematch with Seattle U on Thursday night

By: Paul Coro

LAS VEGAS – Grand Canyon started WAC Tournament play earlier than usual with a Tuesday first-round game at an unfamiliar building, but it turned into a fast start with a familiar finish.

GCU advanced to a Thursday quarterfinal against Seattle U with a wire-to-wire, 82-77 win against UT Arlington behind another powerful performance by Lopes sophomore guard Ray Harrison.

The Lopes (21-11) notched their third consecutive victory with Harrison's 30-point, seven-rebound effort driving a survive-and-advance type of triumph. GCU shot 52.1% from the field but had double-digit leads shrink to single digits on eight occasions at Michelob Ultra Arena. It was the Lopes' best shooting performance away from GCU Arena this season.

"We definitely could play much better and our guys know that, but any time you can win in the postseason, you're going to take it and advance," said GCU head coach Bryce Drew, who is 4-1 in WAC Tournament play.

Las Vegas, NV- March 7: GCU gets a 82-77 win over UT Arlington during the 2023 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. (Photo by: David Kadlubowski/GCU)

Las Vegas, NV- March 7: GCU gets a 82-77 win over UT Arlington during the 2023 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. (Photo by: David Kadlubowski/GCU)

Coming off his career's first consecutive 25-point games last week, Harrison sustained GCU's lead with a continuous flow of offense that was balanced by junior power forward Gabe McGlothan's 15-point, seven-rebound effort and sophomore guard Chance McMillian's 18-point boost with the team's best plus-minus rating (plus 10).

In his first postseason victory, Harrison shot the Lopes to a 17-6 lead with seven of the points and steadily hurt UT Arlington (11-21) with driving scores and drawing fouls. He went 9 for 15 from the field and 10 for 13 on free throws, including 4 for 4 in the final 1:05 when GCU made nine consecutive free throws to hold off the Mavericks.

"It's fun to see them applying some of the lessons we've learned this year in a game like this, where they didn't turn it over in the traps," Drew said. "They found the open man and we made our free throws, which in some games down the stretch, we haven't. It was really nice to see those guys in their progression."

Harrison's 30-point game marked the third-highest scoring WAC Tournament game by a Lope and his fourth career 30-point game, including a 38-point game this season against Utah Tech. But the South Carolina native has never been on a scoring spree like this, putting up a 28-point, seven-rebound average on 58% shooting during this three-game winning streak.

Those three wins away from Phoenix came since No. 5 seed GCU's Feb. 24 home loss to No. 4 seed Seattle U, its quarterfinal opponent at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) on Thursday at Orleans Arena.

"We're just approaching the game one by one," Harrison said. "We're not looking ahead or behind or what's happened in the past. We're going to be there to handle business."

Las Vegas, NV- March 7: GCU gets a 82-77 win over UT Arlington during the 2023 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. (Photo by: David Kadlubowski/GCU)

McGlothan was also an integral part of GCU taking 17-6 and 28-18 leads, but he left with his second foul to help UT Arlington tighten the Lopes lead to 35-29 at halftime.

In the second half, GCU did not break open the game again until McGlothan drew a pair of fouls to get the Lopes to the bonus situation for the final 11 1/2 minutes and added a 3-pointer for a 57-46 lead with 9:25 to go.

"We're looking at this game in a good light," McGlothan said. "It's all about perspective. We got our nerves out. Our jitters for the tournament, we got them out on this court. We know what it's going to be like. We know what we need to do. We're motivated to keep going."

GCU tried to use more 2-3 zone defense to save its legs for a potential tournament run of four games in five days but UT Arlington guard penetration and pace kept it alive and sped up the action. The Lopes scored as many fastbreak points (19) as their previous three games combined.

The Mavericks, who beat tournament No. 1 seed Sam Houston last month, used a four-guard lineup to keep charging until a series of a 3-pointer and two 3-point plays made it a 73-69 lead with 1:25 to go. From there, Harrison, McMillian and senior forward Noah Baumann made free throws to never allow UT Arlington a shot to tie.

"A big thing moving forward is we are going to need more production from other guys, and I think other guys are ready for their number to be called," Drew said. "It's going to be all hands on board for the rest of the tournament."

The Lopes lost twice to Seattle U, letting a late lead slip away on the road for a 63-58 defeat on Feb. 11 before not being able to recover from a record-low scoring first half at home in a 65-54 loss on Feb. 24.

"We're just looking to attack them," McMillian said. "This is our get-back game. We have something to owe them, so we're going to come prepared and we're going to fight."