Moving target: GCU takes WAC lead to UT Arlington

Saturday, Jan. 27 \| 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| College Park Center \| Arlington, Texas

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (18-2, 8-1 WAC)	at	UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS (9-10, 4-4 WAC)

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ARLINGTON, Texas – This stretch of three consecutive Grand Canyon road games began with GCU's first two stops drawing the largest crowds for each opponent's season.

The Lopes have targets growing along with the size of their program stature this season. Chasing the preseason WAC favorite has only been intensified by GCU's 18-2 record, the nation's second-best mark to Princeton (15-1), and the Lopes' chance to hit the WAC midpoint at 9-1 with a Saturday win at UT Arlington.

Sydney Curry

The game at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) will be the Lopes' first-ever visit to UT Arlington's 7,000-seat College Park Center, where the Lopes are being billed as the Mavericks' third-highest ranked visitor ever in NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). GCU is No. 48 after wrestling away a 53-51 win at Stephen F. Austin on Thursday night to stay atop the WAC standings.

"Our guys are really locked in on what they're trying to do," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "They haven't really looked on the outside of what's going on with other things. They need to have that mentality coming in to be really focused and locked in on our game plan and our execution."

UT Arlington (9-10, 4-4 WAC) is a dangerous home team at 8-1, but that status should not be deceiving to the Lopes. This is GCU's first conference rematch of the season, and the Phoenix meeting resulted in a 76-69 Lopes win that required a late 12-0 GCU run. Mavericks leading scorer Phillip Russell, a 5-foot-10 junior transfer from Southeast Missouri, did not play in that Dec. 2 game.

"He's a really explosive scorer," Drew said of Russell. "He led his team to the NCAA tournament last year, so he has winning experience. He's really good with the ball and scoring."

Isaiah Shaw at UTA practice

The Lopes shot 37.5% in the first matchup, when they outscored the Mavericks 28-15 at the free throw line.

The poor shooting in that game quickly became an anomaly for GCU, which followed that game with 51% shooting from the field over the next 11 wins. But in Saturday's loss at Seattle U and Thursday's win at Stephen F. Austin, the Lopes have shot 35% with two of their three lowest game percentages of the season (the other was vs. UT Arlington).

"We didn't shoot well last game," Drew said. "I think Stephen F. Austin is a really good defensive team. I hope we can play better offensively in this game. SFA is really aggressive on defense and have really active hands. They switch a lot and rotate a lot. Similar to that game, we'll have to make quick decisions and be shot-ready."

Lope tracks

GCU's 18-2 record matches the best 20-game start of its 11-year Division I era (1995-96).
The Lopes' 14-game winning streak (Nov. 25 to Jan. 18) has only been outdone by Samford (17) and Utah State (15) this season.
GCU graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan ranks 14th among active Division I players for career rebounds (945).
Lopes senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster is averaging 19.6 points per game to rank 34th in the nation.
GCU graduate point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr.'s next point will push him past Kenny Archbold for eighth on the program's all-time scoring list.
Lopes junior guard Ray Harrison ranks 14th nationally for career scoring average (16.7) among active Division I players. He needs 105 points to be the sixth player on this GCU team to reach 1,000 career points.
GCU ranks in the national top 10 for blocks per game (10th, 5.6) and free throws made per game (eighth, 18.5). The Lopes are also No. 26 in rebound margin (plus-7.3 per game).
UT Arlington leads the WAC in 3-pointers made (8.9) and attempted (26.2) and is second in 3-point percentage (33.9%). The Mavericks are shooting 37.5% on 3s in conference play to average a WAC-leading 78.1 points per conference game.
The Mavericks allow the sixth-highest opponent 3-point percentage (38.0%) in the nation.
UT Arlington power forward Shemar Wilson, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Tolleson (Ariz.) High School, leads the WAC with seven double-doubles. He averages 12.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Since becoming eligible in mid-December, Mavericks junior guard Phillip Russell has averaged a team-best 15.4 points per game on 36.4% shooting.
UT Arlington is 9-1 at home because it is averaging 81.3 points at College Park Center for a differential of plus-14.4 points per game.

WAC Resume Seeding System (updated Jan. 26)
Rank	Team	Record (WAC only)	WAC points
1.	GCU	18-2 (8-1)	6.02
2.	Tarleton State	12-7 (5-3)	0.23
3.	Stephen F. Austin	12-7 (5-3)	0.19
4.	Seattle U	11-8 (4-4)	-0.26
5.	UT Arlington	9-10 (4-4)	-1.05
6.	California Baptist	12-7 (5-3)	-1.06
7.	Utah Valley	9-10 (4-4)	-1.20
8.	Abilene Christian	8-11 (3-5)	-2.80
9.	Utah Tech	7-12 (3-5)	-3.28
10.	Southern Utah	7-12 (2-6)	-3.87
11.	UT Rio Grande Valley	6-14 (2-7)	-6.05

The WAC Resume Seeding System will determine seeding for the eight-team WAC Tournament. The top two seeds will receive first- and second-round byes. The third and fourth seeds will receive first-round byes.

Saturday, Jan. 27 | 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) | College Park Center | Arlington, Texas

Lope tracks

WAC Resume Seeding System (updated Jan. 26)

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Tyon Grant-Foster

Ray Harrison

Gabe McGlothan

Grand Canyon University Athletics