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
Thursday, January 4
Cedar City, Utah
6:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
13-1,3-0WAC
96
at
75
Southern Utah
5-9,0-3WAC
1
2
F
Grand Canyon
43
53
96
Southern Utah
36
39
75
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Points pileup buries Southern Utah
1/4/2024 11:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Grant-Foster's 27 leads Lopes to 10th consecutive victory
Last season's Grand Canyon championship run began with a post-shootaround snowball run at Southern Utah. When the Lopes returned Thursday night, they unleashed an offensive avalanche on Southern Utah to add to snowy Cedar City.
GCU extended the nation's sixth-longest active winning streak to 10 games with a 96-75 victory in a rematch of the WAC Tournament championship game in March.
Led by Lopes junior guard Tyon Grant-Foster's efficient 27-point performance, the GCU offense was relentless enough to wait for a defensive effort that kept the Thunderbirds to 32% shooting over the game's final 24 minutes of play.
"We have been just surviving games instead of really dominating," Grant-Foster said. "That's something we want to do. We want to show the world we can dominate. This was a great start for us to conference."
The Lopes (13-1) joined Tarleton State as the only WAC teams with 3-0 conference records after WAC play resumed Thursday from a late November start. But GCU's goals are multi-pronged with an overall winning percentage (.929) that is tied for fourth best in the nation.
On its way to its second-highest WAC road scoring total ever, the Lopes were rarely held in check and were often explosive in bursts.
GCU ended the first half on a 10-1 run and then had each starter score during the second half's first six possessions to lead the Thunderbirds 56-42.
Grant-Foster made 11 of 19 shots in the game, but he had plenty of potent company with graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan hitting 8 of 10 shots and recording his 19th career double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds). Junior guard Collin Moore added 15 points by often creating his offense when he hounded ball-handlers for a career high-tying five steals.
"It's such a luxury to have someone who is so intense on the ball like Collin is," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "You work hard to get a score. When he's able to do that and get another scores, we're able to keep the momentum in our hands."
Moore's first steal and slam of the second half gave GCU the 56-42 lead that prompted a Southern Utah timeout with 17 minutes to go. The Lopes maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, but the Thunderbirds made their last threat when they reduced the Lopes' lead to 84-71 with 4:52 to play.
"They can't guard you," Moore told Grant-Foster during the second half.
With McGlothan at center, Grant-Foster had more room to drive and operate one-on-one with space. He capitalized by making four consecutive shots in less than two minutes – a fastbreak slam, a quick-striking drive, a floater and a fadeaway jumper.
By the time Grant-Foster's onslaught was done and senior forward Lok Wur added a jumper, GCU had put the game away with a 92-71 lead with 2:50 to go on eight consecutive points.
"Teams try to take me out of the game, but it's not going to work because we have so many people we can go to on the team," Grant-Foster said.
"When we built those leads, we brought the intensity. We played hard and got the steals. When we didn't, that's when they got to do what they wanted and start coming back a little bit. We're on the road, so we've got to bring our own intensity."
After being outscored 42-16 in Saturday's win against Louisiana Tech, the Lopes scored 56 points in the paint Thursday night to help 57.6% shooting – its highest field goal percentage against a Division I opponent this season.
GCU junior guard Ray Harrison delivered five assists with only one turnover in addition to his 12 points, and senior guard Josh Baker scored eight off the bench to supplement the defense that continues to earn him substantial time. The Lopes were plus-20 in Baker's 19 minutes at Southern Utah.
McGlothan also made a defensive difference beyond his double-double by working his leverage against Southern Utah center Parsa Falllah, who hurt GCU by making his first six shots on the way to a 24-point, seven-rebound game.
"Gabe really fought for position," Drew said. "We doubled him (Fallah) some, and our guys did a really good job rotating out of the double team. It sped the game up a little bit and let us get in transition. "
GCU also had the best free throw shooting game of its 11-year Division I era. The Lopes made all of their free throws for the third time but did it with the most attempts (15), following a 14-for-16 effort from the charity stripe on Saturday.
Grant-Foster's offense continues to be the Lopes' biggest luxury, creating shots when offense is not otherwise there or before a set even needs to be run. Thursday night marked the fifth time that Grant-Foster scored 25 or more points this season after he had missed two years of college basketball because of a heart ailment.
"He was able to get to the rim" Drew said of Grant-Foster. "He's such a great jumper and has a soft touch. He made some of those finishes look easy, and they're not easy, His offensive display in the last five minutes was just sensational."
The Lopes move south to St. George to play Saturday night at Utah Tech, which lost 70-53 at Seattle U on Thursday night.
GCU extended the nation's sixth-longest active winning streak to 10 games with a 96-75 victory in a rematch of the WAC Tournament championship game in March.
Led by Lopes junior guard Tyon Grant-Foster's efficient 27-point performance, the GCU offense was relentless enough to wait for a defensive effort that kept the Thunderbirds to 32% shooting over the game's final 24 minutes of play.
"We have been just surviving games instead of really dominating," Grant-Foster said. "That's something we want to do. We want to show the world we can dominate. This was a great start for us to conference."
The Lopes (13-1) joined Tarleton State as the only WAC teams with 3-0 conference records after WAC play resumed Thursday from a late November start. But GCU's goals are multi-pronged with an overall winning percentage (.929) that is tied for fourth best in the nation.
On its way to its second-highest WAC road scoring total ever, the Lopes were rarely held in check and were often explosive in bursts.
GCU ended the first half on a 10-1 run and then had each starter score during the second half's first six possessions to lead the Thunderbirds 56-42.Grant-Foster made 11 of 19 shots in the game, but he had plenty of potent company with graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan hitting 8 of 10 shots and recording his 19th career double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds). Junior guard Collin Moore added 15 points by often creating his offense when he hounded ball-handlers for a career high-tying five steals.
"It's such a luxury to have someone who is so intense on the ball like Collin is," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "You work hard to get a score. When he's able to do that and get another scores, we're able to keep the momentum in our hands."
Moore's first steal and slam of the second half gave GCU the 56-42 lead that prompted a Southern Utah timeout with 17 minutes to go. The Lopes maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, but the Thunderbirds made their last threat when they reduced the Lopes' lead to 84-71 with 4:52 to play.
"They can't guard you," Moore told Grant-Foster during the second half.
With McGlothan at center, Grant-Foster had more room to drive and operate one-on-one with space. He capitalized by making four consecutive shots in less than two minutes – a fastbreak slam, a quick-striking drive, a floater and a fadeaway jumper.
By the time Grant-Foster's onslaught was done and senior forward Lok Wur added a jumper, GCU had put the game away with a 92-71 lead with 2:50 to go on eight consecutive points.
"Teams try to take me out of the game, but it's not going to work because we have so many people we can go to on the team," Grant-Foster said."When we built those leads, we brought the intensity. We played hard and got the steals. When we didn't, that's when they got to do what they wanted and start coming back a little bit. We're on the road, so we've got to bring our own intensity."
After being outscored 42-16 in Saturday's win against Louisiana Tech, the Lopes scored 56 points in the paint Thursday night to help 57.6% shooting – its highest field goal percentage against a Division I opponent this season.
GCU junior guard Ray Harrison delivered five assists with only one turnover in addition to his 12 points, and senior guard Josh Baker scored eight off the bench to supplement the defense that continues to earn him substantial time. The Lopes were plus-20 in Baker's 19 minutes at Southern Utah.
McGlothan also made a defensive difference beyond his double-double by working his leverage against Southern Utah center Parsa Falllah, who hurt GCU by making his first six shots on the way to a 24-point, seven-rebound game."Gabe really fought for position," Drew said. "We doubled him (Fallah) some, and our guys did a really good job rotating out of the double team. It sped the game up a little bit and let us get in transition. "
GCU also had the best free throw shooting game of its 11-year Division I era. The Lopes made all of their free throws for the third time but did it with the most attempts (15), following a 14-for-16 effort from the charity stripe on Saturday.
Grant-Foster's offense continues to be the Lopes' biggest luxury, creating shots when offense is not otherwise there or before a set even needs to be run. Thursday night marked the fifth time that Grant-Foster scored 25 or more points this season after he had missed two years of college basketball because of a heart ailment.
"He was able to get to the rim" Drew said of Grant-Foster. "He's such a great jumper and has a soft touch. He made some of those finishes look easy, and they're not easy, His offensive display in the last five minutes was just sensational."
The Lopes move south to St. George to play Saturday night at Utah Tech, which lost 70-53 at Seattle U on Thursday night.
Team Stats
GCU
SUU
FG%
.576
.419
3FG%
.333
.273
FT%
1.000
.739
RB
38
31
TO
9
13
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
11
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballG
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