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
Saturday, January 6
St. George, Utah
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
Utah Tech
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Veterans step up for Lopes' unbeaten road play
1/5/2024 5:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Saturday, Jan. 6 | 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Burns Arena | St. Geroge, Utah |
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GRAND CANYON
LOPES (13-1, 3-0 WAC)
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at | UTAH TECH TRAILBLAZERS (6-8, 2-1 WAC) |
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| WATCH: ESPN+ | LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic | STATS: View | ||||
ST. GEORGE, Utah – Wins are wonderful, but the road to victories can be more enjoyable and victories on the road can be more meaningful.
In a season of firsts, the Lopes have caught nationwide eyes for a 13-1 start in part by winning three consecutive road games for the first time since doing so in arenas emptied by COVID in 2020-21.
GCU (13-1) holds the nation's sixth-longest winning streak at 10 games, but its impressive play is conveying outside Phoenix with a chance to go 4-0 on the road Saturday night at Utah Tech for the first time since the program's first NCAA Division I tournament team did so here three seasons ago.
Just four years ago before Lopes head coach Bryce Drew's arrival, the Lopes did not pick up their first road win until Jan. 16.This battle-tested squad relishes the road so far with veteran players responding well to help the team shoot 53% in away games while keeping home opponents to 38%.
Nobody has thrived more in the three road wins than graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan, who had away struggles earlier in his career. McGlothan has shot 86.4% from the field (19 for 22) on the road this season and is averaging 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in those games.
"Gabe was just sensational pretty much the whole night," Drew said of McGlothan's 18-point, 10-rebound game in Thursday night's 96-75 win at Southern Utah.
GCU junior guard Tyon Grant-Foster's and senior guard Ray Harrison's road scoring averages of 23.3 and 17.7, respectively, are higher than their home game clips of 19.4 and 12.9, respectively.
Seasoned players show often show their merits on the road, and that also has been the case for senior reserve guard Josh Baker. Baker missed the offseason following shoulder surgery and got a late start to the season, but he has rounded into form and been a big defensive boost while also adding a eight points Thursday night.
"He made really good decisions," Drew said of the Phoenix native. "He's really cerebral, especially on defense. He made some really good reads and plays. He's just a steady factor for us out there. We have a lot of guys who can drive and get in the paint, and he's really doing a good job of playing within himself and off other guys."
Saturday's game at Utah Tech (6-8, 2-1 WAC) marks the first time that the Lopes will play two road games in three nights this season. GCU enters the game in a tie for first in the conference with Tarleton State, which is idle Saturday and will be at GCU next Saturday.The Lopes are the road team, but they actually have been in St. George longer than the Thunderbirds, who lost 70-53 at Seattle on Thursday night and traveled Friday. GCU bused to St. George on Thursday night and practiced there Friday.
Utah Tech head coach Jon Judkins, the winningest college coach in Utah history with 610 victories, took personnel hits from last season's teams but the current leading scorers are returnees in 6-foot-10 senior center Tanner Christiansen (12.2 points per game on 56% shooting) and 6-1 junior guard Noa Gonsalves (10.3 points per game with 37% 3-point shooting).
The Trailblazers shoot the 3-pointer well at 36.1% on offense and block 4.4 shots per game on defense but are sending opponents to the free throw line for 23.3 attempts per game this season.
"The WAC is going to give us different challenges that we have to overcome and different obstacles with what different teams do and their styles, but I think the main part is how can we grow through it and how can we be present for every single second of every single game?"
Lope tracks
- GCU's 13-1 record is its best start to a season since 1995-96, when it went 19-1 in Division II play. Its winning percentage (.929) is tied for fourth best in the nation.
- Lopes junior guard Ray Harrison ranks sixth nationally for career scoring average (17.0) among active Division I players.
- GCU graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan ranks 14th among active Division I players for career rebounds (906).
- Lopes senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster ranks 14th in the nation for points per game (20.8) this season. He is 15th for free throws made (79).
- GCU's 10 consecutive wins mark its longest in-season winning streak since taking 12 in a row during the 2015-16 season.
- Lopes centers Duke Brennan and Sydney Curry are combining to shoot 65.2% from the field this season. Brennan (63.2%) and Curry (68.2%) would both rank among the national top 20 if they met the qualifying minimum (five made field goals per game).
- GCU has recorded nine double-doubles, the most in a season since the 2020-21 had 14, and it has come from a program-record five players. McGlothan has a team-high three double-doubles this season and 19 for his career.
- The Lopes rank in the national top 25 for blocks per game (18th, 5.5), free throws made per game (14th, 18.5), rebound margin (22nd, plus-8.8 per game) and offensive rebounding percentage (13th, 37.8%).
WAC Resume Seeding System (updated Jan. 5) |
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| Rank | Team | Record (WAC only) | WAC points |
| 1. | GCU | 13-1 (3-0) | 4.64 |
| 2. | Tarleton State | 10-4 (3-0) | 0.81 |
| 3. | Seattle U | 9-5 (2-1) | 0.27 |
| 4. | Stephen F. Austin | 9-5 (2-1) | -0.23 |
| 5. | Utah Valley | 7-7 (2-1) | -0.35 |
| 6. | UT Arlington | 6-8 (1-2) | -0.98 |
| 7. | Utah Tech | 6-8 (2-1) | -1.60 |
| 8. | California Baptist | 8-6 (1-2) | -1.65 |
| 9. | Abilene Christian | 5-8 (0-2) | -2.18 |
| 10. | Southern Utah | 5-9 (0-3) | -3.07 |
| 11. | UT Rio Grande Valley | 4-10 (0-3) | -4.42 |
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.
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