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
Wednesday, November 20
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
2-2,0-0WAC
68
vs
75
UC Davis
3-2,0-0Big West
1
2
F
UC Davis
46
29
75
Grand Canyon
35
33
68
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Unfamiliar adversity hits GCU with home loss
11/20/2024 11:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes' 18-game home win streak halts with 18 turnovers, 4 for 25 on 3s
A 30-5 season was not beset by adversity. There was not one Grand Canyon game lost to injury last season. There was not one game lost at home.
Four games into this season, the Lopes have dealt with injury, absence and illness before the most hurtful deficiency caused GCU to take its second consecutive loss Wednesday night. The Lopes were outworked by UC Davis, which ended GCU's 18-game home winning streak by building a 16-point lead and holding on for a 75-68 win at Global Credit Union Arena.
The Lopes defense stirred after halftime, nearly shutting out the nation's leading scorer for the entire second half and cutting the Aggies' lead to 64-59 with 5:18 to go before failing to get any closer.
It was a losing formula of shooting 16% from 3-point range and committing 18 turnovers, a combination that no Division I team had done in a regulation-length home game since January 2020.
GCU head coach Bryce Drew opened his postgame comments by apologizing to fans.
"Our performance, from beginning to end, just wasn't good," Drew said. "After the ASU game (a Thursday loss), obviously it was a big letdown. I think some of that letdown came over into the game. But we have mature players. They should be able to bounce back. We've just got to get better. We're not the team we want to be. We're not even close, but it's a long way off to March, and this team has a lot of room to improve."
GCU (2-2) has played without starting center Duke Brennan (left arm injury) all season, but this was WAC Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster's second game back and senior power forward JaKobe Coles' return to health.
After allowing 54% shooting to Arizona State, GCU gave up 52% first-half shooting to UC Davis with national scoring leader TY Johnson racking up 17 first-half points and back cuts beating the Lopes.
UC Davis went on a late 9-0 run to take a 46-35 halftime lead off the Lopes' 10 first-half turnovers. Half of those were committed by Grant-Foster, who finished with a career-high seven turnovers but shared team leads in points (18) and rebounds (nine).
"When you play with an edge, you're dangerous," Drew said. "They (the Aggies) played with an edge. This team played with an edge for 30 games last year. Unfortunately, the edge was not there for 40 minutes tonight. It was there for eight."
GCU's defense shut off Johnson in the second half and caused 14 second-half Aggies turnovers, half of which were committed by Johnson with GCU senior guard Collin Moore pestering him. But the Lopes could not capitalize.
Their careless offense allowed UC Davis to take a 64-49 lead with 7:40 to go on a 3-pointer from reserve Conner Sevillla, who outscored GCU's bench 12-9 by himself.
"Our defense has been really disappointing," Drew said. "We couldn't execute our system. We couldn't execute what we practiced. Stuff is going to change. We're not going to keep living and watching this out there. Guys have to start executing our system, and it's got to mean more to them."
Lopes freshman guard Styles Phipps breathed life into GCU down the stretch. He scored on a breakaway and made two steals with the latter leading to a Coles 3-point play.
Coles created another 3-point play opportunity, but he missed the free throw to leave the GCU run at 10-0 when Lopes senior guard Ray Harrison's errant pass led to a UC Davis fastbreak dunk.
Phipps played seven second-half minutes, when the Phoenix St. Mary's High School graduate was a plus-nine (scoring differential). Drew credited Phipps for his "care factor."
"Staying ready is the biggest thing," Phipps said. "When the opportunity comes, I know I can make an impact at any moment. Defense is just energy and working hard, so we brought that.
"The energy and the crowd affects you in great ways. It was a great run, but we didn't finish the job."
GCU made one last push when Grant-Foster made two free throws to cut UC Davis' lead to 71-66 with 1:38 to go, but the Lopes did not capitalize on Moore's ensuing steal. Coles missed a 3-pointer but Moore drew a foul on the rebound and missed the bonus situation's front end with 1:07 to go.
After UC Davis missed a front end, GCU graduate forward Lök Wur received a great Coles pass in the paint but had his layup blocked when the Lopes could have pulled within three points. That is when Johnson scored his first second-half points with a dagger of a driving layup with 23.5 seconds to go.
Drew blamed the 18 turnovers on excessive one-on-one basketball and is befuddled by the 16% 3-point shooting. GCU shot 53% inside the arc.
"We have too good of players," Drew said. "We invest too much in this program. We work too hard to come into one of our games in front of our fans and go 4 for 25. Not acceptable."
The Lopes turn their attention to a Friday night home game against Norfolk State, which fell to 4-2 after a 70-63 loss at Stanford (5-0). The Spartans had possession with a three-point margin inside of two minutes.
Four games into this season, the Lopes have dealt with injury, absence and illness before the most hurtful deficiency caused GCU to take its second consecutive loss Wednesday night. The Lopes were outworked by UC Davis, which ended GCU's 18-game home winning streak by building a 16-point lead and holding on for a 75-68 win at Global Credit Union Arena.
The Lopes defense stirred after halftime, nearly shutting out the nation's leading scorer for the entire second half and cutting the Aggies' lead to 64-59 with 5:18 to go before failing to get any closer.
It was a losing formula of shooting 16% from 3-point range and committing 18 turnovers, a combination that no Division I team had done in a regulation-length home game since January 2020.
GCU head coach Bryce Drew opened his postgame comments by apologizing to fans.
"Our performance, from beginning to end, just wasn't good," Drew said. "After the ASU game (a Thursday loss), obviously it was a big letdown. I think some of that letdown came over into the game. But we have mature players. They should be able to bounce back. We've just got to get better. We're not the team we want to be. We're not even close, but it's a long way off to March, and this team has a lot of room to improve."GCU (2-2) has played without starting center Duke Brennan (left arm injury) all season, but this was WAC Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster's second game back and senior power forward JaKobe Coles' return to health.
After allowing 54% shooting to Arizona State, GCU gave up 52% first-half shooting to UC Davis with national scoring leader TY Johnson racking up 17 first-half points and back cuts beating the Lopes.
UC Davis went on a late 9-0 run to take a 46-35 halftime lead off the Lopes' 10 first-half turnovers. Half of those were committed by Grant-Foster, who finished with a career-high seven turnovers but shared team leads in points (18) and rebounds (nine)."When you play with an edge, you're dangerous," Drew said. "They (the Aggies) played with an edge. This team played with an edge for 30 games last year. Unfortunately, the edge was not there for 40 minutes tonight. It was there for eight."
GCU's defense shut off Johnson in the second half and caused 14 second-half Aggies turnovers, half of which were committed by Johnson with GCU senior guard Collin Moore pestering him. But the Lopes could not capitalize.
Their careless offense allowed UC Davis to take a 64-49 lead with 7:40 to go on a 3-pointer from reserve Conner Sevillla, who outscored GCU's bench 12-9 by himself.
"Our defense has been really disappointing," Drew said. "We couldn't execute our system. We couldn't execute what we practiced. Stuff is going to change. We're not going to keep living and watching this out there. Guys have to start executing our system, and it's got to mean more to them."
Lopes freshman guard Styles Phipps breathed life into GCU down the stretch. He scored on a breakaway and made two steals with the latter leading to a Coles 3-point play.Coles created another 3-point play opportunity, but he missed the free throw to leave the GCU run at 10-0 when Lopes senior guard Ray Harrison's errant pass led to a UC Davis fastbreak dunk.
Phipps played seven second-half minutes, when the Phoenix St. Mary's High School graduate was a plus-nine (scoring differential). Drew credited Phipps for his "care factor."
"Staying ready is the biggest thing," Phipps said. "When the opportunity comes, I know I can make an impact at any moment. Defense is just energy and working hard, so we brought that.
"The energy and the crowd affects you in great ways. It was a great run, but we didn't finish the job."
GCU made one last push when Grant-Foster made two free throws to cut UC Davis' lead to 71-66 with 1:38 to go, but the Lopes did not capitalize on Moore's ensuing steal. Coles missed a 3-pointer but Moore drew a foul on the rebound and missed the bonus situation's front end with 1:07 to go.After UC Davis missed a front end, GCU graduate forward Lök Wur received a great Coles pass in the paint but had his layup blocked when the Lopes could have pulled within three points. That is when Johnson scored his first second-half points with a dagger of a driving layup with 23.5 seconds to go.
Drew blamed the 18 turnovers on excessive one-on-one basketball and is befuddled by the 16% 3-point shooting. GCU shot 53% inside the arc.
"We have too good of players," Drew said. "We invest too much in this program. We work too hard to come into one of our games in front of our fans and go 4 for 25. Not acceptable."
The Lopes turn their attention to a Friday night home game against Norfolk State, which fell to 4-2 after a 70-63 loss at Stanford (5-0). The Spartans had possession with a three-point margin inside of two minutes.
Team Stats
UCD
GCU
FG%
.456
.373
3FG%
.467
.160
FT%
.889
.714
RB
35
36
TO
18
18
STL
11
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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