Rapid recap: Georgia 73, GCU 68

ATLANTA – Grand Canyon made a late-game rally that came up short to lose 73-68 to Georgia, a 9-1 team playing near home in Saturday's Holiday Hoopsgiving tripleheader at State Farm Arena.

The Lopes (6-3) pulled within three points twice in the second half and missed three 3-point shots to tie in those moments. Georgia shot 51% from the field with a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint while GCU shot a season-low 37% from the field.

Key player

GCU senior guard Ray Harrison scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. He dished out four assists without making a turnover and added two steals. He passed T.C. Dean for the No. 14 spot on the GCU career scoring list.

Key moment

Trailing 66-56 with less than three minutes remaining, the Lopes went on a 7-0 run that started with a 3-point shot by senior guard Collin Moore on a Harrison assist. Harrison's two free throws and senior forward JaKobe Coles' fastbreak layup trimmed the Georgia lead to 66-63 with 1:30 to play. After senior swingman Tyon Grant-Foster blocked a shot, Grant-Foster and Coles each missed a potential tying 3-pointer with less than a minute to go and did not have another chance to tie.

Key statistic

GCU committed nine turnovers and shot 29% from the field in the first half to trail 34-23 at halftime. It was the Lopes' lowest scoring half of the season by nine points.

Quotable

GCU head coach Bryce Drew: "I loved our second half. I thought, in our second half, we played really well. We played tough. We played physical. We played together. We outscored them by six, but it was really more than that because we fouled them at the end. We're really proud of the effort in the second half. We had two really good looks in that last minute to tie the game. We wanted to put pressure on them. If we make one of those 3s and get one stop, I think we can save for one shot at the end."

What's next?

The Lopes stay on the road for a Monday night game at Louisiana Tech, which will start at 5:30 p.m. (Phoenix time). The GCU game in Ruston, Louisiana, is part of the WAC/Conference USA schedule inviative. The Lopes won the first part of the two-game set, beating Western Kentucky 74-72 at home on Nov. 9. GCU defeated Louisiana Tech 73-70 at home last season.

Return to GCULopes.com later tonight for Paul Coro's updated game recap with more details and reactions from Lopes head coach Bryce Drew and players.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Key player

Key moment

Key statistic

Quotable

What's next?

Players Mentioned

JaKobe Coles

Tyon Grant-Foster

Ray Harrison

Collin Moore

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