Travels continue with 1st official road test

Monday, December 16 \| 5:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Thomas Assembly Center \| Ruston, La.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (6-3)	at	LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS (9-2)

WATCH: ESPN+ \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

RUSTON, La. – Grand Canyon went to Texas for an exhibition with Baylor, left campus to play Arizona State, beat Stanford in California and traveled to Atlanta to play Georgia.

But it will not be until Monday night at Louisiana Tech's red-out Thomas Assembly Center that GCU logs its first official road game. And the difficulty does not end there with the Lopes coming off a 73-68 loss to 9-1 Georgia on Saturday night to face another Bulldogs team two nights later in 9-2 Louisiana Tech at 5:30 p.m. (Phoenix time).

"We have to focus on the next game to make sure we get a win before we go home," GCU graduate forward Lök Wur said.

GCU held a practice at Louisiana Tech in advance of playing the Bulldogs.

GCU held a practice at Louisiana Tech in advance of playing the Bulldogs.

The Lopes (6-3) were praised by Georgia head coach Mike White for their defense and toughness on Saturday night, but GCU left Atlanta feeling like an opportunity got away with the Bulldogs blocking nine shots and graduate swingman Tyon Grant-Foster, the Lopes' WAC Preseason Player of the Year, making 2 of 17 shots from the field.

Georgia (9-1) entered with an 18-point average scoring margin and escaped with a five-point win, largely because of two last-minute misses to tie and the Bulldogs' length to protect the rim and finish.

"This is probably the toughest road trip in the last five years, considering Atlanta was basically a road trip playing Georgia in their home state and now coming to play Louisiana Tech on their home court," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "This is really good practice for us for conference season, when you play two road games with one day rest. Louisiana Tech was up at Memphis at the half and has a lot of veterans back with good transfers."

Louisiana Tech, the Conference USA coaches' preseason favorite, does not have the same platoon of big men as Georgia, but it features CUSA Preseason Player of the Year Daniel Batcho, the 6-foot-11 Frenchman who is averaging 19.5 points on nation-leading 74.5% shooting.

Batcho also ranks fifth nationally with 2.8 blocks per game and grabs 6.5 rebounds per game, which is topped by teammate Kaden Cooper, a 6-foot-5 guard averaging eight rebounds and coming off a 25-point game against Georgia Southern.

GCU held a practice at Louisiana Tech in advance of playing the Bulldogs.

"He's super good," GCU junior center Duke Brennan said of Batcho, whose college career began at Arizona. "We're looking forward to this game because we need to win on one of these road games."

When the Lopes edged the Bulldogs 73-70 last season at GCU, Batcho posted 16 points, eight rebounds and four turnovers without a block. Louisiana Tech shot 56%, the highest clip that any GCU opponent posted last season.

"He's just terrific getting out of ball screens and puts a lot of pressure on the rim," Drew said of Batcho. "He understands angles and does a really good job of reading situations. it's hard in college basketball for centers to average 20 points per game. That speaks to how agile he is and how athletic he is getting to positions to score."

The Bulldogs are efficient again this season with 50.1% shooting (No. 17 in the nation) with the playmaking of point guard Sean Newman Jr., a second-year starter who transferred from Fullerton (California) College in 2023. Newman, a 6-foot-1 junior, ranks second nationally in assists per game (9.0).

GCU held a practice at Louisiana Tech in advance of playing the Bulldogs.

"He's definitely progressed his game," Drew said of Newman. "He's very comfortable. He has really good speed, changes his pace and has excellent vision. He does a good job of getting the ball into the teeth of the defense and then making reads."

After having nine shots blocked Saturday by the No. 3 shot-blocking team in Georgia, the Lopes will face another Bulldogs team that ranks 14th in the category with 5.5 per game. Louisiana Tech does it while fouling just 14.7 times per game.

These Bulldogs won 92-77 at WAC member UT Arlington to open the season and have only lost at then-No. 16 Memphis (81-71) and at home to Southern (73-70).

Lope tracks

GCU is one of 14 teams nationally that has not played a road game this season.
The Lopes are 3-0 in the WAC/Conference USA Challenge that began last season. They previously defeated Liberty, Sam Houston and Western Kentucky. Last season's home win against Louisiana Tech was not part of the scheduling initiative that matches teams according to conference finish.
With at least 13 steals in each of the past three games, GCU has risen to ninth nationally for steals per game (10.4). That contributes to the Lopes' No. 17 ranking in most opponent turnovers per game (16.4).
GCU freshman point guard Styles Phipps made a four-minute second-half appearance vs. Georgia and handed out two assists. "He has great habits," Drew said. "He works hard every day. He knows what the scouting report is. He follows it. He's what you want in a player. The way he's playing, he deserves to be out there."
Lopes senior guard Ray Harrison is averaging a career-best 4.0 assists per game and a career-low 1.8 turnovers per game.
Brennan is 13 for 15 (86.7%) on free throws this season after shooting 59.7% from the free throw line over his first two seasons. He also is shooting a career-best 62% from the field.
After not playing for a month, Lousiana Tech 6-foot-8, 235-pound junior Sean Elkington returned for three minutes in the Bulldogs' last game.

Monday, December 16 | 5:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Thomas Assembly Center | Ruston, La.

Lope tracks

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Duke Brennan

Tyon Grant-Foster

Ray Harrison

Styles Phipps

Lök Wur

Grand Canyon University Athletics