Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Rapid recap: GCU 68, San Diego 55
12/28/2024 7:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes make 36 free throws at Intuit to notch 3rd consecutive win
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Grand Canyon leaned on its best traits of the past two seasons — drawing fouls and making free throws — to lead San Diego wire to wire Saturday and win 68-55 at Intuit Dome, where the Lopes were part of the new Los Angeles Clippers arena's first college basketball event.
GCU (9-4) picked up its third consecutive victory by finishing the game with its largest lead. The Lopes won with sub-30% shooting from the field for only the third time in their Division I era, with each instance coming away from Phoenix.
Senior power forward JaKobe Coles led GCU in points (18) and rebounds (10) for his first double-double since he opened the season with his first career double-doubles in the Lopes' first two games this season. On GCU's 28% shooting day, Coles made 6 of 10 shots from the field and all six of his free throws.
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 senior JaKobe Coles.
GCU (9-4) picked up its third consecutive victory by finishing the game with its largest lead. The Lopes won with sub-30% shooting from the field for only the third time in their Division I era, with each instance coming away from Phoenix.
Key player
Senior power forward JaKobe Coles led GCU in points (18) and rebounds (10) for his first double-double since he opened the season with his first career double-doubles in the Lopes' first two games this season. On GCU's 28% shooting day, Coles made 6 of 10 shots from the field and all six of his free throws.
Key moment
The Lopes only led by two late in the first half and 31-26 at halftime but gave themselves cushion early in the second half. GCU went on a 7-0 run to take a 42-30 lead when graduate swingman Tyon Grant-Foster finished an alleyoop from sophomore guard Makaih Williams after Grant-Foster's steal started the fastbreak. The Lopes defense created five consecutive turnovers, including a strip by junior center Duke Brennan that led to a fastbreak dunk for graduate forward Lök Wur.Key statistic
GCU made 36 of 42 free throws for 53% of its scoring Saturday. It was the most free throws that the Lopes have made in a regular-season game during their 12-year Division I era and one shy of D-I era record that was set in last season's WAC Tournament championship game against UT Arlington (37 for 50). The 86% accuracy was second to the 88% free throw shooting in a loss to Georgia.Quotable
Lopes head coach Bryce Drew: "I was proud of the guys for how they finished. In the first half, we were right there and didn't finish plays off defensively and offensively at times. We talked about finishing plays off. They had two runs and cut it to five. I'm proud of our guys. They responded. Back-to-back 3s by Ray (Harrison) and Collin (Moore) were really big when they made a run and extended it back to a three-possession game."What's next?
GCU plays Bryant (6-8) at 6 p.m. Monday in Global Credit Union Arena. It will be the Lopes' final game before WAC competition begins.at home Jan. 4 against Southern Utah.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 senior JaKobe Coles.
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