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, February 17
Phoenix, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
24-2,14-1WAC
79
vs
76
California Baptist
14-11,7-7WAC
1
2
F
California Baptist
29
47
76
Grand Canyon
30
49
79
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
CBU gives chase, but GCU's efficient offense wins
2/17/2024 10:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes shoot 48% with 7 turnovers to close out home for nation-best 24-2 record
Maintaining the nation's best record does not get easier, so Grand Canyon just gets stronger.
GCU won its seventh consecutive game Saturday night with a 79-76 home win against California Baptist, giving them four wins decided by seven points or fewer during a seven-game winning streak.
The Lopes were tested twice at home this week, but their depth of experience keeps them cool under pressure to ice games for a 24-2 mark matched only by No. 1 UConn.
They put away Thursday's tight game against Utah Tech with a 14-6 finish to win by 12 points and then moved to 14-0 this season at Global Credit Union Arena on Saturday night by going on a 10-4 run when they trailed with 4:30 remaining.
The GCU starters put the game away, but the Lopes may not have been in the position to close out another conference win without the emerging bench play picking them up.
The reserves were the only Lopes on the positive side of plus-minus ratings with graduate forward Lok Wur scoring 11 to put his scoring average at 10.0 for the past five games, and graduate point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. adding six points and three assists while senior Josh Baker delivered four assists without a turnover in 12 minutes.
"Having those guys come in and impact the game in the way they showed tonight is another advantage for us," GCU junior guard Ray Harrison said. "I feel like a lot of teams can't prepare for that. Once our second group comes in, you have to try to maintain the same intensity that our bench brings.
Harrison delivered his second consecutive six-assist, no-turnover performance and has only committed one turnover in the past four games. His decision-making settled the Lopes to tie for their second-lowest turnover total of the season (seven) while still shooting 48.1% from the field.
"We need the ball in his hands," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said of Harrison. "He can do it on all three levels. He can score with the ball. He can hit the roller. And then he can also see other guys away from the play that creates a shot for them or an angle for them to drive.
"It's a lot more tiring, especially when he's guarding a guy on the other end that he's got to run and chase around screens all night. But that's what good players do and winners do. They step up and do what's hard."
GCU scored 49 second-half points and needed all of them because CBU (14-11, 7-7 WAC) was leading 66-65 with 4:30 remaining despite playing its fourth consecutive game without WAC leading scorer Dominique Daniels Jr.
Lancers forward Hunter Goodrick fouled out with 4:14 to play, sending Lopes graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan to the line for two go-ahead free throws on his 15-point, 11-rebound night. It was his 21s career double-double and moved him into 10th on the all-time GCU scoring list.
GCU senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster was 2 for 12 from the field when he made two 3-pointers in a one-minute span to keep the Lopes ahead at 73-70 with 1:51 to go. Grant-Foster finished with a team-best 19 points, largely because of 9-for-9 free throw shooting.
M
cGlothan made a help-defense block on the type of CBU guard Blondeau Tchoukuiegno drive that had helped him to a career high-tying 23-point night. Senior guard Collin Moore tipped in his own miss and sophomore Duke Brennan scored while being fouled by former Lopes center Yvan Ouedraogo to close the run for a 77-70 lead with 22 seconds remaining.
"That's where we will always have an advantage against most of our opponents," Harrison said of closing out wins, "because we are experienced, and we've got a lot of guys who have played some years in college."
That 77-70 edge with 22 seconds remaining was GCU's largest lead of the game, as CBU rode a 41-point game from its starting backcourt of Tchoukuiegno and Scott Washington. They were 5 for 7 on 3s, but Drew is more concerned about on-ball and ball-screen defense.
Every time the Lopes picked up their scoring pace, the Lancers matched nearly score for score before moving to 1-3 since Daniels went out earlier this month.
"We want to end this season 16-0 here on this home court, so we've got to keep working and starting giving back more to these fans and the Havocs," McGlothan said.
The Lopes are down to five regular-season games remaining with the next one being the most important. GCU plays Thursday at second-place Tarleton State (18-7, 11-3 WAC), which was idle Saturday. The Lopes crushed the Texans 74-48 in Phoenix on Jan. 13.
GCU won its seventh consecutive game Saturday night with a 79-76 home win against California Baptist, giving them four wins decided by seven points or fewer during a seven-game winning streak.
The Lopes were tested twice at home this week, but their depth of experience keeps them cool under pressure to ice games for a 24-2 mark matched only by No. 1 UConn.
They put away Thursday's tight game against Utah Tech with a 14-6 finish to win by 12 points and then moved to 14-0 this season at Global Credit Union Arena on Saturday night by going on a 10-4 run when they trailed with 4:30 remaining.
The GCU starters put the game away, but the Lopes may not have been in the position to close out another conference win without the emerging bench play picking them up.
The reserves were the only Lopes on the positive side of plus-minus ratings with graduate forward Lok Wur scoring 11 to put his scoring average at 10.0 for the past five games, and graduate point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. adding six points and three assists while senior Josh Baker delivered four assists without a turnover in 12 minutes.
"Having those guys come in and impact the game in the way they showed tonight is another advantage for us," GCU junior guard Ray Harrison said. "I feel like a lot of teams can't prepare for that. Once our second group comes in, you have to try to maintain the same intensity that our bench brings.
Harrison delivered his second consecutive six-assist, no-turnover performance and has only committed one turnover in the past four games. His decision-making settled the Lopes to tie for their second-lowest turnover total of the season (seven) while still shooting 48.1% from the field.
"We need the ball in his hands," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said of Harrison. "He can do it on all three levels. He can score with the ball. He can hit the roller. And then he can also see other guys away from the play that creates a shot for them or an angle for them to drive.
"It's a lot more tiring, especially when he's guarding a guy on the other end that he's got to run and chase around screens all night. But that's what good players do and winners do. They step up and do what's hard."
GCU scored 49 second-half points and needed all of them because CBU (14-11, 7-7 WAC) was leading 66-65 with 4:30 remaining despite playing its fourth consecutive game without WAC leading scorer Dominique Daniels Jr.
Lancers forward Hunter Goodrick fouled out with 4:14 to play, sending Lopes graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan to the line for two go-ahead free throws on his 15-point, 11-rebound night. It was his 21s career double-double and moved him into 10th on the all-time GCU scoring list.
GCU senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster was 2 for 12 from the field when he made two 3-pointers in a one-minute span to keep the Lopes ahead at 73-70 with 1:51 to go. Grant-Foster finished with a team-best 19 points, largely because of 9-for-9 free throw shooting.
M
cGlothan made a help-defense block on the type of CBU guard Blondeau Tchoukuiegno drive that had helped him to a career high-tying 23-point night. Senior guard Collin Moore tipped in his own miss and sophomore Duke Brennan scored while being fouled by former Lopes center Yvan Ouedraogo to close the run for a 77-70 lead with 22 seconds remaining."That's where we will always have an advantage against most of our opponents," Harrison said of closing out wins, "because we are experienced, and we've got a lot of guys who have played some years in college."
That 77-70 edge with 22 seconds remaining was GCU's largest lead of the game, as CBU rode a 41-point game from its starting backcourt of Tchoukuiegno and Scott Washington. They were 5 for 7 on 3s, but Drew is more concerned about on-ball and ball-screen defense.
Every time the Lopes picked up their scoring pace, the Lancers matched nearly score for score before moving to 1-3 since Daniels went out earlier this month.
"We want to end this season 16-0 here on this home court, so we've got to keep working and starting giving back more to these fans and the Havocs," McGlothan said.
The Lopes are down to five regular-season games remaining with the next one being the most important. GCU plays Thursday at second-place Tarleton State (18-7, 11-3 WAC), which was idle Saturday. The Lopes crushed the Texans 74-48 in Phoenix on Jan. 13.
Team Stats
CBU
GCU
FG%
.475
.481
3FG%
.500
.435
FT%
.818
.680
RB
33
35
TO
7
7
STL
2
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
9
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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