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
WAC semifinal: GCU 80, Seattle U 72
3/15/2024 9:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes advance to 8:30 p.m. Saturday championship on ESPN2
LAS VEGAS – Grand Canyon advanced to the WAC Tournament championship game for the fifth time in the last six tourneys with an 80-72 semifinal victory against Seattle U on Friday night at a purple-plastered Orleans Arena.
The Lopes (28-4) set the program's Division I-era record for victories in a season with its most important one that puts GCU in the 8:30 p.m. title game Saturday night on ESPN2.
The top-seeded Lopes, the outright WAC regular-season champions, will play the winner of the late Friday night semifinal between second-seeded Tarleton State and third-seeded UT Arlington. If Tarleton State win, the Lopes are the WAC's NCAA tournament automatic qualifier because the Texas are not eligible for the NCAA tournament in the last year of their Division I transition.
GCU trailed at halftime and held a tight 63-61 lead with six minutes to go but never allowed Seattle to pull within one possession again to move to 4-0 against the Redhawks in WAC Tournament games.
GCU senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster, the WAC Player of the Year and conference scoring champion, scored a game-high 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field that included 3-of-8 accuracy on 3-pointers. It was two points off his career high and followed a 29-point game he posted two weeks ago on Senior Night.
Grant-Foster added six rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and two assists while playing all but 40 seconds of the game.
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.
The Lopes (28-4) set the program's Division I-era record for victories in a season with its most important one that puts GCU in the 8:30 p.m. title game Saturday night on ESPN2.
The top-seeded Lopes, the outright WAC regular-season champions, will play the winner of the late Friday night semifinal between second-seeded Tarleton State and third-seeded UT Arlington. If Tarleton State win, the Lopes are the WAC's NCAA tournament automatic qualifier because the Texas are not eligible for the NCAA tournament in the last year of their Division I transition.
GCU trailed at halftime and held a tight 63-61 lead with six minutes to go but never allowed Seattle to pull within one possession again to move to 4-0 against the Redhawks in WAC Tournament games.
Key player
GCU senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster, the WAC Player of the Year and conference scoring champion, scored a game-high 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field that included 3-of-8 accuracy on 3-pointers. It was two points off his career high and followed a 29-point game he posted two weeks ago on Senior Night.Grant-Foster added six rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and two assists while playing all but 40 seconds of the game.
Key moment
With Seattle U cutting the lead to 63-61, the Lopes defense fended off consecutive possessions with second and third chances to keep the lead before scoring on four consecutive possessions. Drives by junior guard Ray Harrison and Grant-Foster were followed by a Jovan Blacksher Jr. 3-pointer and a Gabe McGlothan putback. The graduate power forward's only field goal of his nine-rebound game put GCU's lead at 72-65 with 2:40 remaining, and Seattle U committed consecutive turnovers to put the game away.Key statistic
GCU's shot-taking balance shifted from a first half in which the Lopes took 14 of their 29 field goal attempts from 3-point range. The Redhawks led 34-32 at the half, but GCU only took seven of its 26 second-half field goal attempts from 3-point range and reached the bonus situation with 13:34 remaining by attacking more offensively.Quotable
Lopes head coach Bryce Drew: "I'm really proud of our team effort. We had a long week waiting to play. In the first half, we were down two, but we still thought we were in a good place because we haven't played in a week. I thought we had some good shots that we didn't make in that first half. I really want to credit our guys for how hard they played on defense. Seattle is such a hard cover with how much movement they have and different actions and such prolific shooters. These guys had to be on high alert all night, and I'm really proud of their defensive effort."What's next?
GCU will play the Tarleton State-UT Arlington late Friday semifinal winner in an 8:30 p.m. WAC Tournament championship game on ESPN2. The Lopes split the season series with second-seeded Tarleton State and won two difficult games against third-seeded UT Arlington. GCU is 7-0 when it is the higher seed in WAC Tournament games.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.
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