Big Dance sets stage for next GCU breakthrough

Friday, March 22 \| 7:05 p.m. \| NCAA West Region first round \| Spokane Arena \| Spokane, Wash.

	(12) GRAND CANYON LOPES (29-4, 16-3 WAC)	vs.	(5) SAINT MARY'S GAELS (26-7, 15-1 WCC)

WATCH: truTV \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STREAM/STATS: View

SPOKANE, Wash. – Grand Canyon has rapidly ascended the Division I basketball ranks, finishing its first D-I season 10 years ago and now entering its third NCAA tournament appearance in four years on Friday night.

The successful progression leaves GCU always wanting the next breakthrough, which usually comes with a wall of resistance. Saint Mary's, ranked 15th nationally, is that sturdy barricade in size of its players and stature of its program.

Armed with the program's best NCAA tournament seed as the West Region's No. 12, the Lopes (29-4) are fiercely focused on running through a wall for head coach Bryce Drew to upset No. 5 seed Saint Mary's (26-7) in a 7:05 p.m. first-round game at Spokane Arena. It will broadcast on truTV.

GCU has been checking off goals like a grocery list this season, going unbeaten at home, winning its first outright WAC regular-season championship, and repeating as WAC Tournament champions. The tourney title delivered another chance at the Big Dance, following last year's first-round loss to another West Coast Conference champion, Gonzaga.

Grand Canyon practiced at Spokane Arena in preparation for its NCAA tournament first-round game against Saint Mary's.

Grand Canyon practiced at Spokane Arena in preparation for its NCAA tournament first-round game against Saint Mary's.

"I was just thankful to be there, but this year, it's a little bit different," Lopes junior guard Ray Harrison said. "I'm thankful to be here as well, but we've got goals."

If GCU becomes the program's first 30-win team since its 1978 NAIA national champions, the Lopes will have earned it. They are facing a Gaels team that ranks first nationally in rebounding margin per game (plus-12), second in points allowed per game (58.7), eighth in opponent field goal percentage (39.5%) and 10th in least turnovers per game (10.1).

Saint Mary's plays as disciplined as a military operation, running the system that 23-year Gaels head coach Randy Bennett has implemented for 23 years and 533 wins.

The methodical Gaels are tied for the 10th-slowest pace in the nation, taking offensive possessions deep into the shot clock and constricting opposing offense with defensive physicality, even off the ball.

"We're going to have to be physical, not just one hit, but on multiple hits and do the best that we can on the glass," Drew said. "They are just really physical in the paint."

Grand Canyon practiced at Spokane Arena in preparation for its NCAA tournament first-round game against Saint Mary's.

The Lopes knew Lope Nation and the Havocs would follow them to 12,000-seat Spokane Arena, but their stay in Spokane has taught them how much the Gonzaga-crazy city does not like Saint Mary's and, in turn, will back GCU. After getting well wishes at a restaurant Wednesday night, the Lopes went to a grade school to practice Thursday and were greeted by grade school students chanting, "Beat Saint Mary's!"

That also fuels Saint Mary's, which was undefeated on the road this season and heard Thursday that Gonzaga players were encouraging their fans to wear purple Friday night in the last of the first-round games.

"We love it," Saint Mary's All-WCC first-team guard Aidan Mahaney said. "That's all good. We're excited to go. We like playing on the road, so bring 'em on."

Mahaney teams with 6-foot-4 junior guard Augustus Marciulionis, the WCC Player of the Year, and 6-foot-10, 242-pound senior center Mitchell Saxen, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, to form half of what was a six-man rotation at the WCC Tournament. The Gaels lost sophomore forward Joshua Jefferson's 10 points per game to a knee injury on Feb. 10.

Grand Canyon practiced at Spokane Arena in preparation for its NCAA tournament first-round game against Saint Mary's.

"What they do, they're really, really good at, and you have to beat them being their best," Drew said.

But GCU also does many things really well to give Saint Mary's potential problems. The Lopes' opponent field goal percentage is not far behind the Gaels at 40.5%, which ranks 17th nationally. That has helped GCU outscore opponents by an average of 12.9 points per game (11th nationally) with 18.9 made free throws per game (fourth nationally).

"Their guards are big and physical, and they turn you over a lot," Bennett said of the Lopes. "They will take risks, try and tap the ball from behind. They will get physical with you when you drive. They actually have good rim protection. They can block shots, so you're going to have to get singles against them."

Each player in GCU's seven-man rotation has been to the NCAA tournament at least once, and four of the starters' ages are 22 or older.

"The maturity is showing through this team," GCU graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan said. "Usually, winning the WAC Championship is like, 'Great, we did what we wanted to during the season.' This year, it's like we still have more to give. That's the motivation we've been carrying throughout this week. Even after a championship, being able to have confetti fall and cut down nets, it's, 'Great, now on to the next one.' "

The Lopes also can draw on getting wins against WCC teams San Francisco and Portland, which the Gaels swept, and beating a San Diego State team that blew out Saint Mary's 79-54 in November.

Saint Mary's began this season at 3-5 and have gone 23-2 since then to keep up the past decade's ninth-best winning percentage in the nation (.758).

"We have to be very disciplined in our defense," McGlothan said. "I think we can hang our hat on who we are with our defense, but it's just making sure we follow through for the whole 30 seconds."

The Gaels play offense somewhat like Liberty, which jumped on GCU for a 23-6 lead before the Lopes rallied to win on the road. Saint Mary's outscores opponents by an average of 10 points in first halves.

To Bennett, it is the basketball equivalent of swinging for singles.

"There is no room for error with these type of teams," Lopes graduate guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. said. "We've got to lock into the game plan and execute every possession.

"When we lock in on defense, it takes us to a whole other level."

Friday night's winner will play a second-round game Sunday against the winner of the Alabama-Charleston game that precedes GCU at Spokane Arena.

Friday, March 22 | 7:05 p.m. | NCAA West Region first round | Spokane Arena | Spokane, Wash.

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Ray Harrison

Gabe McGlothan

Grand Canyon University Athletics