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
NCAA 2nd-round recap: Alabama 72, GCU 61
3/24/2024 7:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes' 30-win season closes with historic round-of-32 appearance
SPOKANE, Wash. – Grand Canyon's historic season ended in heartbreaking fashion with the Lopes exiting the NCAA tournament with a 72-61 loss to Alabama in the second round Sunday night at Spokane Arena.
GCU (30-5) ended its winningest season since 1988 but not before it nearly pulled off consecutive wins against top-25 teams in three days. The Lopes went on an 8-0 run to take a 58-55 lead with 5:50 remaining in the game, but five Crimson Tide points without GCU regaining possession put Alabama ahead for good.
Crimson Tide All-America second-team guard was brilliant, following up a 30-point game in the first-round win with a 26-point, 12-rebound, six-assist, three-steal performance against the Lopes. Alabama, the No. 19 team in the nation, needed it because GCU limited the nation's No. 1 scoring team to 19 points below its season average.
The Lopes shot their third-worst field goal percentage of the season at 32.1%, but they had managed to win all three of the previous games when shooting less than 38%. Their shooting worsened from the perimeter with 2-for-20 3-point shooting and 23-for-37 free throw shooting. The 62.2% free throw shooting also was GCU's third-worst clip of the season.
GCU senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster came within a point of his career scoring high with 29 points and added shared team highs for rebounds (eight), blocked shots (three) and steals (two). He went 9 for 22 from the field with the Lopes' only two made 3-pointers. He drew nine fouls but was 9 for 16 on free throws while playing all but 27 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.
GCU (30-5) ended its winningest season since 1988 but not before it nearly pulled off consecutive wins against top-25 teams in three days. The Lopes went on an 8-0 run to take a 58-55 lead with 5:50 remaining in the game, but five Crimson Tide points without GCU regaining possession put Alabama ahead for good.
Crimson Tide All-America second-team guard was brilliant, following up a 30-point game in the first-round win with a 26-point, 12-rebound, six-assist, three-steal performance against the Lopes. Alabama, the No. 19 team in the nation, needed it because GCU limited the nation's No. 1 scoring team to 19 points below its season average.
The Lopes shot their third-worst field goal percentage of the season at 32.1%, but they had managed to win all three of the previous games when shooting less than 38%. Their shooting worsened from the perimeter with 2-for-20 3-point shooting and 23-for-37 free throw shooting. The 62.2% free throw shooting also was GCU's third-worst clip of the season.
Key player
GCU senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster came within a point of his career scoring high with 29 points and added shared team highs for rebounds (eight), blocked shots (three) and steals (two). He went 9 for 22 from the field with the Lopes' only two made 3-pointers. He drew nine fouls but was 9 for 16 on free throws while playing all but 27 seconds of the game.
Key moment
The Lopes took a 58-55 lead with 5:50 remaining in the game but closed the game going 0 for 4 from the field with three turnovers. With offensive rebounds on free throws twice, Alabama scored five points before GCU even got the ball back and took a 60-58 lead with 5:21 to go. The Lopes remained within a point at 62-61 after a Grant-Foster free throw with 4:05 to go but did not score again, allowing the Crimson Tide to close the game with 10 unanswered points.Key statistic
Grant-Foster was the only GCU player to score in double figures. Outside of Grant-Foster, the Lopes went 0 for 13 on free throws. The rest of GCU players combined to have as many made field goals as Grant-Foster (nine).Quotable
Lopes head coach Bryce Drew: "These guys are fighters. If you would've told me before the game we were going to shoot 10% from 3, 32% from the field and 62% from the free throw line and be up with six minutes left, there's no way I would've belieed you. The fight of these guys, the will, the togetherness, the no quit in them was really fun to be part of. ... I hate losing, especially a game that if we had made some shots, made some free throws, rebounded a little bit better, we easily could've turned the outcome. But I'm not going to take away any from the guys for what they've achieved this year and the fight they had this game."What's next?
GCU will return to Phoenix, where the staff will continue the transfer portal work that it had to begin during its NCAA tournament week. The portal, where athletes declare a willingness to be recruited for transfer, opened Monday as the Lopes were holding their first practice to prepare for Thursday's first-round game against Saint Mary's.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.
Players Mentioned
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