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
Saturday, March 2
Phoenix, Ariz.
8 p.m.
Grand Canyon
26-4,16-3WAC
80
vs
58
Stephen F. Austin
15-14,8-10WAC
1st half1
2nd half2
FinalF
SFA
24
34
58
Grand Canyon
43
37
80
Blowout celebrates seniors, keeps Lopes in 1st
3/3/2024 12:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Grant-Foster scores 29 while Harrison posts 19 points, 7 assists with no turnovers
This Grand Canyon team first assembled for a campus workout in early June appearing undaunted in the arena.
The Lopes played their final regular-season home game Saturday night as undefeated in the arena.
For the first time in 32 years, GCU completed a perfect home season Saturday night. A national television audience and an overflow Senior Night crowd saw the Lopes hold onto their WAC first-place lead with a dominating 80-58 win over Stephen F. Austin at Global Credit Union Arena.
The Senior Night bookended with emotions with Josh Baker, Jovan Blacksher Jr., Sydney Curry, Tyon Grant-Foster and Gabe McGlothan being honored in pregame and regaled in postgame, especially for the program-changing careers of Blacksher and McGlothan and a 29-point, six-rebound, two-block game by Grant-Foster.
"What a blessing," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "Praise the Lord for the guys that came, really sacrificed a lot in their games to play together. I thought tonight was one of our best games we've played together all year. Our defense was good. Offensively, we moved the ball, we spaced, we made the right basketball plays. What a great night for these seniors to go out and to do this in front of their home crowd on national TV."
GCU went 22 for 22 on free throws with Grant-Foster making 14 to come within a point of his opening-night career scoring high of 30. Only four teams in the nation have made more free throws in a game without missing this season, and only seven players have made more free throws in a game without missing this season.
The Valley native duo of Blacksher and McGlothan came to the program together in 2019 and have their fingerprints all over its ascension as two of the 74-year-old program's top nine all-time scorers. They were major cogs in powering GCU to a higher status with the first two NCAA Division I tournament trips and important games such as Saturday night's win.
"I'm so proud of Gabe and Nuna," Lopes junior guard Ray Harrison said. "They were the leaders who were already in place before I got here. They were able to show me the way, and they took me under their wing. I'm just appreciative to have those guys."
GCU (26-4, 16-3 WAC) kept its half-game lead over second-place Tarleton State (22-7, 15-3 WAC) with the Lopes wrapping up the regular season next Saturday at California Baptist while the Texans play host next week to Utah Valley on Thursday and Seattle U on Saturday.
The Lopes already have locked up the WAC Tournament's No. 1 seed and the corresponding two byes that catapult GCU into the semifinal. But the Lopes want at least clinch a share of a second regular-season WAC title next week and perhaps win their first outright regular-season conference championship if the Texans lose a game.
After taking two losses in Texas last week, the Lopes flipped their momentum with 29- and 22-point blowouts this week. It was their largest two-game margin of victories since the first two games of the season and finished a 16-0 home season, the Lopes' first since 1991-92 at the NAIA level.
"Today was special," Harrison said. "Everybody was bought all the way in, as far as the game plan, how we wanted to play the right way. Everybody was on the same page.
"Bad feelings, I'm quick to forget. I don't like to hold onto those feelings. Of course, I'm still conscious of it. I know what went down (last week). We're in a good place right now. We're confident in being able to find ourselves as a team and come into our own identity."
On his 22nd birthday, Harrison co-starred with Grant-Foster as the duo did not make a turnover despite having the ball in their hands the most for a combined 79 minutes. Harrison racked up 19 points and seven assists with five rebounds and no fouls.
When GCU led 25-20 with 5 1/2 minutes to go in the first half, Harrison nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 16-0 run. The Lumberjacks (15-14, 8-10 WAC) trailed by 14 or more points for the remainder of the game.
"As soon as March comes, that's just the mode that I put myself in – can't lose in March," said Harrison, who was the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player last year.
"There's so much joy, so much just life around our program. Teammates, coaches, everybody has got a spark to them right now. It's a fun time."
The Lopes held an opponent to less than 40% shooting for the fourth consecutive game, but the defense stood up better this week with GCU only making 11 turnovers in each game.
Against a Stephen F. Austin team that ranked fourth nationally for opponent turnovers (17.3 per game), the Lopes' eight-man rotation only made seven turnovers Saturday until the late-game substitutions committed four in the last two minutes.
Part of holding Stephen F. Austin to 35% shooting came from nine blocked shots, one off a season high. Five of those blocks came during the game-swinging stretch of 16 unanswered points over a five-minute span. Graduate forward Lökk Wur blocked three shots in 16 minutes.
"I think guys were helping each other," Drew said. "They're more active on the ball. They're more active helping each other in gaps. Just that togetherness was the biggest key last couple of games."
Grant-Foster scored 21 of his 29 points in the first half, continuing a trend of improved offensive efficiency. After an eight-game stretch of 32% shooting from the field, the WAC's No. 2 scorer has shot 58% over the past four games.
"What I loved is all 13 of his shots were good shots," Drew said. "They were in the flow, the pace and the rhythm of our offense."
GCU will have a week to prepare for the regular-season finale at California Baptist next Saturday night. By then, the Lopes will learn whether a win there would clinch a share of the WAC title or their first outright regular-season championship. GCU already has secured the WAC Tournament's top seed and the byes that advance the Lopes to the tournament semifinals.
The blowout nature of Saturday night's game allowed Drew to play the five seniors together near the end of the game and ceremoniously exit one senior at a time to an ovation.
"Just a special night," Drew said. "We've talked about embracing the moment. What a fun moment. We had so many exciting things happen from the seniors to ESPN to trying to win at home and we got to accomplish all that and have fun doing it together."
The Lopes played their final regular-season home game Saturday night as undefeated in the arena.
For the first time in 32 years, GCU completed a perfect home season Saturday night. A national television audience and an overflow Senior Night crowd saw the Lopes hold onto their WAC first-place lead with a dominating 80-58 win over Stephen F. Austin at Global Credit Union Arena.
The Senior Night bookended with emotions with Josh Baker, Jovan Blacksher Jr., Sydney Curry, Tyon Grant-Foster and Gabe McGlothan being honored in pregame and regaled in postgame, especially for the program-changing careers of Blacksher and McGlothan and a 29-point, six-rebound, two-block game by Grant-Foster.
"What a blessing," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "Praise the Lord for the guys that came, really sacrificed a lot in their games to play together. I thought tonight was one of our best games we've played together all year. Our defense was good. Offensively, we moved the ball, we spaced, we made the right basketball plays. What a great night for these seniors to go out and to do this in front of their home crowd on national TV."
GCU went 22 for 22 on free throws with Grant-Foster making 14 to come within a point of his opening-night career scoring high of 30. Only four teams in the nation have made more free throws in a game without missing this season, and only seven players have made more free throws in a game without missing this season.
The Valley native duo of Blacksher and McGlothan came to the program together in 2019 and have their fingerprints all over its ascension as two of the 74-year-old program's top nine all-time scorers. They were major cogs in powering GCU to a higher status with the first two NCAA Division I tournament trips and important games such as Saturday night's win."I'm so proud of Gabe and Nuna," Lopes junior guard Ray Harrison said. "They were the leaders who were already in place before I got here. They were able to show me the way, and they took me under their wing. I'm just appreciative to have those guys."
GCU (26-4, 16-3 WAC) kept its half-game lead over second-place Tarleton State (22-7, 15-3 WAC) with the Lopes wrapping up the regular season next Saturday at California Baptist while the Texans play host next week to Utah Valley on Thursday and Seattle U on Saturday.
The Lopes already have locked up the WAC Tournament's No. 1 seed and the corresponding two byes that catapult GCU into the semifinal. But the Lopes want at least clinch a share of a second regular-season WAC title next week and perhaps win their first outright regular-season conference championship if the Texans lose a game.
After taking two losses in Texas last week, the Lopes flipped their momentum with 29- and 22-point blowouts this week. It was their largest two-game margin of victories since the first two games of the season and finished a 16-0 home season, the Lopes' first since 1991-92 at the NAIA level.
"Today was special," Harrison said. "Everybody was bought all the way in, as far as the game plan, how we wanted to play the right way. Everybody was on the same page."Bad feelings, I'm quick to forget. I don't like to hold onto those feelings. Of course, I'm still conscious of it. I know what went down (last week). We're in a good place right now. We're confident in being able to find ourselves as a team and come into our own identity."
On his 22nd birthday, Harrison co-starred with Grant-Foster as the duo did not make a turnover despite having the ball in their hands the most for a combined 79 minutes. Harrison racked up 19 points and seven assists with five rebounds and no fouls.
When GCU led 25-20 with 5 1/2 minutes to go in the first half, Harrison nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 16-0 run. The Lumberjacks (15-14, 8-10 WAC) trailed by 14 or more points for the remainder of the game.
"As soon as March comes, that's just the mode that I put myself in – can't lose in March," said Harrison, who was the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player last year.
"There's so much joy, so much just life around our program. Teammates, coaches, everybody has got a spark to them right now. It's a fun time."
The Lopes held an opponent to less than 40% shooting for the fourth consecutive game, but the defense stood up better this week with GCU only making 11 turnovers in each game.Against a Stephen F. Austin team that ranked fourth nationally for opponent turnovers (17.3 per game), the Lopes' eight-man rotation only made seven turnovers Saturday until the late-game substitutions committed four in the last two minutes.
Part of holding Stephen F. Austin to 35% shooting came from nine blocked shots, one off a season high. Five of those blocks came during the game-swinging stretch of 16 unanswered points over a five-minute span. Graduate forward Lökk Wur blocked three shots in 16 minutes.
"I think guys were helping each other," Drew said. "They're more active on the ball. They're more active helping each other in gaps. Just that togetherness was the biggest key last couple of games."
Grant-Foster scored 21 of his 29 points in the first half, continuing a trend of improved offensive efficiency. After an eight-game stretch of 32% shooting from the field, the WAC's No. 2 scorer has shot 58% over the past four games.
"What I loved is all 13 of his shots were good shots," Drew said. "They were in the flow, the pace and the rhythm of our offense."GCU will have a week to prepare for the regular-season finale at California Baptist next Saturday night. By then, the Lopes will learn whether a win there would clinch a share of the WAC title or their first outright regular-season championship. GCU already has secured the WAC Tournament's top seed and the byes that advance the Lopes to the tournament semifinals.
The blowout nature of Saturday night's game allowed Drew to play the five seniors together near the end of the game and ceremoniously exit one senior at a time to an ovation.
"Just a special night," Drew said. "We've talked about embracing the moment. What a fun moment. We had so many exciting things happen from the seniors to ESPN to trying to win at home and we got to accomplish all that and have fun doing it together."
Team Stats
SFA
GCU
FG%
.354
.481
3FG%
.412
.320
FT%
.630
1.000
RB
32
32
TO
15
11
STL
7
8
Game Leaders
Pts
29
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
14
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
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