With share of WAC crown, GCU goes for outright title

Saturday, March 9

Riverside, Calif.

6 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

California Baptist

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

3/8/2024 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

GCU Notes CBU Notes

Lopes can claim solo championship with regular-season finale win at CBU

By: Paul Coro

Saturday, March 9 \| 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Fowler Events Center \| Riverside, Calif.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (26-4, 16-3 WAC)	at	CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS (15-15, 8-11 WAC)

WATCH: ESPN+ \| LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic \| STATS: View

After months of heavy lifting, Grand Canyon clinched a share of the WAC regular-season championship without lifting a finger Thursday night.

In its regular-season finale, GCU can be the outright WAC regular-season champions for the first time by flexing its might Saturday night.

WAC champions

Despite 2021 and 2023 WAC Tournament titles and a 2021 WAC regular-season co-championship in head coach Bryce Drew's first three years, the Lopes entered this season with the goal of being the program's first outright WAC champion and back-to-back NCAA Division I tournament qualifier.

When second-place Tarleton State lost 63-60 at home Thursday night with an opportunity to tie GCU for first place, the Lopes' Saturday night regular-season finale at California Baptist became part of March Madness. A Lopes win means a solo WAC title.

GCU already has clinched the No. 1 seed and two byes into the semifinals for next week's WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.

"The guys have been excited for March for a while," Drew said. "They all know what's at stake this weekend and next weekend. Hopefully, they'll be as prepared as possible. Hopefully, we'll pick up right where left off."

The Lopes (26-4 overall, 16-3 WAC) blew out UT Rio Grande Valley 72-43 and Stephen F. Austin 80-58 last week at home to pull within a victory of matching the 2015-16 GCU team for most wins by in the program since 1987-88.

Gabe McGlothan

GCU heads to Riverside, California, to play at 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) with the motivation coming in layers.

The Lopes want their first outright title while keeping their good momentum entering the WAC Tournament and recalling how CBU celebrated beating GCU in front of a sold-out crowd last year in Riverside. The Lancers (15-15, 8-11 WAC) have their WAC Tournament fate on the line because a loss to GCU and a Utah Tech win at Stephen F. Austin would knock CBU out of the tournament's eighth and final spot.

"You could look at the momentum, but why not just chop it up and go one game at a time?" Lopes power forward Gabe McGlothan said. ": It's banner-hanging time. This is our championship for the regular season, so that's what we're going to focus on and truly pour all our efforts in it. It's tournament time."

Until the Lopes experienced their second court storming two weeks ago at Tarleton State, they were dominating the conference race and receiving national Top 25 votes. GCU renewed its focus after coming out of that Texas tornado with two last-minute losses, and the Lopes have flipped their minds with the calendar.

In the next eight days, GCU could have its first team to win an outright regular-season championship and WAC Tournament title while punching its third Big Dance ticket in four years. It is everything junior guard Ray Harrison sought when he came to GCU two years ago, shifting from a 19-35 record in his first two college seasons at Presbyterian to a 50-16 record in two years as a Lope.

"If you're a winner, everything in March raises – the intensity, everything," said Harrison, who averaged 22.0 points, 5.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds with 52% shooting last March. "I don't know how or why it does, it just does.

"I feel we're still as hungry as when we first started. As long as we're not content with where we are, we'll be fine."

For an experienced team with five players who were honored with Senior Night on Saturday night, the gravity of this string of games hits differently. McGlothan and point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. have been at GCU since the 2019-20 season, which was the Lopes' second Division I postseason appearance after a four-year D-I transition period.

A final road trip is just another part of the senior tour that emptied most of the emotions Saturday night, when they bid farewell to playing at Global Credit Union Arena.

"This is our last opportunity for us to hang another banner here," McGlothan said. "It puts a little more weight on the shoulders, but not bad weight. This will mean a lot when we do it. Those feelings have been processed a little bit. But once the confetti falls, that's when I can actually feel it out.

"Senior Night was special because of the people. That's been my favorite thing at GCU, so having that last opportunity to play in front of those people I care deeply about and the school that I care deeply about, that's where the giant emotional outpour was for me. Other than that, you've got to do business. We're on a mission now and we've got to finish the mission."

Lope tracks

If CBU guard Dominique Daniels Jr. continues not to play, GCU senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster can clinch the WAC scoring title with 14 points or more. Grant-Foster, ranking 44th nationally with 19.4 points per game, passed Daniels, who has been out injured with a 19.2 average since Feb. 3, on Saturday night with 29 points against Stephen F. Austin.
CBU graduate center Yvan Ouedraogo, a former GCU player, ranks third in the WAC with a career-high 8.3 rebounds per game behind conference leader and teammate Hunter Goodrick's 8.6. Ouedraogo is averaging a career-high 9.7 points per game. In a career-high 28.3 minutes per game, Ouedraogo also has career highs for points per game (9.7) and shooting percentage (49.5%).
In the teams' first meeting at GCU on Feb. 17, the Lopes won 79-76 to match their closest home game of the season with a 73-70 win against Louisiana Tech. Lancers point guard Blondeau Tchoukuiegno made 9 of 15 shots for 23 points and five assists. CBU shot 48% and made 9 of 18 shots from 3-point range. McGlothan had a 15-point, 11-rebound game.
GCU's 26-4 record is tied for the seventh-best winning percentage in the nation at .867.
McGlothan ranks ninth in GCU career scoring with 1,294 points, which is 19 behind eighth-place Chad Briscoe.
Graduate point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. ranks seventh in GCU career scoring with 1,322 points, which is 51 behind sixth-place Doug Baker.
Blacksher also ranks third in GCU career assists with 422, one behind DeWayne Russell for second and 33 behind Craig Russell's record.
Junior guard Ray Harrison ranks 18th nationally for career scoring average (16.4) among active Division I players.
Grant-Foster is the only player in the nation averaging at least 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
The Lopes rank in the national top 15 for free throws made per game (sixth, 18.5), blocks per game (13th, 5.3) and scoring margin (11th, plus-12.y per game).
CBU ranks 36th nationally for opponent points per game (66.2) and 40th for rebound margin per game (plus-4.0). The Lancers have the nation's sixth-lowest steals average at 4.0.

WAC Resume Seeding System (updated March 8)
Rank	Team	Record (WAC only)	WAC points
1.	GCU	24-4 (16-3)	7.95
2.	Tarleton State	22-8 (15-4)	3.91
3.	UT Arlington	18-13 (13-7)	0.73
4.	Seattle U	18-12 (11-8)	0.11
5.	Utah Valley	15-15 (10-9)	-1.48
6.	Stephen F. Austin	1614 (9-10)	-1.67
7.	Abilene Christian	15-15 (10-9)	-2.03
8.	California Baptist	15-15 (8-11)	-4.13
9.	Utah Tech	11-19 (7-12)	-5.92
10.	Southern Utah	9-21 (4-15)	-7.98
11.	UT Rio Grande Valley	6-24 (2-17)	-10.93

The WAC Resume Seeding System will determine seeding for the eight-team WAC Tournament. The top two seeds will receive first- and second-round byes. The third and fourth seeds will receive first-round byes.