Lopes hit road with point made

Thursday, January 23 \| 6:30 p.m. \| America First Event Center \| Cedar City, Utah

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (13-5, 3-1 WAC)	at	SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS (9-9, 1-3 WAC)

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Grand Canyon is versatile enough that any of its guards can initiate offense, like various tributaries flowing into one sea of high-scoring basketball.

But a lineup change that started sophomore Makaih Williams at point guard last week led to the Lopes scoring at least 88 points in consecutive games for the first time since the opening games of last season.

GCU (13-5, 3-1 WAC) will try to pack that sped-up, spread-out offense for this week's conference trip to mile-high Southern Utah on Thursday and Utah Tech on Saturday.

Williams brought up the ball on about two-thirds of possessions in a blowout of Tarleton State on Saturday, when the Lopes assisted on 22 of 23 made baskets and he delivered a team-best seven assists – GCU's highest individual total since Ray Harrison delivered eight on Nov. 22.

Phoenix, AZ Jan. 18, 2025 : The Lopes overpower Tarleton State with a 88-64 win at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski / GCU

Phoenix, AZ Jan. 18, 2025 : The Lopes overpower Tarleton State with a 88-64 win at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski / GCU

The Lopes operated opportunistically the remainder of the time to push a GCU tempo that ranks 16th nationally, according to kenpom.com.

"Makaih's done a really good job starting and has been very comfortable starting," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "We liked his pace and speed at the point guard. It's allowed us to move Ray off the ball, which has been good for him too.

"Makaih's done a really good job playing with pace. He made some really good decisions last game."

Williams' role moved graduate Tyon Grant-Foster into a reserve role, where he still averaged 15 points last week. The 6-foot-7 swingman is shooting 54% from the field this month after previously being at 28%.

Putting the ball in Williams' hands more paid off from the first possession Saturday, when the initial set broke down, Williams got the ball back and set up senior guard Collin Moore for a corner 3-pointer.

"I'm still a combo guard, but more on the ball," Williams said. "Going up to the NBA or any pro, I'm going to be a guard so I'm going to need to work on it (playing point). I like it anyway because I get to facilitate for other guys and find people. In the last two games, I had seven and five assists, so that's good for me. One thing for me is working on turnovers and finding my shot still."

With Williams operating and defending the point, Harrison is able to play off the ball more often and spring his 3-point shot that has caught fire lately. In the last eight games, Harrison is 17 for 30 (57%) on 3s after previously being at 28% on the season.

"Ray's one of our better scorers, so we're just getting him off down screens and getting the ball to his hands," Williams said. "It's easier for him to not have to do everything."

Harrison still handles the point predominantly when Williams is out of the game, but GCU is so multifaceted and Drew allows such freedom that Moore and Grant-Foster regularly push in transition as well.

On Saturday, it led to the Lopes putting six scorers in double figures for the first time against a Division I opponent since 2018. The assist total could have been even higher if not for Tarleton's frequent fouls, leading to 39 free throw attempts for the Lopes.

"As a coach, you love to see that," Drew said of six double-digit scorers. "It means the guys are playing off each other and sharing the ball with each other."

Road mode

With two road games this season, GCU is tied with Oklahoma for the fewest road games played in the nation thus far. The Lopes, who have gone 2-2 in neutral-site games, are looking for their first true road win after dropping games at Louisiana Tech and Utah Valley.

Southern Utah, Thursday night's high-altitude stop, is 9-9 overall but 7-2 at home this season. GCU will play five of its next seven games on the road.

"When you go on the road, you've got to be even better than what you were before," Drew said. "You've got to be more connected. You've got to be tougher. And you've got to play a complete 40-minute game. Those are challenges for us that we need to be able to do on this road trip.

Unpackin' Jackson

With the changing eligibility of players with junior college backgrounds, GCU forward Traivar Jackson's redshirt plans changed to be activated last week and still return to the Lopes next season.

He played the final four minutes of Thursday's win with a memorable alleyoop dunk, and logged some rotation time in his 11 minutes Saturday. The 6-foot-6 Alaska native's first-half blocked shot against his former team, Tarleton State, sparked a fastbreak for Moore's spinning, overhead 3-point play and a 33-12 lead.

"Traivar's experience showed when he stepped in, and he knows our league," Drew said of Jackson, who played two seasons at Pima Community College in Tucson before being Tarleton State's sixth man last season. "He's been in these gyms. He's seen these teams before, so it's definitely a plus for us.

"He brings a level of athleticism that we really need, especially as we get into conference play. He can play multiple positions and defend multiple positions."

Lope tracks

The Lopes lead the nation with 20.3 free throw points per game. They are the only team to make at least 33 free throws in three games this season.
GCU has assisted on more than 93% of its made field goals twice this season (vs. Norfolk State and vs. Tarleton State). The rest of the nation has done so three times.
Over the past eight games, the Lopes are allowing 37.4% shooting. During that stretch, GCU's national ranking in opponent field goal percentage has risen from No. 259 to No. 74.
Harrison needs two points to pass Chad Briscoe (1991-93) for ninth place and 18 points to pass Gabe McGlothan (2020-24) on GCU's all-time scoring leaderboard. With his two seasons at Presbyterian, Harrison has 2,203 career points to rank eighth among active Division I players. His 582 career free throws rank second nationally among active players.
GCU has three WAC statistical leaders: Harrison for free throw percentage (88.9%), Grant-Foster and Moore for steals per game (1.94) and junior center Duke Brennan for offensive rebounds per game (3.4).
In the first GCU-Southern Utah meeting on Jan. 4, the Lopes won 82-71 at home with 19 offensive rebounds (10 by Brennan).
Due to injury, Thunderbirds leading scorer Dominique Ford played 10 minutes in a 75-52 loss Saturday at Seattle U. He was averaging 15.8 points per game and scored 22 in the Jan. 4 game at GCU.
Southern Utah ranks 37th nationally with 4.9 blocked shots per game. Sophomore Broke Felder, who is 6 feet 8, leads the WAC and ranks 15th nationally at 2.3 blocks per game.
The Thunderbirds are minus-3.2 per game in turnover margin for the 22nd-worst average nationally.
Southern Utah (9-9, 1-3 WAC) snapped a six-game losing streak Jan. 11 with a 73-68 home win against UT Arlington but lost 75-52 at Seattle U on Saturday.

Thursday, January 23 | 6:30 p.m. | America First Event Center | Cedar City, Utah

Road mode

Unpackin' Jackson

Lope tracks

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Duke Brennan

Tyon Grant-Foster

Ray Harrison

Traivar Jackson

Gabe McGlothan

Collin Moore

Makaih Williams

Grand Canyon University Athletics