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
Rapid recap: GCU 82, Southern Utah 71
1/4/2025 7:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Brennan records 2nd consecutive double-double; Grant-Foster nets 23
Grand Canyon opened WAC play with an 82-71 home win Saturday against Southern Utah that stretched the Lopes' winning streak to five games.
GCU (11-4, 1-0 WAC) lost a 13-point lead in the second half before restoring it to double digits with a dominance in second-chance points and a return to its usual advantage in free throws. The Lopes closed out the Thunderbirds with a 24-12 finish over the final 7:12 of the game to make head coach Bryce Drew 5-0 in WAC openers.
GCU junior Duke Brennan grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to finish with 16 points and 15 rebounds, his second consecutive double-double. The 6-foot-10 center is averaging career highs for points per game (9.9) and rebounds per game (9.2) this season.
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 (11-4, 1-0 WAC) lost a 13-point lead in the second half before restoring it to double digits with a dominance in second-chance points and a return to its usual advantage in free throws. The Lopes closed out the Thunderbirds with a 24-12 finish over the final 7:12 of the game to make head coach Bryce Drew 5-0 in WAC openers.
Key player
GCU junior Duke Brennan grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to finish with 16 points and 15 rebounds, his second consecutive double-double. The 6-foot-10 center is averaging career highs for points per game (9.9) and rebounds per game (9.2) this season.
Key moment
The Lopes trailed for the first time in the game, 59-58 with 7:40 remaining, when Brennan scored 11 of GCU's next 15 points on second chances. That included a 3-point play that put the Lopes ahead 73-64 with 3:24 to go in the game.Key statistics
GCU outscored Southern Utah by 16 on second-chance points and by 15 and 3-pointers. The Lopes scored 25 second-chance points and made 11 of 20 shots from 3-point range with five players hitting 3s.Quotable
Lopes head coach Bryce Drew on the 25-10 rebounding advantage of the second half: "We talk about rebounding a lot and how important it is. It's such a big part of the game. Duke was huge. Other guys got their hands on balls. Southern Utah is much better than their record. They lost some games with their guards out. Now that they're back at full strength, they're back how they were when they were 8-2. They have some really talented players and take good shots. We're thankful for the win."What's next?
GCU plays its first WAC road game on Thursday night at Utah Valley (9-6, 1-0 WAC), which opened conference play Thursday with a 64-53 home win against Abilene Christian.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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