Lopes' Henley scores game-high 28 points in all-new starting lineup
By: Paul Coro
WACO, Texas – The result and the statistics did not count, but Grand Canyon felt every bit of a Friday exhibition at Baylor.
The Lopes' bloody mouth, bruised hand, black eye and poked eye hurt but not as much as falling behind the Bears by 11 points with 8 ½ minutes remaining at Foster Pavilion. GCU senior guard Jaden Henley
GCU left Baylor feeling better about itself despite a 79-74 loss because of how it rallied down the stretch and how it revealed what the Lopes have by entrusting the point guard spot to 6-foot-7 senior Jaden Henley.
The exhibition's spotlight started out on the brotherly battle between GCU head coach Bryce Drew and his older brother, Baylor head coach Scott Drew, but the shine came from Henley during the game. The transfer from UNLV scored a game-high 28 points with nine coming during GCU's 11-3, late-game rally that ended when Lopes senior guard Brian Moore Jr, was called for traveling on a Eurostep.
"I'm really proud of them," Bryce Drew said of a team that had junior guard Makaih Williams out hurt to leave one Lope, junior guard Caleb Shaw, who logged game time last season. "There was a lot of really good takeaways from this game, playing on the road. I'm most proud, when we went down 11, of how they fought back and had it at a four-point game and had a tough call."
Henley, a part-time point guard last season, is part of a starting lineup of first-year Lopes who were playing another team for the first time Friday. He committed a pair of early turnovers but took better care of the ball as the game progressed and then took over a stretch with his ability to split defensive coverages and draw fouls in the paint.
Henley, who made 11 of 12 free throws, earned four trips to the charity stripe in a 2-minute, 13-second stretch after Baylor had taken its largest lead at 65-54. When Henley added a driving score moments later, GCU trailed 71-67 with 3:29 to go.
"I work every day on having that ability to go out there and showcase my skill," Henley said. "I love the opportunity, and Drew has plenty of trust in me, and so do my teammates.
"I was kind getting adjusted to playing someone new, adjusting to their defense, and just being solid with myself. My teammates got me out of my own head and got me back going."
Lopes junior guard Dusty Stromer made a corner 3-pointer to reduce Baylor's lead to 73-70 with 1:59 to go, but Bears senior guard Obi Ogbim scored on a follow to erase GCU's last chance at a single-possession game.
Stromer's 3 was rare for GCU in one of the game's largest categorical differences. The Lopes made 4 of 18 from 3-point range, where Baylor was 12 of 24 with frequent space to shoot.
But Stromer's effort was not rare, as he stood out with hustle and defense beyond delivering 15 points and four assists in a starting lineup with Moore, Henley, graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane and freshman center Efe Demirel.
"Every chance I step on the court, I play as hard as I can," Stromer said. "People are going to see a lot of that this year."
That starting lineup shot the Lopes out to a 13-6 lead, opening the game with a play from the Drew brothers' Hall of Fame father, Homer – an Owusu-Anane touch assist off Demirel's jump ball tip to Stromer for a breakaway dunk.
GCU still led 35-34 when Stromer's steal gave Shaw a fastbreak dunk, but Cincinnati 6-foot-6 transfer Dan Skillings scored on consecutive trips to finish his 15-point, eight-rebound first half and give Baylor a 39-35 halftime lead.
Drew focused his halftime talk on the Lopes getting outrebounded and yielding 13 points off turnovers.
"We really cleaned those things up in the second half, which was nice, but then we had too many breakdowns," Bryce Drew said. "We didn't follow shooters out. Our bigs didn't get up and give us the support we needed. I'd rather have it happen now than three weeks from now."
The Lopes nearly shut out Skillings in the second half until the final minute, and Stromer led the defensive effort on Agbim, who averaged 17.9 points last season at Wyoming but went 2 for 10 from the field for five points Friday.
Moore added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists for GCU while Owusu-Anane, who missed last season at Brown for a shoulder injury, began his way back to in-season play with six points on 2-of-10 shooting and a team-high eight rebounds.
"It was still a team effort," Bryce Drew said. "I thought we moved the ball well. A lot of guys touched the ball. We liked the balance of all five pieces moving together out there. It was fun to watch.
"The fight in our team is what I liked most."
When it was over, Bryce and Scott Drew shared a press conference with Homer sitting between them.
"It was great for both of us to have a close game, a competitive game," Scott Drew said. "GCU's gone to four (NCAA) Tournaments in the last five years. Mountain West has them preseason top three. They're going to have a great year if they stay injury-free and keep listening to coaches, and they have great size and length."
Bryce Drew joked that even though he knew his brother's sets and taught the Lopes them, they still could not stop them.
"I love him, but preparing for him is as hard as anyone I've ever had to prepare for in my life because of all the stuff they run," Bryce said.
Homer watched the game in neutral colors with his youngest grandson, Bryson, the son of Bryce who turned to him during the game and said, "This is cool."
"The great thing is that I knew a Drew would win," Homer said. "My proudest moment came Monday or Tuesday when these two and myself got on the phone. These two were sharing information to make the game so that they can learn things that will help them."
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Lopes junior guard Dusty Stromer made a corner 3-pointer to reduce Baylor's lead to 73-70 with 1:59 to go, but Bears senior guard Obi Ogbim scored on a follow to erase GCU's last chance at a single-possession game.
"We really cleaned those things up in the second half, which was nice, but then we had too many breakdowns," Bryce Drew said. "We didn't follow shooters out. Our bigs didn't get up and give us the support we needed. I'd rather have it happen now than three weeks from now."
Moore added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists for GCU while Owusu-Anane, who missed last season at Brown for a shoulder injury, began his way back to in-season play with six points on 2-of-10 shooting and a team-high eight rebounds.
