Level-up chance comes vs. Utah in Palm Desert

Tuesday, November 25

Palm Desert, Calif. / Acrisure Arena

10 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

Utah

Photo by: Jayden Todd

11/24/2025 7:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

GCU Notes Utah Notes

Tuesday's winner on CBS Sports Network plays Iowa-Ole Miss winner

By: Paul Coro

PALM DESERT, Calif. – These programs around Grand Canyon at the Acrisure Classic are the ones the Lopes aspired to stand alongside shoulder to shoulder when GCU's Division I era began.

The Lopes are starting the nationally televised event Tuesday night against Big 12 program Utah and will play either Iowa from the Big Ten or Ole Miss from the SEC on Wednesday night at Acrisure Arena. The event's other programs enter at 15-1 cumulatively.

And no matter the stumbles in starting 3-2, GCU has a platform to prove where the program has progressed, starting with a CBS Sports Network tipoff at 10 p.m. (Phoenix time) against Utah (5-1).

"We know exactly what we're going to prepare for," Lopes senior guard Jaden Henley said. "We hit the drawing board after Saint Louis (a 78-64 loss on Nov. 15). We have to win two big games. That's what we've got to do. We're going to step into the gym with a clean slate."

Utah will roll out a backcourt with 6-foot-3 junior Terrence Brown, the nation's second-leading scorer at 25.2 points per game, and 6-foot-2 senior Don McHenry, who scored 24 for Western Kentucky at GCU last season.

The Utes are averaging 86.3 points per game under first-year head coach Alex Jensen, who played on Utah's 1998 national runner-up team and spent his previous 12 coaching years on NBA or G League staffs.

"Across the country, there are a lot of teams who wish they could have some early-season games back, but you can't," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "You've got to look forward. This is a great chance for us to get better as a basketball team after these games.

"They have great size and length, and they can really score the ball, but it's more about us and executing what we want to do systematically. That's my top concern."

Brown, who ranked eighth nationally in scoring last season for Fairliegh Dickinson, is tied with Oklahoma's Xzayvier Brown for the longest active streak of double-digit scoring games (37). He opened the season going 1 for 15 on 3-pointers but has made 7 of 13 in the past two games.

With 6-foot-9 returnee Keanu Dawes posting double-digit scoring and at least 10 points and nine rebounds in each game, Utah won its first five games at home before a Thursday 92-85 home loss to Cal Poly in which it trailed by as many as 15 points.

The Utes and the Lopes each played Purdue Fort Wayne this month, with GCU winning 90-71 in the season opener and Utah winning 85-77 on Nov. 18.

Brown and McHenry combined for 42 points per game, but the bench only averages 16 points – the 22nd-lowest clip in the nation. Brown is the first Utah player to post five consecutive 20-point games since Andrew Bogut did it in 2004-05.

"They have really dynamic guards who can really score the ball," Drew said. "They're both prolific scores. They both can make 3s and make it off the bounce. They can drive it to the rim. They hit tough 2s in the mid-area. They're good players who we're going to have to do our best to contain them."

GCU visited Acrisure Arena last season for one of its better wins of the season, a 78-71 victory against Stanford last November. GCU's only returners from that game are junior guards Caleb Shaw and Makaih Williams.

The Lopes progressed with a Friday win against Northwestern State, but they left plenty of work to level up for an event stocked with high-profile opponents. This is where building a roster with the 10th-most experience in the nation, per KenPom.com, can show its merits.

"That's what I love about this team," Henley said. "We all trust each other to a T. It's definitely one family. And whoever starts, whoever plays, it doesn't matter. We're all in there for one reason, and it's to win."

Lope tracks

GCU graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane ranks 12th nationally in rebounds with 11.0 per game after posted four consecutive double-digit rebound games for the first time in his career.
The Lopes rank 20th nationally in free throw percentage at 79.5% with junior guard Dusty Stromer at 92.9%, Williams at 88.9% and Henley at 85.7%.
Utah blocks 4.7 shots per game, ranking 71st nationally.
The Utes committed 16 turnovers in the loss to Cal Poly after having a six-turnover game earlier this season against Holy Cross.
The Acrisure Classic is part of a four-day, 18-game event at Acrisure Arena. If GCU wins, it will play the Iowa-Ole Miss winner at 7:30 Phoenix time on Wednesday. With a loss, it would play at 10 p.m. Phoenix time.
Both GCU games will broadcast on CBS Sports Network with play-by-play announcer Ed Cohen and analyst Dan Dickau. They are the first two of at least 13 nationally televised games for the Lopes this season.