Ball-care win over Utah puts GCU against Iowa

Tuesday, November 25

Palm Desert, Calif. / Acrisure Arena

10 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

4-2,0-0Mountain West

Utah

5-2,0-0Big 12

Utah

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

11/26/2025 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

Lopes reach Acrisure Classic title game despite not making a 3 for 1st time in D-I era

By: Paul Coro

PALM DESERT, Calif. – Grand Canyon could not make a statement at the Acrisure Classic without making some noise.

The Lopes rose to the rim and raised voices to the brim in a dominant 68-58 first-round victory against Utah on Tuesday night. GCU earned a return trip to Acrisure Arena for the ultimate sounding board Wednesday night – a nationally televised championship game against undefeated Iowa with a raucous Lopes Nation crowd that included about 500 Havocs ready to return.

Palm Desert, CA Nov. 25, 2025: The Lopes outwork Utah 68-58 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Desert, California. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Palm Desert, CA Nov. 25, 2025: The Lopes outwork Utah 68-58 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Desert, California. David Kadlubowski/GCU

GCU (4-2) won despite not making a 3-pointer in a game for the first time in its Division I era (since 2013-14). The Lopes became the first team in the nation this season to prevail without a made 3 by following a football edict – win time of possession.

A 10-possession advantage was earned with GCU having eight fewer turnovers and two more offensive rebounds than Utah (5-2). The Lopes led for 38 of 40 minutes and by at least 10 points for the final 5:51.

With fewer turnovers (six) than GCU committed against any Division I opponent last season, the Lopes only made one errant pass in the Acrisure Classic nightcap that had a 9:10 p.m. tipoff in Palm Desert.

If the Lopes can resemble that level of ball care and defense again Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. Phoenix time), they will give themselves a chance to make more noise against Iowa on CBS Sprots Network. The Hawkeyes improved to No. 22 in KenPom rankings by beating Ole Miss 74-69 earlier Tuesday night at Acrisure Arena.

"Hopefully, we can ride some adrenaline," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said.

"This is a great tournament – great teams in the field. We're thankful to be in it. Our crowd was spectacular. Iowa brought some people too. Hopefully, we'll go out there rested and can give them the best look we can."

Palm Desert, CA Nov. 25, 2025: The Lopes outwork Utah 68-58 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Desert, California. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Lopes senior guard Jaden Henley helped do that in the late Tuesday game, when he made two steals that he turned into a layup and a slam in the game's first 3:25 to help his team to an 11-3 lead.

Henley finished with 18 points, once again doing damage by drawing fouls on drives for 8-of-9 free throw shooting.

"He was so dynamic to start the game," Drew said of Henley. "He came out and set a tone for the entire team with those steals on defense and the electrifying dunk. Jaden was just spectacular at both ends."

After some unrecognizable defensive results for Drew's program this month, the defense shined for GCU against Utah,

The Utes scored 28 points below their season average, and Lopes senior guard Brian Moore Jr. led a team effort on Utah star guard Terrence Brown. After finishing eighth nationally in scoring last season, Brown ranked second this season at 25.2 points per game until GCU held him to nine points on 3-for-11 shooting.

It broke his string of 37 consecutive double-digit scoring games, which he shared as the nation's longest active streak.

The Utes shot 41.2%, crawling over 40% with a 4-for-6 finish as the teams exchanged scores in the final minute.

Palm Desert, CA Nov. 25, 2025: The Lopes outwork Utah 68-58 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Desert, California. David Kadlubowski/GCU

"I loved our defense," Drew said. "They have two of the better scoring guards in the country. It wasn't one-on-one defense, but it was five guys being aware of where he (Brown) was, building walls in transition and contesting him at the rim. We were really active on defense. I loved how we were anticipating and being aggressive on that end."

The Lopes won despite going 0 for 10 from 3-point range. Their first game of the D-I era without a made 3 also marked their fewest 3-point attempts in a game since February 2020.

With college and 3-point lines marked on the Acrisure Arena floor, the Lopes gravitated to the darker outer line and usually saw their shots fall short. They went 0 for 7 on 3s in the first half and only took three 3s in the second half with one being forced by an expiring shot clock.

GCU scored 62 of its 68 points either in the paint or at the free throw line.

"It really speaks volumes to our defense and our guys attacking the rim," Drew said. "I thought we did a really good job attacking the rim. I thought Efe (Demirel) had some really good finishes that the guards found him on. I really liked our pace on offense. I thought our ball control was good."

After matching his season scoring high of 11 points on Friday, Demirel topped that with 12 points in 19 minutes of his second consecutive game off the bench.

The 7-foot-1 Turkish freshman scored on a post move on his first touch and kept that confidence to score on pick-and-rolls, tip-ins, alleyoops and free throws.

"He was aggressive attacking the rim," Drew said. "We saw him finishing above the rim. I thought his defense was good. He was aware out there. He didn't really have any breakdowns. And he contested the rim. He had a couple fouls doing it, but he was aggressive. He's got long arms and big hands. When he does that, it helps our defense.

"It was a great sign for him, a huge step up."

Palm Desert, CA Nov. 25, 2025: The Lopes outwork Utah 68-58 at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Desert, California. David Kadlubowski/GCU

GCU's ball movement and transition offense led to 11 layups and six dunks when Utah's defense wasn't foul-prone.

When the Utes made their last push to trail 47-41 with 8:20 remaining, pinpoint passes from Moore and junior guard Makaih Williams set up back-to-back dunks by graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane (nine points, nine rebounds) and junior guard Caleb Shaw.

Those were the first two of five consecutive GCU field goals by dunk, including a driving Henley slam and two Demirel alleyoops from Williams and Henley.

"I give Bryce and Grand Canyon credit," Utah head coach Alex Jensen said. "They did a good job. It's kind of frustrating – the unforced turnovers. It's just a matter of slowing down and letting the game come to you. We gave up 17 points off turnovers. The free throw line was disappointing to me. That's one thing you can have control over."

After stifling Brown's downhill, explosive game, the Lopes face a different kind of challenge Wednesday night with Iowa's top scorer – senior Bennett Stirtz. The 6-foot-4 guard has gone 15 for 28 on 3-point shots this season after sinking six 3s in Iowa's 74-69 win against Ole Miss. He scored 29, one off his career high, and played all 40 minutes.

Hawkeyes head coach Ben McCollum previously led Northwest Missouri State to four Division II national championships and went 31-4 in his lone season at Drake last season, when he guided the Bulldogs to an NCAA Tournament first-round upset of Missouri.

Iowa's 6-0 start is the longest undefeated start by a first-year Hawkeyes coach since Dr. Tom Davis in 1987-88.

In addition to Stirtz having arguably his best game with Iowa, Hawkeyes 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman Cooper Koch delivered his best game with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Ole Miss.

"He was ready to go," McCollum said of Stirtz, who made 9 of 20 from the field and 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. "He's always ready to go. Part of it is it's what the defenses gives you. They were switching everything. Naturally, you punish mismatches, and that's what we did. Then a couple of times, he just went at whatever matchup he felt like going at. He was fantastic."