Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 , Loss , 74, to, 79
M Basketball
at Baylor
L 74-79
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Monday, November 10
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
Northern Illinois
Defense, Moore getting mended entering Monday game
11/9/2025 6:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Northern Illinois game offers chance to repair Moore's teeth, GCU’s defense
Grand Canyon is working on fixing two eye-opening holes this week – the uncharacteristic one that it showed in its defense Friday night and the unfortunate one that Lopes guard Brian Moore Jr. suffered by having his top two front teeth knocked out.
The GCU losses hurt emotionally and physically, and both are being repaired. Moore is in the good hands of dentists, and the GCU defense is in the good hands of Lopes sixth-year head coach Bryce Drew.
In the first five seasons of GCU's Drew era (2020-25), the Lopes hold the nation's fifth-lowest opponent shooting percentage at 40.0%. Only Houston, Tennessee, San Diego State and UC Irvine have been stingier than the Lopes, whose defensive base built four NCAA Tournament teams in that time.
What happened Monday night in a 90-81 home loss to Youngstown State is hoped to be a blip as the Lopes aim to put their defense back on track against Northern Illinois at Global Credit Union Arena.
"I thought out defense was not good, and then after watching the film, I thought it was even worse," said Drew, whose GCU teams have allowed 41% shooting or worse in five consecutive seasons. "Some is schematics. Some is breaking habits. In games, some players revert to habits they've done in other programs, and we've got to break those habits to get our defensive system because we gave up way too many points on angle of our footwork, coverages, rotations and things we've worked on in drills during the week."
On Monday, GCU allowed the highest regulation-length scoring total since it began playing at the Division I level in 2013. It was the first time that a Lopes opponent had 12 made 3-pointers and 24 made free throws in the same D-I game.
GCU allowed 52 second-half points, keeping it from having a lead for the final 16 minutes.
The Lopes are starting an all-new starting lineup for the first time in their D-I era. GCU is incorporating four players who started for other programs and a freshman center, Efe Demirel, who came from Turkey in August.
"Hopefully, that loss will equal a lot of gain for us the rest of the year," Drew said.
Moore, who went to the NCAA Tournament last season with Norfolk State, addressed the team in the postgame locker room Monday night after a game in which he returned to action with two teeth missing.
"My biggest thing is the little details cost us that game," Moore said. "Sometimes, I think we take some things for granted that Coach says, whether it's the angle of a foot or boxing out this way. Those are the things that can cost you games. It's an early wake-up call.
"It's just playing with toughness, playing with that GCU swagger, playing with that home swagger for this home game and the following ones."
With just less than five minutes to play, a loose ball went off power forward Nana Owusu-Anane's foot and kicked toward midcourt. Moore dived head first for the ball as Youngstown State guard Jason Nelson head toward the ball and knocked Moore's left wrist into his mouth.
Despite losing his top two teeth, Moore re-entered the action but the Penguins were already making a 3-pointer with the five-on-four situation.
"I bit my hand," Moore said. "My arm hit the player and my arm ricocheted back and hit me right in the mouth. When I got up, I thought I was OK. But as soon as I looked at my hand, I had a big gash. A lot of the blood came from my hand gushing out."
Moore, whose left wrist swelled from the incident, went to a late-night dentist and has switched to eating eggs, mashed potatoes and oatmeal with smoothies until he gets replacements.
"That's one thing about me: I'm going to fight," Moore said. "If my feet can move, I'm going to fight. We need to make more winning plays like that, and I feel like it starts with me being an older guy on the team and one of the tougher guys on the team."
Northern Illinois (1-1) enters Monday night's game after losing 97-72 at No. 24 Wisconsin on Friday night. The Huskies opened their season with a 102-82 home win against Louisiana-Monroe.
This marks Northern Illinois' first game in Arizona since 1974.
"I like this team," Drew said. "I like the potential of this team. We're nowhere near it right now, but I think the focus has been better the last two days. The understanding of our system is better. Sometimes, a loss can be one of your greatest gains, and we're hopeful that can happen."
The GCU losses hurt emotionally and physically, and both are being repaired. Moore is in the good hands of dentists, and the GCU defense is in the good hands of Lopes sixth-year head coach Bryce Drew.
In the first five seasons of GCU's Drew era (2020-25), the Lopes hold the nation's fifth-lowest opponent shooting percentage at 40.0%. Only Houston, Tennessee, San Diego State and UC Irvine have been stingier than the Lopes, whose defensive base built four NCAA Tournament teams in that time.What happened Monday night in a 90-81 home loss to Youngstown State is hoped to be a blip as the Lopes aim to put their defense back on track against Northern Illinois at Global Credit Union Arena.
"I thought out defense was not good, and then after watching the film, I thought it was even worse," said Drew, whose GCU teams have allowed 41% shooting or worse in five consecutive seasons. "Some is schematics. Some is breaking habits. In games, some players revert to habits they've done in other programs, and we've got to break those habits to get our defensive system because we gave up way too many points on angle of our footwork, coverages, rotations and things we've worked on in drills during the week."
On Monday, GCU allowed the highest regulation-length scoring total since it began playing at the Division I level in 2013. It was the first time that a Lopes opponent had 12 made 3-pointers and 24 made free throws in the same D-I game.
GCU allowed 52 second-half points, keeping it from having a lead for the final 16 minutes.
The Lopes are starting an all-new starting lineup for the first time in their D-I era. GCU is incorporating four players who started for other programs and a freshman center, Efe Demirel, who came from Turkey in August.
"Hopefully, that loss will equal a lot of gain for us the rest of the year," Drew said.
Moore, who went to the NCAA Tournament last season with Norfolk State, addressed the team in the postgame locker room Monday night after a game in which he returned to action with two teeth missing."My biggest thing is the little details cost us that game," Moore said. "Sometimes, I think we take some things for granted that Coach says, whether it's the angle of a foot or boxing out this way. Those are the things that can cost you games. It's an early wake-up call.
"It's just playing with toughness, playing with that GCU swagger, playing with that home swagger for this home game and the following ones."
With just less than five minutes to play, a loose ball went off power forward Nana Owusu-Anane's foot and kicked toward midcourt. Moore dived head first for the ball as Youngstown State guard Jason Nelson head toward the ball and knocked Moore's left wrist into his mouth.
Despite losing his top two teeth, Moore re-entered the action but the Penguins were already making a 3-pointer with the five-on-four situation.
"I bit my hand," Moore said. "My arm hit the player and my arm ricocheted back and hit me right in the mouth. When I got up, I thought I was OK. But as soon as I looked at my hand, I had a big gash. A lot of the blood came from my hand gushing out."
Moore, whose left wrist swelled from the incident, went to a late-night dentist and has switched to eating eggs, mashed potatoes and oatmeal with smoothies until he gets replacements.
"That's one thing about me: I'm going to fight," Moore said. "If my feet can move, I'm going to fight. We need to make more winning plays like that, and I feel like it starts with me being an older guy on the team and one of the tougher guys on the team."
Northern Illinois (1-1) enters Monday night's game after losing 97-72 at No. 24 Wisconsin on Friday night. The Huskies opened their season with a 102-82 home win against Louisiana-Monroe.
This marks Northern Illinois' first game in Arizona since 1974.
"I like this team," Drew said. "I like the potential of this team. We're nowhere near it right now, but I think the focus has been better the last two days. The understanding of our system is better. Sometimes, a loss can be one of your greatest gains, and we're hopeful that can happen."
Players Mentioned
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