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
Saturday, December 13
Phoenix, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
Coastal Carolina
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
GCU returns home with Shaw rising, Demirel coming
12/12/2025 12:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes play final nonconference game before opening MW play at Wyoming
All the opportunities ahead for Grand Canyon basketball involve hard work, toughness and optimism.
Lopes junior guard Caleb Shaw's and freshman center Efe Demirel's latest opportunity came with those characteristics when they were put in last Saturday's starting lineup for the Jerry Colangelo Classic.
GCU challenged and lost to Oklahoma State, one of eight undefeated teams in the nation, but the Lopes duo bolstered optimism for where GCU is going as it enters a Saturday night home game against Coastal Carolina (6-4).
Shaw matched his career scoring high against a Division I opponent with 19 points in his first start of the season. Demirel buried his previous career scoring high, 12 points, by making 10 of 11 shots for 22 points in a game that GCU (5-4) contested until the final minute at Mortgage Matchup Center.
The Lopes offense needed more punch, and Shaw and Demirel were like a jab-hook combination with pop.
For Shaw, it continued his recent bench production that came from a two-year overhaul of his jump shot. Since when he redshirted 2023-24, Shaw tirelessly tweaked his form and release to add more arc to a beeline shot that prompted the nickname "Flatbread" from Lopes assistant coach Marc Rodgers.
After being a 27% 3-point shooter as a Northern Colorado freshman, Shaw made 43% of 3s last season and 50% this season for GCU. This season's scoring average of 9.1 is a 60% bump over his first two seasons.
"It takes a long time," Shaw said. "I feel like it's just now getting to a spot where it's really consistent, and it's where I want it.
"With being able to shoot better, that opens up the drive when people try to take away your shot."
Much of the redshirt year's daily morning work occurred with former staffer Peyton Prudhomme, picking five to seven spots around the arc and requiring Shaw to make five consecutive made 3s at one spot before he moved to the next one.
Shaw's deep threat is much needed as GCU waits for other shooters to find their groove too. The rest of the team has made 24% of 3s this season, just as Shaw gets hotter with 6-of-10 shooting on 3s and 13-of-20 shooting overall in the past two games.
"I really liked the energy Caleb came with to start the game," said GCU head coach Bryce Drew, who is Shaw's uncle. "It gave us some confidence on offense.
"As your game progresses and you get bigger and stronger, sometimes you have to tweak things to keep progressing forward. Caleb is always in the gym. When he does make tweaks, he puts in a lot of time with repping it."
Shaw's improved ball care is emblematic of how the team has improved there. The Lopes only made nine turnovers against Oklahoma State and progressed with the connections to Demirel, whose post-up and roll availability was rewarded better Saturday.
Since the Nov. 15 loss at Saint Louis, Demirel is averaging 10.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 24 minutes per game. The 7-foot-1 Turk has made 72.4% of his shots over that time to re-enter the starting five.
"We've been working for that, so I needed to do something for my team," Demirel said. "I think we did a great job sometimes.
"I'm trying to do my best for the team."
Demirel's 65.1% shooting from the field on the season would rank in the national top 20 with more shots to qualify. He has kept a low foul rate, particularly for a freshman, and delivered the second-best rebound rate on the team to graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane.
"It was really fun to see him have a breakout game like that," Drew said. "He is still a freshman. Consistency is a really big thing with younger players. You're trying to get that consistent effort in practice that will then carry over to being consistent in games. He's really had a good few days of practice being consistent with his physicality, his approach and his focus."
The Lopes are going to see a similar defense to the one they implement Saturday night with Coastal Carolina associate head coach Ryne Lightfoot and assistant coach Kylen Butler being ex-GCU staffers under Drew.
The Chanticleers ranks ninth nationally for opponent field goal percentage (36.7%). Their foul rate (21.5 per game, 13th highest nationally) will prepare GCU for next week's Mountain West opener at Wyoming (22.4 fouls per game, third nationally).
Both teams have been off since last Saturday, when Coastal Carolina beat Winthrop for a second time. Winthrop lost at Arkansas by one point earlier this season.
"As a coaching staff, we really enjoyed when we can practice," Drew said. "We have done multiple sessions. The guys have worked really hard, and it's been a really productive week."
Lopes junior guard Caleb Shaw's and freshman center Efe Demirel's latest opportunity came with those characteristics when they were put in last Saturday's starting lineup for the Jerry Colangelo Classic.
GCU challenged and lost to Oklahoma State, one of eight undefeated teams in the nation, but the Lopes duo bolstered optimism for where GCU is going as it enters a Saturday night home game against Coastal Carolina (6-4).
Shaw matched his career scoring high against a Division I opponent with 19 points in his first start of the season. Demirel buried his previous career scoring high, 12 points, by making 10 of 11 shots for 22 points in a game that GCU (5-4) contested until the final minute at Mortgage Matchup Center.
The Lopes offense needed more punch, and Shaw and Demirel were like a jab-hook combination with pop.
For Shaw, it continued his recent bench production that came from a two-year overhaul of his jump shot. Since when he redshirted 2023-24, Shaw tirelessly tweaked his form and release to add more arc to a beeline shot that prompted the nickname "Flatbread" from Lopes assistant coach Marc Rodgers.After being a 27% 3-point shooter as a Northern Colorado freshman, Shaw made 43% of 3s last season and 50% this season for GCU. This season's scoring average of 9.1 is a 60% bump over his first two seasons.
"It takes a long time," Shaw said. "I feel like it's just now getting to a spot where it's really consistent, and it's where I want it.
"With being able to shoot better, that opens up the drive when people try to take away your shot."
Much of the redshirt year's daily morning work occurred with former staffer Peyton Prudhomme, picking five to seven spots around the arc and requiring Shaw to make five consecutive made 3s at one spot before he moved to the next one.
Shaw's deep threat is much needed as GCU waits for other shooters to find their groove too. The rest of the team has made 24% of 3s this season, just as Shaw gets hotter with 6-of-10 shooting on 3s and 13-of-20 shooting overall in the past two games.
"I really liked the energy Caleb came with to start the game," said GCU head coach Bryce Drew, who is Shaw's uncle. "It gave us some confidence on offense.
"As your game progresses and you get bigger and stronger, sometimes you have to tweak things to keep progressing forward. Caleb is always in the gym. When he does make tweaks, he puts in a lot of time with repping it."
Shaw's improved ball care is emblematic of how the team has improved there. The Lopes only made nine turnovers against Oklahoma State and progressed with the connections to Demirel, whose post-up and roll availability was rewarded better Saturday.Since the Nov. 15 loss at Saint Louis, Demirel is averaging 10.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 24 minutes per game. The 7-foot-1 Turk has made 72.4% of his shots over that time to re-enter the starting five.
"We've been working for that, so I needed to do something for my team," Demirel said. "I think we did a great job sometimes.
"I'm trying to do my best for the team."
Demirel's 65.1% shooting from the field on the season would rank in the national top 20 with more shots to qualify. He has kept a low foul rate, particularly for a freshman, and delivered the second-best rebound rate on the team to graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane.
"It was really fun to see him have a breakout game like that," Drew said. "He is still a freshman. Consistency is a really big thing with younger players. You're trying to get that consistent effort in practice that will then carry over to being consistent in games. He's really had a good few days of practice being consistent with his physicality, his approach and his focus."
The Lopes are going to see a similar defense to the one they implement Saturday night with Coastal Carolina associate head coach Ryne Lightfoot and assistant coach Kylen Butler being ex-GCU staffers under Drew.
The Chanticleers ranks ninth nationally for opponent field goal percentage (36.7%). Their foul rate (21.5 per game, 13th highest nationally) will prepare GCU for next week's Mountain West opener at Wyoming (22.4 fouls per game, third nationally).
Both teams have been off since last Saturday, when Coastal Carolina beat Winthrop for a second time. Winthrop lost at Arkansas by one point earlier this season.
"As a coaching staff, we really enjoyed when we can practice," Drew said. "We have done multiple sessions. The guys have worked really hard, and it's been a really productive week."
Lope tracks
- GCU is allowing opponents the fourth-lowest offensive rebounding average (7.4 per game) in the nation.
- Lopes graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane ranks 16th nationally at 10.2 rebounds per game.
- Saturday will mark GCU's first game against a Sun Belt opponent since 2018.
- In the only previous GCU-Coastal Carolina meeting, the Chanticleers won 60-58 at home in the 2016 CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
- Coastal Carolina has not played in Arizona since a 1993 NCAA Tournament game against Michigan in Tucson.
- Chanticleers 6-foot-6 junior guard Rasheed Jones is coming off a career-high 23-point game that included five assists in Saturday's win against Winthrop.
- Coastal Carolina will not play a home game in December.
Players Mentioned
Thursday, June 11
Wednesday, June 10
Friday, June 05
Wednesday, June 03