Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Iowa on November 26, 2025 , Loss , 46, to, 59
M Basketball
vs Iowa
L 46-59
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Monday, December 22
Phoenix, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
IU Indy
Photo by: Jayden Todd
New rotation clicks entering nonconference finale
12/21/2025 7:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
With Shaw, Demirel starting, Williams hits stride as GCU's 6th man
To play their best two first halves of the season in the last two wins, Grand Canyon needed the experiment in a tight loss to Oklahoma State.
The Lopes narrowly fell to the Cowboys on Dec. 6, but that game's new starting lineup has sparked first-half leads of 52-25 against Coastal Carolina and 45-26 at Wyoming in the wins since then.
The turn of play could be the GCU basketball gift that keeps giving into the holiday if the Lopes (7-4) carry that momentum through Monday's a 6 p.m. nonconference finale against uber-fast-playing IU Indy at Global Credit Union Arena.
"Those five set a tremendous tone for us," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said.
The return of freshman center Efe Demirel to the Lopes starting lineup and giving junior guard Caleb Shaw his first starts of the season pushed Oklahoma State (11-1) to the limit on Dec. 6 while unlocking their games.
Demirel had a 22-point breakout night against Oklahoma State, but even his following games of six and seven points gave production he had not been delivering previously.
At Wyoming, Demirel opened the game by making a post-up jump hook on the first possession, and he helped close out the game with a critically timed blocked shot after the Cowboys had cut a 22-point deficit to 14.
"I thought when Efe made that first basket, it got us some confidence early," Drew said.
In his three starts, Shaw has made 17 of 32 shots (53%) with multiple 3-point makes in each game. With that 7-of-16 shooting on 3s, he is at 47.2% for the season (top 50 nationally for players with at least 35 attempts).
Shaw went from averaging 7.9 points in the first eight games to 15.0 over the past three games.
Without Shaw's energy off the bench, junior guard Makaih Williams has been a key sixth man since returning to a reserve role for the past three games.
"He was really good last game," Drew said of Williams against Coastal Carolina. "I think he was even better this game (at Wyoming). He just had a lot of poise with the ball. He had play longer minutes with Brian's (Brian Moore Jr.'s) foul trouble. Offensively and defensively, Makaih was under control and made really good decisions and reads all day."
Williams is shooting 50% from the field and 33% on 3s while averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in that span. He still is playing 25.6 minutes per game and has made only two turnovers in those three games.
For the first time in GCU seasons, Williams has scored at least 16 points in consecutive games.
"We still have a lot of guys who are new," Williams said. "We're still meshing together and trying to figure out how to ultimately play together. We're doing a great job doing that, especially the last two games, and we're going to keep doing that."
The lineup change was challenged defensively against Oklahoma State, but the Lopes have allowed 41% or lower shooting in the other five games of GCU's past games.
The Lopes are returning their defense to the program standard that Drew established to rank fifth nationally for opponent field goal percentage (40.2) over his first five GCU seasons.
The challenge Saturday with IU Indy (4-9 overall, 2-9 vs. Division I opponents) comes with style of play. The Jaguars play the fastest pace in the nation with an average offensive possession of 14 seconds and a nonstop full-court defensive press, which Wyoming implemented some Saturday against GCU with limited success.
IU Indy, which opened the season with a 118-102 loss at Ohio State, has been a team of extremes and intrigue. Both come because of a breakneck system installed by first-year head coach Ben Howlett, who previously led Division II West Liberty to the 2023 national championship game.
The Jaguars lead the nation in assists (21.8 per game) and cause the fourth-most opponent turnovers (18.6 per game) for the eight-best turnover margin in the nation (plus-5.8 per game) and ninth-most fastbreak points (18.7 per game).
But IU Indy also has allowed the fourth-highest opponent field goal percentage (50.9%) and the second-most points (91.8 per game) while fouling the most (22.8 per game). GCU played the second-highest fouling team, Wyoming, on Saturday.
"It's definitely going to be a tough turnaround in 48 hours," Drew said. "They press the whole game. We have to be better handling the ball and attacking pressure.
"It will be our last game before Christmas. Getting back home will be nice in front of our home crowd. Lopes fans, we need you to come out. We need you there. They press a lot. There's a lot of possessions. We're going to need a lot of energy in the building to help us."
The Lopes narrowly fell to the Cowboys on Dec. 6, but that game's new starting lineup has sparked first-half leads of 52-25 against Coastal Carolina and 45-26 at Wyoming in the wins since then.
The turn of play could be the GCU basketball gift that keeps giving into the holiday if the Lopes (7-4) carry that momentum through Monday's a 6 p.m. nonconference finale against uber-fast-playing IU Indy at Global Credit Union Arena.
"Those five set a tremendous tone for us," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said.
The return of freshman center Efe Demirel to the Lopes starting lineup and giving junior guard Caleb Shaw his first starts of the season pushed Oklahoma State (11-1) to the limit on Dec. 6 while unlocking their games.
Demirel had a 22-point breakout night against Oklahoma State, but even his following games of six and seven points gave production he had not been delivering previously.At Wyoming, Demirel opened the game by making a post-up jump hook on the first possession, and he helped close out the game with a critically timed blocked shot after the Cowboys had cut a 22-point deficit to 14.
"I thought when Efe made that first basket, it got us some confidence early," Drew said.
In his three starts, Shaw has made 17 of 32 shots (53%) with multiple 3-point makes in each game. With that 7-of-16 shooting on 3s, he is at 47.2% for the season (top 50 nationally for players with at least 35 attempts).
Shaw went from averaging 7.9 points in the first eight games to 15.0 over the past three games.
Without Shaw's energy off the bench, junior guard Makaih Williams has been a key sixth man since returning to a reserve role for the past three games.
"He was really good last game," Drew said of Williams against Coastal Carolina. "I think he was even better this game (at Wyoming). He just had a lot of poise with the ball. He had play longer minutes with Brian's (Brian Moore Jr.'s) foul trouble. Offensively and defensively, Makaih was under control and made really good decisions and reads all day."
Williams is shooting 50% from the field and 33% on 3s while averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in that span. He still is playing 25.6 minutes per game and has made only two turnovers in those three games.For the first time in GCU seasons, Williams has scored at least 16 points in consecutive games.
"We still have a lot of guys who are new," Williams said. "We're still meshing together and trying to figure out how to ultimately play together. We're doing a great job doing that, especially the last two games, and we're going to keep doing that."
The lineup change was challenged defensively against Oklahoma State, but the Lopes have allowed 41% or lower shooting in the other five games of GCU's past games.
The Lopes are returning their defense to the program standard that Drew established to rank fifth nationally for opponent field goal percentage (40.2) over his first five GCU seasons.
The challenge Saturday with IU Indy (4-9 overall, 2-9 vs. Division I opponents) comes with style of play. The Jaguars play the fastest pace in the nation with an average offensive possession of 14 seconds and a nonstop full-court defensive press, which Wyoming implemented some Saturday against GCU with limited success.
IU Indy, which opened the season with a 118-102 loss at Ohio State, has been a team of extremes and intrigue. Both come because of a breakneck system installed by first-year head coach Ben Howlett, who previously led Division II West Liberty to the 2023 national championship game.
The Jaguars lead the nation in assists (21.8 per game) and cause the fourth-most opponent turnovers (18.6 per game) for the eight-best turnover margin in the nation (plus-5.8 per game) and ninth-most fastbreak points (18.7 per game).
But IU Indy also has allowed the fourth-highest opponent field goal percentage (50.9%) and the second-most points (91.8 per game) while fouling the most (22.8 per game). GCU played the second-highest fouling team, Wyoming, on Saturday.
"It's definitely going to be a tough turnaround in 48 hours," Drew said. "They press the whole game. We have to be better handling the ball and attacking pressure.
"It will be our last game before Christmas. Getting back home will be nice in front of our home crowd. Lopes fans, we need you to come out. We need you there. They press a lot. There's a lot of possessions. We're going to need a lot of energy in the building to help us."
Lope tracks
- The Mountain West has the fifth-most members in the NET Top 100 with eight (No. 18 Utah State, No. 47 Boise State, No. 60 New Mexico, No. 76 Wyoming, No. 79 Colorado State, No. 82 Nevada, No. 87 San Diego State and No. 93 GCU).
- IU Indy takes 34.2 shots per game from 3-point range (No. 6 nationally) but makes 31.9% (No. 259 nationally).
- The Jaguars' top scorer, 6-foot-1 junior guard Kyler D'Agostino, is shooting 40% from 3-point range to help his 15.6 scoring average. He is one of four players who followed Howlett from West Liberty.
- GCU ranks 50th in the nation for rebound margin at plus-7.2 boards per game.
- Lopes graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane is the Mountain West rebounds leader at 9.3 per game, which ranks 31st nationally.
- GCU allows the eighth-fewest offensive rebounds per game (8.0).
- Owusu-Anane has made at least one 3-pointer in four consecutive games (6 for 12 overall), matching a career-high streak.
- Lopes senior guard Jaden Henley has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games.
Players Mentioned
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