Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Northern Illinois on November 10, 2025 , Win , 88, to, 59
M Basketball
vs Northern Illinois
W 88-59
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, December 6
Phoenix, Ariz.
5:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
Oklahoma State
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Big foe, backing await downtown for Colangelo Classic
12/5/2025 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU faces undefeated Oklahoma State before ASU plays Oklahoma at Suns arena
A season breakthrough can come at any corner, but maybe none more than the one Grand Canyon will have in its corner at the Jerry Colangelo Classic on Saturday evening.
Facing undefeated Oklahoma State on CBS Sports Network in an NBA arena, the Lopes and a passionately purple pack of fans make their eighth trek to downtown Phoenix for a doubleheader event that includes an Arizona State-Oklahoma nightcap.
The Havocs and Lope Nation will create a scene in a corner takeover of Mortgage Matchup Center, and the GCU team hopes its performance makes as bold of a statement for the 5:30 p.m. marquee matchup.
This will be the Lopes' third Big 12 opponent, including a win against Utah last week and a preseason game at Baylor, and their fourth game vs. a top-50 NET opponent after playing USC in the preseason, and Iowa and Saint Louis last month.
"It's definitely been very challenging these first few weeks as we still are trying to figure out who we are," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "It's always exciting to play in the Suns arena and fun for our fans to go downtown. Hopefully, Lopes fans show out, make a lot of noise and wear purple. Hopefully, it will be home-court advantage for us."
GCU (5-3) could use a sixth man to control the pace of the five Cowboys on the court. Oklahoma State (8-0) plays at the fourth-fastest pace in the nation, and the Cowboys have scored 85 points or more in every game this season.
Oklahoma State is one of 15 undefeated teams in the nation, but the Lopes' opponents this season have a better cumulative record than the Cowboys' opponents thus far.
"We want to play how we play," Drew said. "We don't want to restrict our guys. If they can get out in transition and take good shots, we want to take them. Decision-making is so big because if you take bad shots, it allows for easier transition. If you turn it over, it allows for easier transition. Good shoots and making good decisions are the first parts of transition defense."
In its past three games (wins vs. Utah and Stetson and a loss to Iowa), GCU restored its program-defining defense by limiting those opponents to 38.4% shooting from the field cumulatively.
The challenge will be maintaining that against an Oklahoma State team with three guards averaging 15 points (Jaylen Curry, Anthony Roy and Vyctorious Miller), although Miller left last game after nine minutes with an apparent ankle injury.
"The more that we do it, the more that we get used to it," Drew said. "They are playing substantially harder defense than what they did earlier in the season."
That energy may have affected the offense. GCU has shot less than 32% from 3-point range in each of the past five games and 24% on 3s overall during that stretch.
Lopes junior guard Caleb Shaw is 6 for 14 on 3s over that span, dropping the rest of the team to 21%. Senior guard Jaden Henley is leading the team at 18 points per game with three-level scoring and 5.2 points at the free throw line per game.
"We need to find some more scoring," Drew said. "He's done a great job of carrying the load a lot with his scoring, but we need some other guys to step up and score the ball."
To get to those shots and avoid Oklahoma State's transition game, the Lopes want to have ball control more like their optimum game against Utah (six turnovers) rather than the Iowa and Stetson games since then (16.5 turnovers per game).
"The biggest thing for us is our turnovers, making better decisions," Shaw said. "On the offensive side, being smarter and more connected."
Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz overhauled his roster for his second season in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and created depth that averages 39 bench points per game (No. 12 nationally).
Senior 6-foot-10 center Parsa Fallah has been the only Cowboy to start every game. He is familiar to GCU as a former Southern Utah starter before he played at Oregon State last season.
Fallah is averaging 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and ranks 16th nationally with 65.6% shooting.
"He's so physical in the post and has a great skill set," Drew said of Fallah. "What you love about him is he plays so hard and with so much intensity. He was a handful when we played him a couple years, and he's much better now than he was then."
When Oklahoma State beat Sam Houston 93-83 at home Tuesday, Fallah had the same line of 24 points and 10-of-13 shooting as he posted in his last game against GCU in January 2024.
"I like everything about Parsa," Lutz said in Tuesday's press conference. "He's been our most consistent player pretty much night in, night out … He shows up every day, he pulls his shorts up, he laces up his shoes, he smiles and he goes out there and competes."
Oklahoma State's leading scorer is Miller, the son of rapper Master P and a 6-foot-5, three-level scorer who transferred from LSU. He has increased his scoring average by seven points to 16 points per game with 50% 3-point shooting.
Curry, a UMass transfer, and Kanye Clary, a Mississippi State transfer, give Lutz two junior playmakers who have a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio combined.
Ray redshirted last season at Green Bay, where he was leading the nation in scoring average at 25.7 through 11 games before a foot fracture. He missed the first three games of this season, but is averaging 15.2 since then. Oklahoma State walloped Texas A&M 87-63 without him.
Parts of what will get GCU more to that level offensively is more comfort with the new five-out systems Drew installed after the loss at Saint Louis and improved pick-and-roll efficiency. The Lopes often are slow to roll, missing rollers or not connecting well in the two-man game.
"Too many balls deflected, too many unmade passes," Drew said. "Our rollers still have to get out faster. We're not near as good as we have been at those two things, and it's hurt our offense."
Facing undefeated Oklahoma State on CBS Sports Network in an NBA arena, the Lopes and a passionately purple pack of fans make their eighth trek to downtown Phoenix for a doubleheader event that includes an Arizona State-Oklahoma nightcap.
The Havocs and Lope Nation will create a scene in a corner takeover of Mortgage Matchup Center, and the GCU team hopes its performance makes as bold of a statement for the 5:30 p.m. marquee matchup.This will be the Lopes' third Big 12 opponent, including a win against Utah last week and a preseason game at Baylor, and their fourth game vs. a top-50 NET opponent after playing USC in the preseason, and Iowa and Saint Louis last month.
"It's definitely been very challenging these first few weeks as we still are trying to figure out who we are," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "It's always exciting to play in the Suns arena and fun for our fans to go downtown. Hopefully, Lopes fans show out, make a lot of noise and wear purple. Hopefully, it will be home-court advantage for us."
GCU (5-3) could use a sixth man to control the pace of the five Cowboys on the court. Oklahoma State (8-0) plays at the fourth-fastest pace in the nation, and the Cowboys have scored 85 points or more in every game this season.
Oklahoma State is one of 15 undefeated teams in the nation, but the Lopes' opponents this season have a better cumulative record than the Cowboys' opponents thus far.
"We want to play how we play," Drew said. "We don't want to restrict our guys. If they can get out in transition and take good shots, we want to take them. Decision-making is so big because if you take bad shots, it allows for easier transition. If you turn it over, it allows for easier transition. Good shoots and making good decisions are the first parts of transition defense."
In its past three games (wins vs. Utah and Stetson and a loss to Iowa), GCU restored its program-defining defense by limiting those opponents to 38.4% shooting from the field cumulatively.
The challenge will be maintaining that against an Oklahoma State team with three guards averaging 15 points (Jaylen Curry, Anthony Roy and Vyctorious Miller), although Miller left last game after nine minutes with an apparent ankle injury.
"The more that we do it, the more that we get used to it," Drew said. "They are playing substantially harder defense than what they did earlier in the season."
That energy may have affected the offense. GCU has shot less than 32% from 3-point range in each of the past five games and 24% on 3s overall during that stretch.
Lopes junior guard Caleb Shaw is 6 for 14 on 3s over that span, dropping the rest of the team to 21%. Senior guard Jaden Henley is leading the team at 18 points per game with three-level scoring and 5.2 points at the free throw line per game.
"We need to find some more scoring," Drew said. "He's done a great job of carrying the load a lot with his scoring, but we need some other guys to step up and score the ball."
To get to those shots and avoid Oklahoma State's transition game, the Lopes want to have ball control more like their optimum game against Utah (six turnovers) rather than the Iowa and Stetson games since then (16.5 turnovers per game).
"The biggest thing for us is our turnovers, making better decisions," Shaw said. "On the offensive side, being smarter and more connected."
Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz overhauled his roster for his second season in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and created depth that averages 39 bench points per game (No. 12 nationally).
Senior 6-foot-10 center Parsa Fallah has been the only Cowboy to start every game. He is familiar to GCU as a former Southern Utah starter before he played at Oregon State last season.
Fallah is averaging 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and ranks 16th nationally with 65.6% shooting.
"He's so physical in the post and has a great skill set," Drew said of Fallah. "What you love about him is he plays so hard and with so much intensity. He was a handful when we played him a couple years, and he's much better now than he was then."
When Oklahoma State beat Sam Houston 93-83 at home Tuesday, Fallah had the same line of 24 points and 10-of-13 shooting as he posted in his last game against GCU in January 2024.
"I like everything about Parsa," Lutz said in Tuesday's press conference. "He's been our most consistent player pretty much night in, night out … He shows up every day, he pulls his shorts up, he laces up his shoes, he smiles and he goes out there and competes."
Oklahoma State's leading scorer is Miller, the son of rapper Master P and a 6-foot-5, three-level scorer who transferred from LSU. He has increased his scoring average by seven points to 16 points per game with 50% 3-point shooting.
Curry, a UMass transfer, and Kanye Clary, a Mississippi State transfer, give Lutz two junior playmakers who have a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio combined.
Ray redshirted last season at Green Bay, where he was leading the nation in scoring average at 25.7 through 11 games before a foot fracture. He missed the first three games of this season, but is averaging 15.2 since then. Oklahoma State walloped Texas A&M 87-63 without him.
Parts of what will get GCU more to that level offensively is more comfort with the new five-out systems Drew installed after the loss at Saint Louis and improved pick-and-roll efficiency. The Lopes often are slow to roll, missing rollers or not connecting well in the two-man game.
"Too many balls deflected, too many unmade passes," Drew said. "Our rollers still have to get out faster. We're not near as good as we have been at those two things, and it's hurt our offense."
Lope tracks
- Oklahoma State, off to its first 8-0 start since 2007-07, was losing 44-37 at halftime Tuesday to Sam Houston before winning 93-83.
- Seven of the Cowboys' eight wins were at home, with the other coming in a neutral-site, 86-81 win against Northwestern in Chicago.
- After a 15-rebound game against Stetson on Tuesday, GCU graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane has cracked the national top 10 with 10.6 rebounds per game to rank 10th.
- GCU has held three consecutive opponents to at least 25 points below its scoring average. It marks the first time since March 2024 that the Lopes have limited three consecutive teams to fewer than 60 points.
- The Lopes rank 46th nationally for free throw percentage (76.3%). Junior guard Dusty Stromer is at 93.8%, and Henley is at 85.4%.
- GCU assistant coach Jordan McCabe was an assistant coach last season at Green Bay, where Ray played before transferring to Oklahoma State.
- Now receiving top -25 votes, Oklahoma State has posted its best NET wins against Northwestern (No. 60), Texas A&M (No. 71), Sam Houston (No. 76) and South Florida (No. 78).
- Saturday's game marks the first-ever meeting of GCU and Oklahoma State.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballGCU Men's Basketball vs. Stetson - Radio with Bryce Drew
Thursday, December 04
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Stetson - Radio with Caleb Shaw
Thursday, December 04
Students LOVE final score of 67-45 #collegebasketball
Wednesday, December 03
The managers had to sprint off the floor on the fastbreak 😂 #collegebasketball
Wednesday, December 03