Texas trip offers chance at restoring level of play

Thursday, Feb. 13 \| 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Wisdom Gym \| Stephenville, Texas

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (17-6, 7-2 WAC)	at	TARLETON STATE TEXANS (10-15, 5-5 WAC)

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STEPHENVILLE, Texas – For four weeks between losses, whether it was a game day or a practice day, it was a good day for Grand Canyon basketball.

The Lopes stacked their progress in practices and climbed the standings with wins until their system crashed Saturday night at California Baptist, requiring a restart for this week's Texas two-step trip.

"One day, you just don't have a great day," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said Wednesday on his weekly Arizona Sports 98.7 FM segment. "Unfortunately, it really cost us. It really set us back. We have a lot to do now down the final stretch."

Duke Brennan at Tarleton

The reboot started in this week's practices and gets tested Thursday night at Tarleton State, a place where style of play can differ as much as results for the Lopes. GCU (17-6, 7-2 WAC) needs a win in the Stephenville, Texas, double-decker gymnasium to pull within a game of conference leader Utah Valley.

But even the past two NCAA tournament qualifying teams lost at 3,000-seat Wisdom Gym – 77-74 last year and 81-62 two years ago.

"We're a thorn in their side," Tarleton State head coach Billy Gillispie said on his weekly radio show. "They don't like to play the kind of way we play, but they're very, very difficult. They've got experience. They've got size. They're very physical.

"They're more mature, more physically mature, and they're good basketball players and they're well coached. It adds up to them being the best tradition in the WAC.

The Lopes are trying to leave the lackluster ways of their loss behind in Riverside, California, where the game got away from them like the Chiefs trying to catch the Eagles.

Most of the 22 turnovers, GCU's most in a regulation game since January 2017, were considered unforced – dropped passes, errant passes, lost dribbles and offensive fouls. The 12-for-23 accuracy on free throws was out of character. Drew said a lack of physicality showed up on the boards and in the paint.

Traivar Jackson

However frustrating it was to watch for fans, Drew related because he received his first career ejection in 13 seasons as a head coach. Last season's 30-5 team set a high bar for sustained success that can't be matched, but this season's team with five of the top six players returning has time to recapture the formula before March Madness hits.

"We have a lot of guys who have played in a lot of big games," Drew said on 98.7 FM to host and GCU television analyst Dan Bickley. "To be honest, they look forward to the big games, but you've got to win all the games in between to get to the big games. That's been a constant dialogue we've been having all year. At the final stretch, that urgency button should be on high alert. Hopefully, we're going to see the best out of guys these next few weeks."

Last season's Lopes are remembered for their WAC Tournament championship run and NCAA tournament splash, but a February two-loss Texas trip also is a lingering memory.

To counter GCU's 2-3 road play thus far, the preparation has included more workout time, more video review and more practice intensity.

"You're going to have to overcome challenges and some setbacks usually on the road," Drew said. "That's where you have to be mentally tough to fight through and raise your level of play and raise your level of focus for 40 minutes because it's easier on the road to lose momentum than it is at home."

Tarleton State lost star player Freddy Hicks to injury again after he had returned from two months out for the Texans' loss in Phoenix. GCU routed Tarleton State 88-64 on Jan. 18, keeping the nation's 11th-lowest scoring team (64.4 points per game) at its average.

The Texans lean hard on starters, such as 6-foot-7 forward Bubu Benjamin for his 15.5 points per game (No. 3 in the WAC) for 36.1 minutes per game (No. 26 in the nation). Hehas played all 40 minutes in seven games this season.

Defensive intensity puts Tarlet Team flight

on State at No. 3 in the nation for opponent turnovers (16.8 per game) but no team in the nation commits more turnovers than Tarleton State (18.1 per game).

Tarleton State was trounced 91-54 at Seattle U last Thursday and 81-56 at Utah Valley on Saturday, falling to 5-5 in WAC play after the trips to arguably the best conference teams besides GCU. However, the Texans are 8-1 at home this season with six consecutive wins. Their home scoring average is 76 points per game, 20 more than their road average.

"We played really well on Saturday until we subbed, and then we didn't play very well after we subbed," Gillispie said on his show.

Lope tracks

Senior guard Ray Harrison needs 20 points to pass Doug Baker. for sixth place on the GCU all-time scoring leaderboard. He tied Jovan Blacksher Jr. for sixth place with 1,354 points in three Lopes seasons and.has 2,241 career points, including two Presbyterian seasons, to rank ninth among active Division I players. Alabama's Mark Sears is the only active D-I player with more career free throws made than Harrison (593).
Since the new year, GCU's Tyon Grant-Foster is averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1,8 blocked shots and 1.8 steals per game with 52% shooting from the field and 39% from 3-point range. In November and December, the graduate swingman averaged 10.5 points on 28% shooting.
GCU ranks sixth nationally for free throws points per game (19.4), 11th for steals per game (9.5) and 26th for blocked shots per game (5.0).
Tarleton State ranks ahead of GCU for steals per game at No. 8 with 9.8 per game.
The Lopes lead the WAC in most points per game (79.1).
GCU holds the WAC's highest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking at No. 93.
Tarleton State has the nation's second-worst assist-to-turnover ratio (0.58 to 1).
Lopes sophomore guard Makaih Williams scored 24 points last season at Tarleton State as a UT Arlington freshman.
GCU senior forward Traivar Jackson played last season at Tarleton State, where he averaged 10.2 points on 73% shooting in his final five games for the WAC runner-up.
Texans forward Chris Mpaka, who fouled out early in the second half at GCU, recorded his third five-block game Saturday at Utah Valley.
Tarleton State is 0-13 when trailing at halftime this season.

Thursday, Feb. 13 | 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Wisdom Gym | Stephenville, Texas

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Players Mentioned

Jovan Blacksher Jr.

Tyon Grant-Foster

Ray Harrison

Traivar Jackson

Makaih Williams

Grand Canyon University Athletics