Escape from Tarleton: Win overcomes 22 turnovers

Thursday, February 13

Stephenville, Texas / Wisdom Gym

6 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

18-6,8-2WAC

Tarleton State

10-16,5-6WAC

Grand Canyon

Tarleton St.

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

2/13/2025 11:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes hold Texans to home-court season low of 60 points

By: Paul Coro

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Goodbyes are never easy, but the difficult part about Grand Canyon's farewell to Wisdom Gym was not putting Tarleton State's soon-to-be former home in the rear-view mirror.

As with every WAC visitor, it was difficult to leave with the win that GCU did not get on its prior two visits. Arduously, the Lopes handed the Texans their first home loss since Nov. 9 by holding on for a 64-60 victory on Thursday night.

GCU (18-6, 8-2 WAC) committed 22 turnovers for the second consecutive game but overcame the miscues by keeping Tarleton State to its lowest home scoring total of the past two seasons.

The Lopes pulled within a game of WAC leader Utah Valley by not allowing Tarleton State to have a lead for the final 37 minutes.

When the Texans' ball pressure did not cause miscues, the Lopes shot 49% and went 22 for 28 on free throws. Their 14-point advantage in free throw points flipped a usually strong area where they had been outscored by 11 in Saturday's loss at California Baptist.

Stephenville, TX Feb. 13, 2025 : The Lopes come away with a 64-60 win over pesky Tarleton State University. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Stephenville, TX Feb. 13, 2025 : The Lopes come away with a 64-60 win over pesky Tarleton State University. David Kadlubowski/GCU

GCU became the fourth team in the nation this season to win a road game despite making at least 22 turnovers. The Lopes did it with four double-digit scorers, including graduate swingman Tyon Grant-Foster's 19 points in his first start since Jan. 9.

"We just came together at the end really to do what we need to do," Grant-Foster said, "In all honesty, I just feel like we got a little careless with the ball. I had seven. Makaih (Williams) six. Ray (Harrison) four. That's disgusting. That's crazy. We can't win in March doing that.

"I feel like we're going to get better."

GCU never had made 22 turnovers in a regulation game under fifth-year head coach Bryce Drew until Saturday's self-induced run of errors. Then on Thursday, the Lopes faced the pressure of Tarleton State, which ranked third nationally for opponent turnovers at 17 per game and used traps and full-court pressure that led to the Lopes' repeat 22-turnover game.

The Lopes' defense seemed poised to put away the win when it kept the Texans scoreless for nearly five minutes of crunch time, but two late turnovers allowed Tarleton State to cut the lead to 61-60 on a steal-and-layup play with 55 seconds remaining.

Stephenville, TX Feb. 13, 2025 : The Lopes come away with a 64-60 win over pesky Tarleton State University. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Grant-Foster responded by zipping a pass to senior power forward JaKobe Coles as he cut into the lane from the weak side, Coles made the layup that put GCU ahead 63-60 with 40 seconds to go. Tarleton State leading scorer Bubu Benjamin, held to two points Thursday, missed the Texans' final two shots.

"We responded," Drew said. "I thought our toughness was better tonight."

Drew turned the postgame chat over to another coach – his older brother, Scott, the Baylor head coach who drove from Waco to watch and weigh in.

"We had him talk to the team after they're tired of this Coach Drew," Bryce Drew joked. "So we let him hear a different Coach Drew talk to them. He gave him some really good stuff. It was nice to hear a different voice, tell them some things that they did well and some things that hopefully they can improve for Saturday's game."

The Lopes' mix changed with Grant-Foster starting, senior guard Collin Moore coming off the bench and sophomore guard Caleb Shaw unable to play due to injury.

Stephenville, TX Feb. 13, 2025 : The Lopes come away with a 64-60 win over pesky Tarleton State University. David Kadlubowski/GCU

GCU took command early with junior center Duke Brennan dunking on the first play and adding two second-chance buckets for six of the Lopes' first 11 points. Brennan recorded his seventh double-double of the season and sixth in WAC play with 12 points and 14 rebounds, one shy of his season-high board total.

Brennan took a chunk of the onus for the California Baptist loss with his team.

"He knew it, he owned it," Drew said. "He took it upon himself. This was a tough game for a big. There's a lot of undersized players out there that are really fast and really handsy and pushing at your lower body. He did what a good big guy should do in a game like this. He was really productive. He was efficient and really helped us win."

GCU built its largest lead, 32-21, in the first half before five consecutive scoreless possessions were marked by turnovers emblematic of the night – getting tied up in traffic, losing control of a dribble and throwing a pass away.

Stephenville, TX Feb. 13, 2025 : The Lopes come away with a 64-60 win over pesky Tarleton State University. David Kadlubowski/GCU

The Lopes led 37-30 at halftime with 55% shooting slowed by 10 turnovers. The issues worsened to spoil a 50-40 lead a stretch of 0-for-6 shooting and seven turnovers over more than six minutes.

"Their pressure definitely had something to do with it, but some of it is fundamental basketball," Drew said. "Dribble, pick it up with two hands, pass it to the open teammate and catch it with two hands. It's really that simple.

"So thank the Lord we were able to overcome 22 turnovers on the road, which is pretty much near impossible to do."

Road teams had been 4-44 this season when committing 22 turnovers. Half of those losses were by 20 or more points.

Combine 22 turnovers with only making two 3-pointers and GCU and Portland State are the only teams to get a road win despite hitting those marks.

"I just feel like we just know like that was that was unacceptable, and we're going to have to be strong with the ball," Grant-Foster said.

WisdomGym, which gives way to a new Tarleton State arena next season, did not have the atmosphere of last season's first-place battle, but the unique setting with 1,786 fans is enough for the Texans to be 8-2 at home this season after Thursday night.

Stephenville, TX Feb. 13, 2025 : The Lopes come away with a 64-60 win over pesky Tarleton State University. David Kadlubowski/GCU

"It's a good team that beat us, but we had our chances," Tarleton State coach Billy Gillispie said on his KTRL postgame show. "We should've won the game.

"They couldn't score on us in their half-court (offense). The only way they could score was in transition, when we just let them take it the full length of the court."

The Texans (10-16, 5-6 WAC) unraveled with key turnovers too, as Coles picked up two key late steals to go with his career high-tying three blocked shots defensively. Tarleton State had been averaging 20 more points in home games than road games but only scored 30 points in each half Thursday. About 37% of the Texans' points came off Lopes turnovers.

GCU went from being outscored by 11 points on free throws Saturday night at California Baptist to being a plus-14 on free throws Thursday night at Tarleton State, where the Lopes made 79% from the charity stripe and Williams drew nine Texans fouls.

The Lopes matched their season high with nine blocked shots and added 10 steals

"Our defense was solid tonight," Drew said. "I know (Izzy) Miles had 15, but we tried to take away some other guys. Like Bubu (Benjamin), we did a really good job on him for most of the night."

GCU plays at UT Arlington on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time). The Mavericks (12-13, 5-6 WAC) moved to 8-2 at home Thursday night when they rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat California Baptist 82-79 in overtime.