Focus sharpens for 3 wins at WAC Tournament

Wednesday, March 12

Las Vegas, Nev.

8:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UT Arlington

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Photo by: Lucas Peltier

3/11/2025 6:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

WAC Tournament bracket

Lopes begin 3-peat attempt with Wednesday quarterfinal vs. UT Arlington

By: Paul Coro

Wednesday, March 11 \| 8:30 p.m. \| WAC Tournament quarterfinal Orleans Arena \| Las Vegas, Nev.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (23-7)	vs.	UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS (13-17)

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LAS VEGAS – Grand Canyon is the defending WAC Tournament two-time champion.

GCU is 7-0 in the past three seasons against UT Arlington, which it plays in an 8:30 p.m. Wednesday quarterfinal match.

The Lopes expect to have two-time All-WAC first-team selection Tyon Grant-Foster back for the first time since Feb. 15.

Even with all GCU has in its favor at the always purple-partisan Orleans Arena, GCU head coach Bryce Drew told his team, "This is going to be the hardest game of the season."

March is different, but the Lopes are well aware of it for how good they have been when the postseason raises the stakes. GCU senior Ray Harrison is 6-0 in WAC Tournament games, and he, Grant-Foster and WAC Sixth Player of the Year Lök Wur combined for 57 points when the Lopes beat the Mavericks for last year's championship.

"A lot of the guys who come here are seeking the big moments," Harrison said of GCU. "We don't have anybody who wants to shy away from it. Everybody wants to make a bigger name for themselves here. That plays a part into the bigger moments. When nerves play a factor, guys are just used to it."

When an overtime road loss in the regular-season finale weighed on Drew, it was the Lopes' urgent, focused approach to practices this week that encouraged him. Along with Grant-Foster, Harrison and Wur, seniors Collin Moore and JaKobe Coles are trying to extend their collegiate career with each game.

"Everybody's focus and everybody's energy is at an all-time high," said Harrison, who posted a pair of 19-point games vs. UT Arlington in Feburary.

The Lopes' talent also is at an all-time high. GCU pursue three wins in four Vegas nights for an NCAA tournament berth with the WAC Tournament's last two Most Outstanding Players – Grant-Foster and Harrison.

Grant-Foster did not play the last five games of the regular season because of injury and only began to ease into action this week. With his last appearance at UT Arlington, Grant-Foster was having a sensational six-week stretch since the new year with 53% shooting and averages of 17.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.9 blocked shots and 1.8 steals per game.

Bryce Drew

"It's great to have him back on the floor and to see him healthy and to be able to do some things," Drew said. "We are mindful of his situation, so we want to make good decisions for him. It has been difficult. For three weeks, he hasn't practiced with us. He was just getting a rhythm and playing his best basketball of the year. Now, it's taken a totally different course again, trying to integrate him in a day and a half of practice."

UT Arlington (13-17) slipped to the No. 7 seed by ending the season with three consecutive losses, which began with the Feb. 27 game at GCU in which the Lopes had 14 steals for an 85-71 win. Twelve days prior to that in Arlington, GCU trailed 64-57 with 6 1/2 minutes to go before enjoying a 25-11 close.

"I love where we're at, especially losing three in a row to end the season," Mavericks head coach KT Turner said. "In our locker room, our guys' heads were up. They know we can do it. They still believe. They're bought in."

Turner's team, with two returnees from last year's WAC Tournament championship game, always plays a physical, intense brand of basketball against the Lopes. However, the Mavericks' forte is 3-point shooting. UT Arlington leads the WAC by making 35.1% of its 3-point attempts, led by junior guard Brody Robinson's 38.7% shooting on 3s and graduate guard Jaden Wells' 36.9% clip. Wells, a Central Oklahoma transfer, has hit 380 career 3s.

Phoenix, AZ Feb. 27, 2025 : The Lopes top UT Arlington 85-71 at Global Credit Union Arena.

Phoenix, AZ Feb. 27, 2025 : The Lopes top UT Arlington 85-71 at Global Credit Union Arena.

Mavericks 6-foot-10 graduate power forward Lance Ware, a Villanova transfer, posted his best two rebounding games of the season (16 and 17) against GCU. Ware, who made All-WAC second team and WAC All-Defensive Team, leads the WAC with 11 double-doubles, 58.5% field goal shooting and 9.8 rebounds per game.

"I don't think the number next to them really means that much because anybody can beat anyone," Drew said. "We were down seven at their place late in the game. We know how good they are and how hard they play."

Energy and urgency will be a paramount with the late tipoffs at 8:30 p.m. for each of the three potential tourney games, but the Lopes will have help with that. GCU expects to create the "Lopes Vegas" scene again at Orleans Arena, where it has won three of the past four WAC Tournaments.

"It's definitely a blessing," Drew said. "A lot of schools don't have the support that we do. They don't have the energy and the fan base that we do. We're very thankful for that every night. We're definitely going to need them a ton on Wednesday night. We need them to show up and be loud and be ready to go at tip time Wednesday."

Lope tracks

GCU sophomore guard Makaih Williams played for UT Arlington last season. He is averaging 8.1 points, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game this season.
Harrison needs seven assists to be the only active player besides North Carolina's R.J. Davis, Arizona's Caleb Love and Alabama's Mark Sears to have at least 2,000 career points and 500 career assists.
Harrison's 1,439 points in three GCU seasons ranks fifth on the GCU all-time scoring leaderboard. He trails fourth-place Duane Gagnon (1965-69) by 51 points.
Harrison has played 100 GCU games and has started each of his 152 college games. He and Coles are the only Lopes to start every game this season.
GCU junior center Duke Brennan ranks 18th nationally with 9.5 rebounds per game. His career-best average of 10.7 points per game has come on 65.9% shooting, which would rank fifth nationally if his 4.3 made field goals per game was not shy of the statistical qualifying minimum of five.
Coles is averaging career per-game bests in points (14.3), rebounds (5.9), assists (2.3), steals (1.2) and blocked shots (0.8). He is shooting a career-best 51.7% from the field.
GCU ranks seventh in the nation with 18.6 free throw points per game after ranking third last season with 19.3 per game.
The Lopes, ranked second nationally in defensive rating since Dec. 17, average the 10th-most steals per game (9.6) and 16th-most blocked shots per game (5.1) in the nation.