Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 , Loss , 74, to, 79
M Basketball
at Baylor
L 74-79
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, March 12
Las Vegas, Nev.
8:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
24-7,13-3WAC
98
vs
75
UT Arlington
13-18,6-10WAC
1
2
F
UT Arlington
32
43
75
Grand Canyon
46
52
98
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Lopes rise to occasion in WAC Tournament rout
3/13/2025 1:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Coles' 24 leads 6 double-digit scorers in quarterfinal win vs. UTA
LAS VEGAS – The WAC Tournament stacks the stakes with difficulty and pressure, and that is when Grand Canyon suits up and shows up best.
The Lopes, a team predicated on rising to its March goals, took on the challenge of do-or-die basketball and working in Tyon Grant-Foster for the first time in 3 1/2 weeks and debuted at this year's WAC Tournament like the team that had won the past two tourneys.
GCU dismantled UT Arlington 98-75 in a Wednesday night quarterfinal of offensive precision, putting six scorers in double figures and dishing the most assists (24) in its WAC Tournament history.
"We were just ready to play," said Lopes senior guard Ray Harrison, who is 7-0 in WAC Tournament games. "Everybody was excited. It was a level of excitement that wasn't missing, but it was just good to have."
Since last season ended in the NCAA tournament second round, the four returning starters from that team have sought the proving ground of March again. An intensified look to practices carried over to Wednesday night, when GCU (24-7) defeated UT Arlington for the third time in less than four weeks and improved to 8-0 against the Mavericks in three seasons.
Lopes senior power forward JaKobe Coles delivered the highest-scoring half of his career, notching 18 of his 24 points in the first half to take a 46-32 halftime lead that remained in double digits for the remainder.
With 9-of-15 shooting continuing his career-best 52% shooting season, Coles missed a career scoring high by two points. He is averaging 13.8 points in the first halves of the past four games.
"They tried to throw us off our rhythm and be a little physical," Coles said. "We know teams are going to try to throw us off our rhythm, so we've just got stay focused and poised. "
Grant-Foster had not played since Feb. 15 but started Wednesday night and impacted the game without disrupting the flow. He gave 12 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots in 21 minutes.
"It was really fun to see," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "Guys have been locked in. My biggest concern coming in was Tyon going back in. It's pretty incredible. He hasn't played five on five since the last UTA game in Dallas. For him to step out and for our team to be able to blend with him and play with him like that, it was just truly remarkable. I love the ball movement. Just a tremendous job by the whole group, sharing the ball and trusting each other."
The Lopes had a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio for the first time this season against a Division I opponent. GCU matched its season low for turnovers (eight) against a D-I opponent even with taking an intentional shot clock violation with the century mark a shot away.
UT Arlington was up to the intensity match early and took its first lead at 25-24 on a Lopes defensive communication breakdown that allowed an alleyoop dunk. Drew called a timeout, but self-correction in the huddle beat him to anything he needed to say.
"In the huddle, guys were talking," Drew said. "They knew. We messed up on a back screen there. We didn't execute. There were a couple plays before that that our defensive intensity wasn't where it was at the first 10 minutes of the game. Credit them for collectively getting together and fixing it themselves and going out and getting some stops on defense and moving the ball and making some shots on offense."
GCU responded to that alleyoop and timeout with a 13-3 run that included 3-point plays on Grant-Foster's slashing ability and Coles' power inside. The Lopes ended the half with seven unanswered points, starting with Coles hitting a 3 and then drawing Diante Smith's third foul and ended with junior center Duke Brennan posting up Lance Ware, UT Arlington's All-WAC second-team big man.
Ware had enjoyed his best two rebounding games of the season, 16 and 17, against GCU this season but had his most regrettable game Thursday when it ended with five points and six rebounds.
GCU sophomore guard Makaih Williams had just scored an and-one drive as part of his 14-point game against his former team when Ware fouled him at midcourt the next trip in a defensive mismatch. Ware compounded the mistake by taking a dead-ball swipe at the ball and Williams arms for a technical foul. As he walked to the bench, he turned to official Randy McCall with words that ejected him for a second technical foul.
Harrison converted four free throws and Williams added a banked floater to make it a six-point possession and a 64-40 Lopes lead with 14:35 remaining.
"We played with energy, we played with poise, and we just played hard as we should," Williams said. "We set a tone for the whole tournament. We've got to keep it going.
"Everybody was locked in from yesterday to today. From when we knew we had the game, it was all locked in. I'm on the right side this time."
Williams went 2 for 11 from the field combined in the first two games against his former team but switched to a bench role Wednesday with Grant-Foster's return and thrived. On one of his first play in the game, Williams grabbed a rebound and went coast to coast for a layin. He dished out five assists, picked former teammate Kade Douglas' dribble for a steal and scored eight of GCU's 12 points in one second-half stretch.
"Makaih came in and was really aggressive," Drew said. "He made really good decisions and had one of his better conference games of the year. We needed it. His speed was crucial for us."
Williams said it was a fun environment to play against GCU in last year's WAC Tournament championship game but that Wednesday night felt like a home game with how Lope Nation turned out for an 8:30 p.m. Wednesday tipoff at Orleans Arena.
His juice for ousting his former team showed when he picked up a technical for being demonstrative in front of the UT Arlington bench after a first-half score.
"The tech was just sending a tone," Williams said. "I didn't say anything to them, but just showing them like that Kobe (Bryant) moment in the Olympics where he ran into Paul Gasol,. Just knowing that I'm not their friends at the moment, and we're trying to beat them."
GCU only made 5 of 21 shots from 3-point range and still had its second-best scoring total against a D-I opponent this season. Against UT Arlington's disguised, changing defense, the Lopes' patient, poised offense made 68% of their 2-point shots for a 50-28 advantage on points in the paint.
Defensively, Harrison led the effort and it showed in how GCU was plus-32 in his 30 minutes and minus-9 in the 10 minutes he sat. UT Arlington's numbers were skewed by making three 3-pointers in the final two minutes after trailing by 30.
"Our did a good job just playing basketball and not worrying too much about what they were doing, but focusing more on what we were doing and making sure that we were cutting and moving the ball," Drew said.
The Lopes will practice Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas in preparation for an 8:30 p.m. Friday semifinal game without knowing whether they will play No. 3 seed California Baptist or No. 6 seed Tarleton State, who play their quarterfinal Thursday night at 8:30 on ESPN+. GCU split with CBU this season, losing 85-71 on the road and winning 66-64 at home. The Lopes swept Tarleton State, winning 88-64 at home and 64-60 on the road.
The Lopes, a team predicated on rising to its March goals, took on the challenge of do-or-die basketball and working in Tyon Grant-Foster for the first time in 3 1/2 weeks and debuted at this year's WAC Tournament like the team that had won the past two tourneys.
GCU dismantled UT Arlington 98-75 in a Wednesday night quarterfinal of offensive precision, putting six scorers in double figures and dishing the most assists (24) in its WAC Tournament history.
"We were just ready to play," said Lopes senior guard Ray Harrison, who is 7-0 in WAC Tournament games. "Everybody was excited. It was a level of excitement that wasn't missing, but it was just good to have."
Since last season ended in the NCAA tournament second round, the four returning starters from that team have sought the proving ground of March again. An intensified look to practices carried over to Wednesday night, when GCU (24-7) defeated UT Arlington for the third time in less than four weeks and improved to 8-0 against the Mavericks in three seasons.
Lopes senior power forward JaKobe Coles delivered the highest-scoring half of his career, notching 18 of his 24 points in the first half to take a 46-32 halftime lead that remained in double digits for the remainder.With 9-of-15 shooting continuing his career-best 52% shooting season, Coles missed a career scoring high by two points. He is averaging 13.8 points in the first halves of the past four games.
"They tried to throw us off our rhythm and be a little physical," Coles said. "We know teams are going to try to throw us off our rhythm, so we've just got stay focused and poised. "
Grant-Foster had not played since Feb. 15 but started Wednesday night and impacted the game without disrupting the flow. He gave 12 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots in 21 minutes.
"It was really fun to see," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "Guys have been locked in. My biggest concern coming in was Tyon going back in. It's pretty incredible. He hasn't played five on five since the last UTA game in Dallas. For him to step out and for our team to be able to blend with him and play with him like that, it was just truly remarkable. I love the ball movement. Just a tremendous job by the whole group, sharing the ball and trusting each other."The Lopes had a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio for the first time this season against a Division I opponent. GCU matched its season low for turnovers (eight) against a D-I opponent even with taking an intentional shot clock violation with the century mark a shot away.
UT Arlington was up to the intensity match early and took its first lead at 25-24 on a Lopes defensive communication breakdown that allowed an alleyoop dunk. Drew called a timeout, but self-correction in the huddle beat him to anything he needed to say.
"In the huddle, guys were talking," Drew said. "They knew. We messed up on a back screen there. We didn't execute. There were a couple plays before that that our defensive intensity wasn't where it was at the first 10 minutes of the game. Credit them for collectively getting together and fixing it themselves and going out and getting some stops on defense and moving the ball and making some shots on offense."GCU responded to that alleyoop and timeout with a 13-3 run that included 3-point plays on Grant-Foster's slashing ability and Coles' power inside. The Lopes ended the half with seven unanswered points, starting with Coles hitting a 3 and then drawing Diante Smith's third foul and ended with junior center Duke Brennan posting up Lance Ware, UT Arlington's All-WAC second-team big man.
Ware had enjoyed his best two rebounding games of the season, 16 and 17, against GCU this season but had his most regrettable game Thursday when it ended with five points and six rebounds.
GCU sophomore guard Makaih Williams had just scored an and-one drive as part of his 14-point game against his former team when Ware fouled him at midcourt the next trip in a defensive mismatch. Ware compounded the mistake by taking a dead-ball swipe at the ball and Williams arms for a technical foul. As he walked to the bench, he turned to official Randy McCall with words that ejected him for a second technical foul.
Harrison converted four free throws and Williams added a banked floater to make it a six-point possession and a 64-40 Lopes lead with 14:35 remaining.
"We played with energy, we played with poise, and we just played hard as we should," Williams said. "We set a tone for the whole tournament. We've got to keep it going."Everybody was locked in from yesterday to today. From when we knew we had the game, it was all locked in. I'm on the right side this time."
Williams went 2 for 11 from the field combined in the first two games against his former team but switched to a bench role Wednesday with Grant-Foster's return and thrived. On one of his first play in the game, Williams grabbed a rebound and went coast to coast for a layin. He dished out five assists, picked former teammate Kade Douglas' dribble for a steal and scored eight of GCU's 12 points in one second-half stretch.
"Makaih came in and was really aggressive," Drew said. "He made really good decisions and had one of his better conference games of the year. We needed it. His speed was crucial for us."
Williams said it was a fun environment to play against GCU in last year's WAC Tournament championship game but that Wednesday night felt like a home game with how Lope Nation turned out for an 8:30 p.m. Wednesday tipoff at Orleans Arena.
His juice for ousting his former team showed when he picked up a technical for being demonstrative in front of the UT Arlington bench after a first-half score.
"The tech was just sending a tone," Williams said. "I didn't say anything to them, but just showing them like that Kobe (Bryant) moment in the Olympics where he ran into Paul Gasol,. Just knowing that I'm not their friends at the moment, and we're trying to beat them."
GCU only made 5 of 21 shots from 3-point range and still had its second-best scoring total against a D-I opponent this season. Against UT Arlington's disguised, changing defense, the Lopes' patient, poised offense made 68% of their 2-point shots for a 50-28 advantage on points in the paint.Defensively, Harrison led the effort and it showed in how GCU was plus-32 in his 30 minutes and minus-9 in the 10 minutes he sat. UT Arlington's numbers were skewed by making three 3-pointers in the final two minutes after trailing by 30.
"Our did a good job just playing basketball and not worrying too much about what they were doing, but focusing more on what we were doing and making sure that we were cutting and moving the ball," Drew said.
The Lopes will practice Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas in preparation for an 8:30 p.m. Friday semifinal game without knowing whether they will play No. 3 seed California Baptist or No. 6 seed Tarleton State, who play their quarterfinal Thursday night at 8:30 on ESPN+. GCU split with CBU this season, losing 85-71 on the road and winning 66-64 at home. The Lopes swept Tarleton State, winning 88-64 at home and 64-60 on the road.
Team Stats
UTA
GCU
FG%
.473
.538
3FG%
.458
.238
FT%
.480
.719
RB
35
36
TO
16
8
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
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