End of regulation, OT snatch away win at Nevada

Tuesday, January 27

Lawlor Events Center • Reno, Nev.

8:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

13-7,6-3Mountain West

Nevada

15-6,7-3Mountain West

OT 1

Grand Canyon

Nevada

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

1/28/2026 1:05:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes hold Wolf Pack to season-low 32.8% shooting but lose late lead

By: Paul Coro

RENO, Nev. – Down two injured starters, Grand Canyon was a few moments, a free throw, a rebound and even just a last-second play away from its gutsiest win of the season Tuesday night.

It flipped like a light switch into the darkness of the Lopes' most devastating loss.

The GCU team that led 52-43 with 4:46 to go and 53-47 with a minute to go at Nevada departed Reno with an improbable gut-punch of a 66-60 overtime loss at Lawlor Events Center.

"Basketball hurts," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said.

"The guys really fought. We played guys too many minutes. We had no choice. I thought the guys played great the last 10 minutes. We were in position to win the game."

Nana Owusu-Anane at Nevada

The Lopes starters labored for 92% of the game's playing time and held the Wolf Pack to season-low 32.8% shooting, but a conference victory slipped through their fingertips in a series of lamentable late-game plays.

When it was over, Nevada head coach Steve Alford approached GCU head coach Bryce Drew, his friend and fellow Indiana Mr. Basketball, with his head shaking and his hand extended.

"I told him, 'Sorry,' just because I hate seeing anybody lose in a game like this," Alford said. "His team did a lot of good things to win, and my team did a lot of good things to win."

GCU senior guard Jaden Henley, who followed his first career double-double with another, and junior guard Dusty Stromer, a replacement starter with Brian Moore Jr. and Caleb Shaw out injured, each played all but one of the game's 45 minutes while junior guard Makaih Williams only rested for 1 minute, 38 seconds of the game.

The effort appeared to be enough when the Lopes (13-7, 6-3 Mountain West) found their offense for all five starters to score on seven consecutive GCU possessions for a 52-43 lead. For the remainder of regulation, the Lopes went 0 for 3 from the field and 1 for 5 at the free throw line with a turnover to open the door for Nevada.

Still, GCU appeared to counter the scoring lapse with a fourth consecutive stop when Nevada guard Corey Camper Jr. missed with the Lopes leading 52-46 and 1:40 remaining. But Wolf Pack power forward Peyton White, a freshman bench player who was plus-27 on Tuesday, grabbed Nevada's 13th offensive rebound to get Camper to the free throw line.

Reno, NV Jan. 27, 2026: The Lopes fall 60-66 to Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center In Reno, Nevada. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Reno, NV Jan. 27, 2026: The Lopes fall 60-66 to Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center In Reno, Nevada. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Henley, who tallied 16 points a career-high 13 rebounds, pushed the lead to 53-47 with 1:03 remaining in regulation when he was fouled on a drive and made one of two free throws. White answered with a 3, and the score stayed at 53-50 after a Henley turnover and White miss, forcing Nevada to foul Henley with 5.1 seconds to go.

Henley had been an 80.5% free throw shooter entering Tuesday, but he missed both in front of the Nevada student section and what remained of a crowd of 8,728 fans.

The Lopes intentionally took a non-shooting foul with 1.3 seconds remaining, giving Nevada a sideline inbound in the frontcourt. The Wolf Pack (15-4. 7-3) inbounded to junior guard Tyler Rolison, who was 5 for 27 on 3-pointers (18.5%) this season. Williams fouled him before the buzzer, and Rolison made all three free throws to send the game to overtime.

"I told him, 'You make these free throws and we're going to win the game,' " said fellow bench player Chuck Bailey III, who made all four of his 3-point shots and scored a game-high 18 points to help Nevada's 41-2 landslide in bench scoring.

GCU took the lead twice in the first two minutes of overtime before not scoring on five consecutive possessions to allow an 8-0 Nevada run, which happened slowly because of two Wolf Pack turnovers and three missed free throws. With the win, Nevada passed GCU for fourth place in the Mountain West and secured a potential tiebreaker in the teams' only meeting this season.

"I'd say 99.9% of the time we win that game," Drew said. "It was a really tough watch for those last five seconds (of regulation)."

Reno, NV Jan. 27, 2026: The Lopes fall 60-66 to Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center In Reno, Nevada. David Kadlubowski/GCU

The ending spoiled Lopes freshman center Efe Demirel's first career double-double. He scored one-third of GCU's first-half points when the night's grinding theme was set in a Nevada 26-24 half. Demirel played a career-high 37 minutes and delivered 14 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He made 7 of 8 shots to help the Lopes' 30-18 edge in points in the paint, although the rest of the team shot 32%.

GCU made less than 20% of its 3-pointers (4 for 23, 17.4%) in consecutive games for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

"The strength of this team has been rotating fresh bodies out there, and they had to guard," Drew said. "In overtime, the guys looked exhausted to get through screens, which we did for 40 minutes before that. I'm proud of them. These guys can make those plays at the end in the last two minutes, and they will. We need to make sure we learn from this but move on quickly. We can't let this game carry over."

Stromer started his first game since the Nov. 16 loss at Saint Louis and played a career-high 44 minutes. He made 4 for 7 shots to tally eight points, three assists and a steal.

Reno, NV Jan. 27, 2026: The Lopes fall 60-66 to Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center In Reno, Nevada. David Kadlubowski/GCU

"You take guys, the team plays a different rhythm," Drew said. "You put guys back in and it's a different rhythm. We're hopeful to get at least one (player) back Friday, but there's no guarantee. We've got to get over this one fast."

Nevada was coming off the opposite pattern Wednesday, when it lost a lead down the stretch at New Mexico. Alford said his team defended its best game of the season. Wolf Pack star Elijah Price fouled out in 24 minutes, but the Lopes only committed 10 other fouls and limited GCU to 15 free throw attempts. When the Lopes shoot 15 or fewer free throws, they are 1-5 this season.

Owusu-Anane matching his season high for block shots (four) and GCU setting its season high (eight), Nevada shot 26.7% from the field in the second half. But the Wolf Pack scored 13 points in a five-minute overtime, as much as it had in the first 13 minutes of the game.

Nevada became the 20th team in the nation to win this season despite shooting less 33% from the field.

"It wasn't the prettiest of games, but we did the things we had to do to win down the stretch," Alford said.

This loss denied GCU from having its first four-game winning streak of the season to take into Friday's home game against Boise State (13-8, 5-5 MW), which won its fourth consecutive game Tuesday with an 89-58 blowout at San José State.