Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Boise State on January 30, 2026 , Win , 86, to, 69
M Basketball
vs Boise State
W 86-69
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, February 17
Viejas Arena • San Diego, Calif.
8 p.m. (MST)
Grand Canyon
at
San Diego State
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Riveting rematch puts GCU at SDSU
2/16/2026 5:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Mountain West's top 2 defense clash with Lopes tied for 4th
SAN DIEGO – What was commendable to Grand Canyon on Jan. 21 was controversial to San Diego State.
The Lopes' 70-69 home win over the Aztecs defined GCU as a bona fide Mountain West title threat and put the first chink in the unanimous preseason MW favorite's armor.
Life in the Mountain West has proven precarious for both teams since then and heading into Wednesday night's rematch at Viejas Arena, where San Diego State is 7-0 this season and owns the nation's fourth-best home record since 2005-06.
The Aztecs (18-6, 12-2 MW) are tied with Utah State for first place entering the final three weeks of the regular season. The Lopes (16-9, 9-5 MW) are in a fourth-place tie for the Mountain West Championship's final first-round bye spot with Nevada, which holds the tiebreaker over GCU entering the Lopes-Aztecs game at 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) on CBS Sports Network.
The path to this spot has been like the Lopes' most recent win, a 94-79 Saturday victory at San José State that started well with a double-digit lead, turned bleak with a double-digit deficit and ended well with a double-digit win.
"There are ups and downs," GCU senior guard Jaden Henley said. "There is adversity for us. I'm glad it happened. You see the result of who we are.
"We're the same team (that beat San Diego State). We've got to go out there and compete. Obviously, it'll be a tough game there, but we're capable of winning anywhere."
With their Jan. 21 home win, the Lopes improved their all-time record against the Aztecs to 5-1. That ties GCU for the second-best, all-time record against San Diego State of any team (Washington State is 6-0).
Henley and junior guard Makaih Williams each scored 17 points. GCU has not played at Viejas Arena since an 86-61 loss in November 2019, which was the season prior to Bryce Drew becoming head coach. Drew notched his 300th career win at San José State on Saturday, the same day that San Diego State limited Nevada to 32.7% shooting for a 71-57 home victory.
The Aztecs are holding opponents to 36.9% shooting over a 12-2 stretch. The Lopes are holding opponents to 39.8% shooting over a 6-3 stretch.
Amid that time, GCU beat San Diego State despite shooting 38% from the field. The Lopes took a 63-52 lead with 8:24 to go, lost the lead late and won when Williams was fouled on a drive and made two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining.
"Grand Canyon is dynamic," Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher said at his Monday media availability. "They score the ball at an elite level. They're third in the conference defensively, and they're going to present a lot of challenges. Everybody thinks, 'Oh, well, we let one slip away,' or 'They were lucky to win.' They would argue, 'We were ahead double digits late in the game. They shouldn't have had a chance to win the first game.' "
GCU made 10 of 21 shots from 3-point range in that game, which has proven to be an outlier with the Lopes' 30.1% 3-point shooting ranking last in the Mountain West and 341st out of 361 teams nationwide.
Lopes junior guard Caleb Shaw went 2 for 4 on 3s in that game and injured his ankle in the following game at Fresno State, sidelining him ever since that win.
"We're definitely capable of shooting the ball better," Drew said. "If Dusty (Stromer) can get clean looks from 3, I'll take that every game. I thought Jaden's five (attempts Saturday) were clean, and he made two. Makaih took one tough one in the first half, but besides that, I thought we had 19 really clean looks from 3 (at San José State)."
According to kenpom.com, Tuesday's game matches the Mountain West's two most defensively efficient teams – San Diego State first and GCU second – and teams that have two of the lowest six opponent field goal percentages since 2020-21.
The Aztecs are holding opponents this season to a conference-low 39.2% shooting, which ranks as the 12th-lowest clip in the nation with defensive star and pro prospect Miles Byrd.
San Diego State also has returned 7-foot sophomore Magoon Gwath from injury. He came off the bench against Nevada to hit all three of his 3-point shots, score 13 points and block five shots in 14 minutes.
The balanced Aztecs boast six players averaging between 8.4 points and 12.7 points, led by senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters. It has resulted in San Diego State's highest-scoring team (79.8 points per game) since 1984-85.
GCU is allowing a conference-low 69.8 points per game and topping the Mountain West with 36.4 rebounds per game.
"That's our identity," Henley said. "We've got to be able to crash the boards hard and make it tough on teams on the glass. It's hard to beat a team that's beating you on the glass.
"It's hard to play against our team for 40 minutes. We play hard. We're physical. We run fast. So if we stay who we are every game for 40 minutes, it's going to be a tough game."
GCU is 2-2 in its last four Mountain West road games, with the losses coming by two points at UNLV and in overtime at Nevada. The Lopes' road ability gets a supreme test at San Diego State, whose .888 winning percentage since 2009-10 has only been topped by Kansas, Gonzaga, Duke and Kentucky.
"The fans in this building won't accept anything less than our best," Dutcher said Monday. "That's fun to come out here and play in front of a full house, in front of an enthusiastic fan base. Sometimes, that's what makes a difference in a game like this."
The Lopes' 70-69 home win over the Aztecs defined GCU as a bona fide Mountain West title threat and put the first chink in the unanimous preseason MW favorite's armor.
Life in the Mountain West has proven precarious for both teams since then and heading into Wednesday night's rematch at Viejas Arena, where San Diego State is 7-0 this season and owns the nation's fourth-best home record since 2005-06.
The Aztecs (18-6, 12-2 MW) are tied with Utah State for first place entering the final three weeks of the regular season. The Lopes (16-9, 9-5 MW) are in a fourth-place tie for the Mountain West Championship's final first-round bye spot with Nevada, which holds the tiebreaker over GCU entering the Lopes-Aztecs game at 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) on CBS Sports Network.
The path to this spot has been like the Lopes' most recent win, a 94-79 Saturday victory at San José State that started well with a double-digit lead, turned bleak with a double-digit deficit and ended well with a double-digit win."There are ups and downs," GCU senior guard Jaden Henley said. "There is adversity for us. I'm glad it happened. You see the result of who we are.
"We're the same team (that beat San Diego State). We've got to go out there and compete. Obviously, it'll be a tough game there, but we're capable of winning anywhere."
With their Jan. 21 home win, the Lopes improved their all-time record against the Aztecs to 5-1. That ties GCU for the second-best, all-time record against San Diego State of any team (Washington State is 6-0).
Henley and junior guard Makaih Williams each scored 17 points. GCU has not played at Viejas Arena since an 86-61 loss in November 2019, which was the season prior to Bryce Drew becoming head coach. Drew notched his 300th career win at San José State on Saturday, the same day that San Diego State limited Nevada to 32.7% shooting for a 71-57 home victory.
The Aztecs are holding opponents to 36.9% shooting over a 12-2 stretch. The Lopes are holding opponents to 39.8% shooting over a 6-3 stretch.
Amid that time, GCU beat San Diego State despite shooting 38% from the field. The Lopes took a 63-52 lead with 8:24 to go, lost the lead late and won when Williams was fouled on a drive and made two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining.
"Grand Canyon is dynamic," Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher said at his Monday media availability. "They score the ball at an elite level. They're third in the conference defensively, and they're going to present a lot of challenges. Everybody thinks, 'Oh, well, we let one slip away,' or 'They were lucky to win.' They would argue, 'We were ahead double digits late in the game. They shouldn't have had a chance to win the first game.' "GCU made 10 of 21 shots from 3-point range in that game, which has proven to be an outlier with the Lopes' 30.1% 3-point shooting ranking last in the Mountain West and 341st out of 361 teams nationwide.
Lopes junior guard Caleb Shaw went 2 for 4 on 3s in that game and injured his ankle in the following game at Fresno State, sidelining him ever since that win.
"We're definitely capable of shooting the ball better," Drew said. "If Dusty (Stromer) can get clean looks from 3, I'll take that every game. I thought Jaden's five (attempts Saturday) were clean, and he made two. Makaih took one tough one in the first half, but besides that, I thought we had 19 really clean looks from 3 (at San José State)."
According to kenpom.com, Tuesday's game matches the Mountain West's two most defensively efficient teams – San Diego State first and GCU second – and teams that have two of the lowest six opponent field goal percentages since 2020-21.
The Aztecs are holding opponents this season to a conference-low 39.2% shooting, which ranks as the 12th-lowest clip in the nation with defensive star and pro prospect Miles Byrd.
San Diego State also has returned 7-foot sophomore Magoon Gwath from injury. He came off the bench against Nevada to hit all three of his 3-point shots, score 13 points and block five shots in 14 minutes.
The balanced Aztecs boast six players averaging between 8.4 points and 12.7 points, led by senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters. It has resulted in San Diego State's highest-scoring team (79.8 points per game) since 1984-85.
GCU is allowing a conference-low 69.8 points per game and topping the Mountain West with 36.4 rebounds per game.
"That's our identity," Henley said. "We've got to be able to crash the boards hard and make it tough on teams on the glass. It's hard to beat a team that's beating you on the glass.
"It's hard to play against our team for 40 minutes. We play hard. We're physical. We run fast. So if we stay who we are every game for 40 minutes, it's going to be a tough game."
GCU is 2-2 in its last four Mountain West road games, with the losses coming by two points at UNLV and in overtime at Nevada. The Lopes' road ability gets a supreme test at San Diego State, whose .888 winning percentage since 2009-10 has only been topped by Kansas, Gonzaga, Duke and Kentucky.
"The fans in this building won't accept anything less than our best," Dutcher said Monday. "That's fun to come out here and play in front of a full house, in front of an enthusiastic fan base. Sometimes, that's what makes a difference in a game like this."
Lope tracks
- GCU is 15-0 this season in games that it led at halftime.
- Lopes graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane is having his third consecutive season of averaging more than eight rebounds per game. He ranks 26th among active Division I players for career rebounds (763).
- The difference between field goal shooting in wins and losses has been double digits for Owusu-Anane (49% vs. 35%) and Henley (53% vs. 38%) this season.
- GCU is 14-2 when Owusu-Anane scores eight or more points.
- Henley is posting his career's best per-game averages in points (17.3), rebounds (5.7), assists (2.8) and steals (1.6). He also is shooting a career-best 46.3%.
- The Lopes are pursuing a third Mountain West sweep after going 2-0 against Boise State and San José State.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballGCU Men's Basketball at San José State - Postgame with Coach Drew
Monday, February 16
GCU Men's Basketball at San José State - Postgame with Jaden Henley
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GCU Men's Basketball at UNLV - Highlights
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