Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, February 25
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
UNLV
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Stretch run begins with rematch vs. UNLV
2/24/2026 5:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
With 4 regular-season games left, home date becomes pivotal
With two weeks remaining in Grand Canyon's regular season, every game is as precious as it is precarious.
The Lopes get two more home games in front of their renown Global Credit Union Arena crowds, starting with a 7 p.m. Wednesday rematch against the UNLV team that began its tunaround with a home against GCU on Feb. 7.
The Lopes (17-10, 10-6 Mountain West) have four conference games to outplay Nevada for fourth place in the Mountain West and the final MW Championships first-round bye. But a loss to the Runnin' Rebels could also slide GCU into a fifth-place tie with UNLV, which would then have the head-to-head series tiebreaker to knock the Lopes into the less desirable sixth seed.
But after a Saturday home loss to Wyoming, GCU is in no position to envision its MW Championships fate until it corrects what went awry Saturday and the last time it saw UNLV.
"I'm excited, especially after the way we played last time in front or our home crowd, it's unacceptable," Lopes graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane said. "We're looking forward to the opportunity to bounce back. There aren't many opportunties left to play here, so we just want to make the most of it (Wednesday night). We've got the best crowd. You can't take these ones for granted, especially being a senior."
Despite a wild comeback in the final 2 1/2 minutes, GCU lost 80-78 at Thomas & Mack Center when UNLV was missing Mountain West leading shot-blocker Tyrin Jones and versatile guard Howie Fleming Jr. Runnin' Rebels junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn played all 40 minutes and used three-level scoring for 29 points in that win, but UNLV is back to full strength with Fleming recording a triple-double Saturday at Air Force (10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and no turnovers).
Gibbs-Lawhorn, the dynamic 6-foot-1 Illinois transfer, is averaging 27.9 points on 57% shooting (52% on 3-pointers) over the past seven games. No player in the nation has posted averages of 27.9 points and 4.4 made 3s over a seven-game span this season, and no Mountain West player has done so since BYU's Jimmer Fredette in January 2011 (36.1 points per game, 4.7 3s per game).
"We've got to play better than we did our last game out," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We've got four games left. It's a sprint, and we need to act like it's a sprint, treat it like it's a sprint and coach it like it's a sprint.
"They're probably the hottest team in the league right now. They have probably right now the most prolific scorer from the last two or three weeks (Gibbs-Lawhorn). They're playing really good basketball right now. We played really good basketball a couple games ago (in a win at San Diego State). Last game, we weren't at our best. We need to be at our best to have a chance (Wednesday)."
In GCU senior guard Jaden Henley's return to his former home, he went 2 for 13 from the field at UNLV and the team was shooting 26% when the Runnin' Rebels took a 75-59 lead with 2:24 remaining. The Lopes made their final six shots, including three by Henley, to close on a 19-4 run that nearly pulled off the comeback.
"It's been fun because I've been such a defensive coach my entire career and we've had really good defensive teams," UNLV head coach Josh Pastner said at his Monday media availability. "Just this year, we haven't been at the level we have defensively, other than we were really good defensively against Grand Canyon."
That win started a 4-1 stretch for UNLV (14-13, 9-7 MW), which is coming off a 91-66 victory at last-place Air Force that included a 57-35 second half Saturday. In Pastner's first year leading UNLV after being head coach at Memphis and Georgia Tech, the Runnin' Rebels are seeking their fourth conference sweep after taking two from Air Force, Boise State and San José State.
"There's a lot a stake in all these games," Drew said. "As much as we could so easily be in a way better position than we are right now, we're not. We're the ones that are in it. We have to correct it. (Wednesday) gives us an opportunity to do that.
"We need to be the best version of ourselves. I think we can play much better. I think we can execute much better."
The Lopes get two more home games in front of their renown Global Credit Union Arena crowds, starting with a 7 p.m. Wednesday rematch against the UNLV team that began its tunaround with a home against GCU on Feb. 7.
The Lopes (17-10, 10-6 Mountain West) have four conference games to outplay Nevada for fourth place in the Mountain West and the final MW Championships first-round bye. But a loss to the Runnin' Rebels could also slide GCU into a fifth-place tie with UNLV, which would then have the head-to-head series tiebreaker to knock the Lopes into the less desirable sixth seed.But after a Saturday home loss to Wyoming, GCU is in no position to envision its MW Championships fate until it corrects what went awry Saturday and the last time it saw UNLV.
"I'm excited, especially after the way we played last time in front or our home crowd, it's unacceptable," Lopes graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane said. "We're looking forward to the opportunity to bounce back. There aren't many opportunties left to play here, so we just want to make the most of it (Wednesday night). We've got the best crowd. You can't take these ones for granted, especially being a senior."
Despite a wild comeback in the final 2 1/2 minutes, GCU lost 80-78 at Thomas & Mack Center when UNLV was missing Mountain West leading shot-blocker Tyrin Jones and versatile guard Howie Fleming Jr. Runnin' Rebels junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn played all 40 minutes and used three-level scoring for 29 points in that win, but UNLV is back to full strength with Fleming recording a triple-double Saturday at Air Force (10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and no turnovers).
Gibbs-Lawhorn, the dynamic 6-foot-1 Illinois transfer, is averaging 27.9 points on 57% shooting (52% on 3-pointers) over the past seven games. No player in the nation has posted averages of 27.9 points and 4.4 made 3s over a seven-game span this season, and no Mountain West player has done so since BYU's Jimmer Fredette in January 2011 (36.1 points per game, 4.7 3s per game)."We've got to play better than we did our last game out," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "We've got four games left. It's a sprint, and we need to act like it's a sprint, treat it like it's a sprint and coach it like it's a sprint.
"They're probably the hottest team in the league right now. They have probably right now the most prolific scorer from the last two or three weeks (Gibbs-Lawhorn). They're playing really good basketball right now. We played really good basketball a couple games ago (in a win at San Diego State). Last game, we weren't at our best. We need to be at our best to have a chance (Wednesday)."
In GCU senior guard Jaden Henley's return to his former home, he went 2 for 13 from the field at UNLV and the team was shooting 26% when the Runnin' Rebels took a 75-59 lead with 2:24 remaining. The Lopes made their final six shots, including three by Henley, to close on a 19-4 run that nearly pulled off the comeback."It's been fun because I've been such a defensive coach my entire career and we've had really good defensive teams," UNLV head coach Josh Pastner said at his Monday media availability. "Just this year, we haven't been at the level we have defensively, other than we were really good defensively against Grand Canyon."
That win started a 4-1 stretch for UNLV (14-13, 9-7 MW), which is coming off a 91-66 victory at last-place Air Force that included a 57-35 second half Saturday. In Pastner's first year leading UNLV after being head coach at Memphis and Georgia Tech, the Runnin' Rebels are seeking their fourth conference sweep after taking two from Air Force, Boise State and San José State.
"There's a lot a stake in all these games," Drew said. "As much as we could so easily be in a way better position than we are right now, we're not. We're the ones that are in it. We have to correct it. (Wednesday) gives us an opportunity to do that.
"We need to be the best version of ourselves. I think we can play much better. I think we can execute much better."
Lope tracks
- GCU senior guard Jaden Henley is averaging 17.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals. There are only four other players with at least 20 games averaging at least those numbers: Cameron Boozer of Duke, Prophet Johnson of Sacramento State, Dailyn Swain of Texas and Quion Williams of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- Owusu-Anane shoots 48.8% from the field in GCU wins and 34.5% in Lopes losses.
- GCU freshman center Efe Demirel is shooting 68.3% from the field in home games.
- February has been Lopes junior guard Makaih Williams' best scoring (17.5 points per game) and shooting (46.2%) month of the season.
- GCU leads the Mountain West in scoring defense (68.6 points allowed per game) and rebounds (36.4 per game).
- UNLV commits the third-most fouls per game in the nation (21.4).
- GCU is the only Mountain West team regularly playing a tandem of 7-footers (Demirel and redshirt freshman Dennis Evans).
- The 18 days between GCU-UNLV games is the shortest turnaround of any Lopes conference series.
- The home teams has won the past seven games between GCU and UNLV.
- The Lopes are 7-0 when shooting better than 35% from 3-point range.
- GCU is 14-0 in games that it led at halftime.
- The Lopes are 10-1 when attempting 23 or more free throws.
- GCU is 11-1 when opponents shoot less than 40% from the field.
Players Mentioned
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