Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus San Diego State on January 21, 2026 , Win , 70, to, 69
M Basketball
vs San Diego State
W 70-69
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, February 3
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
15-7,8-3Mountain West
81
vs
57
Air Force
3-19,0-11Mountain West
1
2
F
Air Force
18
39
57
Grand Canyon
48
33
81
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
GCU rises in MW standings with blowout win
2/3/2026 10:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes take 48-18 halftime lead en route to 7th victory in 9 games
Playing a team that had not won since November, Grand Canyon kept showing how far it has come since November.
The flat starts and unfamiliar defense are long gone, and a Mountain West contender has emerged. The Lopes ascended into fourth place in the conference Tuesday night, when it took a 30-point halftime lead on Air Force to control an 81-57 home Mountain West win that lightened the GCU regulars' workloads.
The Lopes (15-7, 8-3 Mountain West) are one game behind the three-headed conference leader of New Mexico, San Diego State and Utah State, who are all 9-2 before the Aggies and Lobos playWednesday night at The Pit.
GCU lengthened the nation's second-longest active losing streak by easily handing Air Force its 15th consecutive loss, holding an opponent to 40% or less shooting for the eighth consecutive game. With its 48-18 halftime lead, the Lopes matched a Division I-era program low for opponent first-half scoring and recorded their second-largest halftime lead of their D-I era.
"The key was to stay focused on defense tonight. It's hard to stay engaged," GCU graduate guard Brian Moore Jr. said. "We didn't have a Utah State or a San Diego State that came in here. All respect to Air Force, but they're just not one of those teams. We had to fight against human nature to not be lackadaisical, and we came out with a strong defensive front."
The Lopes led by as many as 38 points and put four scorers in double figures while every starter was kept to fewer than 25 minutes.
GCU has turned up its defense recently to the standards of the program's six-year head coaching era under Bryce Drew, who now is one victory from 300 career wins. The Lopes made it more constricting Tuesday night, when they shut out Air Force for more than seven minutes to take a 21-7 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.
The defense was menacing to everything Air Force wanted to do, prompting the Falcons to shoot three airballs during the shutout stretch and make 13 turnovers in the first half. GCU matched a season high for steals with 13, opening the game with steals on each of Air Force's first three possessions as Moore and graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane each were on their ways to three-steal games.
"I think, in this last month, our guys have really bought into helping each other on defense," Drew said. "Dennis (Evans) and Efe (Demirel) have done a really good job protecting the rim and altering shots in the paint. We had 13 steals, which is one of our highs on the year. I loved our defensive effort."
GCU led 73-35 in the second half before the starters exited for the night, with senior guard Jaden Henley on pace for a triple-double. He delivered 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in just 23 minutes without making a turnover.
The Lopes only led 11-7 early before Henley had a sequence of a left-handed drive, a steal that picked a Falcon's dribble and a breakaway slam. He continued the efficient ways of his career-high 46.6% season shooting, making 6 of 9 shots and knocking down the only 3-pointer he attempted.
"Jaden does so many things well out there," Drew said. 'I love to see him get used to our system. The more comfortable he's gotten, the more he's been able to find his spaces to score more. He's defended better, and he's rebounding the ball at a really high level yesterday. I'm really pleased with what Jaden's brought to us, especially the last month. He just keeps climbing."
Henley ended the half with an assist to freshman guard Evan Boisdur, who made his first career 3-point to put GCU ahead 48-18 at halftime. The Lopes' only larger halftime lead of their D-I era came last season against Bryant (61-23).
Boisdur tripled his season scoring total Tuesday night, going from five points in 32 previous minutes to 10 points Tuesday night in a career-high 18 minutes. With junior guard Caleb Shaw out indefinitely due to an ankle injury, Boisdur becomes the Lopes' fifth guard.
"I feel great," Boisdur said. "I've been working a lot, so I make sure that I came into the game with intensity.
"I've got great teammates. I love them. It felt good to feel that you contribute to a win."
Boisdur, who is from the French island Guadeloupe in the Carribbean Sea, has displayed readiness as a playmaker and defender on the French youth national teamx and since joining GCU at the start of the fall semester. But his shot improvement showed Tuesday night when he made two 3-pointers on five attempts.
"The more he gets on the court, the more comfortable he is," Drew said. "He shot the ball well, which was great. He's been a really hard worker every day in practice. When he does that, you like to see a guy have success in games. He really guards the ball well and pushes tempo."
Moore and Williams often do that. They joined Henley in driving as they wished in the first half, when all three GCU guards scored in double figures.
It was Moore's second game back after missing two games for a hamstring strain, and his play appeared seamless. Moore made 5 of 7 shots for 15 points in 24 minutes with three steals and two assists.
"Coming back from that hamstring and missing those games, he was much better in this game than he was last game," Drew said. "That was a great sign."
As the GCU lead blew up in the first half, Moore scored 13 of GCU's 19 points during one stretch that he closed with back-to-back scoring drives, including a spinning 3-point play.
The first half did the job to reduce top GCU players' minutes and expand opportunities for the Lopes reserves, including walk-on freshman guard Cole Pepe who appeared for the final two minutes and made "a really commendable play," Drew said, when he passed up a 3-point attempt to set up teammate Kaleb Smith's shot.
The Lopes committed 10 turnovers, only three of which were committed by a starter. GCU notched its seventh win in the past nine games with a Saturday game ahead at UNLV, the only Mountain West team it has not faced this season. The Runnin' Rebels (10-12, 5-6 MW) had five players foul out Tuesday night and allowed seven unanswered points in the final six seconds of a 98-96 loss at Fresno State.
"We're playing with a different type of connection right now," Moore said. "That's going to lead us. We've got so many guys that can do so many different things. We're finally jelling, and around this February-March time is when you want get into your best, and I think we're ascending into there."
The flat starts and unfamiliar defense are long gone, and a Mountain West contender has emerged. The Lopes ascended into fourth place in the conference Tuesday night, when it took a 30-point halftime lead on Air Force to control an 81-57 home Mountain West win that lightened the GCU regulars' workloads.
The Lopes (15-7, 8-3 Mountain West) are one game behind the three-headed conference leader of New Mexico, San Diego State and Utah State, who are all 9-2 before the Aggies and Lobos playWednesday night at The Pit.
GCU lengthened the nation's second-longest active losing streak by easily handing Air Force its 15th consecutive loss, holding an opponent to 40% or less shooting for the eighth consecutive game. With its 48-18 halftime lead, the Lopes matched a Division I-era program low for opponent first-half scoring and recorded their second-largest halftime lead of their D-I era."The key was to stay focused on defense tonight. It's hard to stay engaged," GCU graduate guard Brian Moore Jr. said. "We didn't have a Utah State or a San Diego State that came in here. All respect to Air Force, but they're just not one of those teams. We had to fight against human nature to not be lackadaisical, and we came out with a strong defensive front."
The Lopes led by as many as 38 points and put four scorers in double figures while every starter was kept to fewer than 25 minutes.
GCU has turned up its defense recently to the standards of the program's six-year head coaching era under Bryce Drew, who now is one victory from 300 career wins. The Lopes made it more constricting Tuesday night, when they shut out Air Force for more than seven minutes to take a 21-7 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.
The defense was menacing to everything Air Force wanted to do, prompting the Falcons to shoot three airballs during the shutout stretch and make 13 turnovers in the first half. GCU matched a season high for steals with 13, opening the game with steals on each of Air Force's first three possessions as Moore and graduate power forward Nana Owusu-Anane each were on their ways to three-steal games.
"I think, in this last month, our guys have really bought into helping each other on defense," Drew said. "Dennis (Evans) and Efe (Demirel) have done a really good job protecting the rim and altering shots in the paint. We had 13 steals, which is one of our highs on the year. I loved our defensive effort."
GCU led 73-35 in the second half before the starters exited for the night, with senior guard Jaden Henley on pace for a triple-double. He delivered 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in just 23 minutes without making a turnover.The Lopes only led 11-7 early before Henley had a sequence of a left-handed drive, a steal that picked a Falcon's dribble and a breakaway slam. He continued the efficient ways of his career-high 46.6% season shooting, making 6 of 9 shots and knocking down the only 3-pointer he attempted.
"Jaden does so many things well out there," Drew said. 'I love to see him get used to our system. The more comfortable he's gotten, the more he's been able to find his spaces to score more. He's defended better, and he's rebounding the ball at a really high level yesterday. I'm really pleased with what Jaden's brought to us, especially the last month. He just keeps climbing."
Henley ended the half with an assist to freshman guard Evan Boisdur, who made his first career 3-point to put GCU ahead 48-18 at halftime. The Lopes' only larger halftime lead of their D-I era came last season against Bryant (61-23).
Boisdur tripled his season scoring total Tuesday night, going from five points in 32 previous minutes to 10 points Tuesday night in a career-high 18 minutes. With junior guard Caleb Shaw out indefinitely due to an ankle injury, Boisdur becomes the Lopes' fifth guard."I feel great," Boisdur said. "I've been working a lot, so I make sure that I came into the game with intensity.
"I've got great teammates. I love them. It felt good to feel that you contribute to a win."
Boisdur, who is from the French island Guadeloupe in the Carribbean Sea, has displayed readiness as a playmaker and defender on the French youth national teamx and since joining GCU at the start of the fall semester. But his shot improvement showed Tuesday night when he made two 3-pointers on five attempts.
"The more he gets on the court, the more comfortable he is," Drew said. "He shot the ball well, which was great. He's been a really hard worker every day in practice. When he does that, you like to see a guy have success in games. He really guards the ball well and pushes tempo."
Moore and Williams often do that. They joined Henley in driving as they wished in the first half, when all three GCU guards scored in double figures.
It was Moore's second game back after missing two games for a hamstring strain, and his play appeared seamless. Moore made 5 of 7 shots for 15 points in 24 minutes with three steals and two assists.
"Coming back from that hamstring and missing those games, he was much better in this game than he was last game," Drew said. "That was a great sign."As the GCU lead blew up in the first half, Moore scored 13 of GCU's 19 points during one stretch that he closed with back-to-back scoring drives, including a spinning 3-point play.
The first half did the job to reduce top GCU players' minutes and expand opportunities for the Lopes reserves, including walk-on freshman guard Cole Pepe who appeared for the final two minutes and made "a really commendable play," Drew said, when he passed up a 3-point attempt to set up teammate Kaleb Smith's shot.
The Lopes committed 10 turnovers, only three of which were committed by a starter. GCU notched its seventh win in the past nine games with a Saturday game ahead at UNLV, the only Mountain West team it has not faced this season. The Runnin' Rebels (10-12, 5-6 MW) had five players foul out Tuesday night and allowed seven unanswered points in the final six seconds of a 98-96 loss at Fresno State.
"We're playing with a different type of connection right now," Moore said. "That's going to lead us. We've got so many guys that can do so many different things. We're finally jelling, and around this February-March time is when you want get into your best, and I think we're ascending into there."
Team Stats
USAFA
GCU
FG%
.392
.525
3FG%
.286
.304
FT%
.917
.476
RB
28
36
TO
18
10
STL
6
13
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
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