Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Fresno State on January 24, 2026 , Win , 68, to, 57
M Basketball
at Fresno State
W 68-57
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, February 7
Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, Nev.
2:30 p.m. (MST)
Grand Canyon
15-8,8-4Mountain West
78
at
80
UNLV
11-12,6-6Mountain West
1
2
F
Grand Canyon
34
44
78
UNLV
44
36
80
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Late rally falls 1 shot short at UNLV
2/7/2026 7:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Gibbs-Lawhorn's 29 points put GCU down by as many as 16
LAS VEGAS – The full Lopes Vegas experience will have to wait for March.
Grand Canyon's Saturday visit to Las Vegas nearly included the elements of its usual visits with about 500 Havocs in the crowd and the Lopes making an astonishing late-game run.
But on this day, host UNLV proved to be the hungrier team with a lineup that built double-digit leads that negated GCU's size and athleticism, only to withstand a Lopes 17-4 surge that left GCU just shy in an 80-78 loss.
The Lopes will return to Thomas & Mack Center with more purple support in March for the Mountain West Championship, for which its quest to be the regular-season champion took a hit in the program's "Big Four" network debut on Fox.
GCU (15-8, 8-4 Mountain West) trailed for the final 32:50 of the game and were down by as many as 16 points but still came inches from two UNLV turnovers in the final 10 seconds that would have given the Lopes a shot to tie when trailing 78-76.
That almost made up for a game in which it shot 38.6% against a UNLV team that lost two starters early in the season and had two more starters out Saturday.
"Basically, we got punked, just plain and simple," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "They were more physical than us. They pushed us off our line. We couldn't hold our line. We couldn't get through the line. And a little too late in the last four minutes.
"It's disappointing because we were playing really good, high-level basketball. Nana (Owusu-Anane) gave us toughness for 40 minutes, but we've got to find other guys who were willing to be tough. They got through screens. We couldn't get through screens. That's where the game was won."
A win would've tied the Lopes for third place with 1 ½ games separating them from first place, but GCU now is in fifth place – 1/2 game behind Nevada and 1 game behind Wednesday visitor New Mexico.
The shorthanded Runnin' Rebels got a 20-point first half from guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who finished with 29 points, and overcame foul issues with sophomore center Jacob Bannarbie grabbing 15 rebounds off the bench.
In his return to his home court of last season, GCU senior Jaden Henley struggled along with his fellow guards as UNLV built a 39-23 lead behind Gibbs-Lawhorn's three-level scoring. UNLV was coming off a brutal loss at Fresno State, who scored seven unanswered points in the last six seconds to win.
"We played our hardest," Gibbs-Lawhorn said. "I could tell after the Fresno State game that the chip was on our shoulder, but everyone was watching tonight could tell. You could see it there."
GCU junior guard Dusty Stromer made a pair of 3-pointers toward the end of the first half to help cut the lead to 41-34 with 35 seconds until halftime. UNLV freshman guard Isaac Williamson answered with a long 3 that sent the Runnin' Rebels to a 44-34 halftime lead, the most points the Lopes have allowed in a first half this season.
"We've got to be more physical," Drew said. "We've got to play through contact better. And we've done that. For some reason today, we just didn't play through the contract like we've been doing.
"We didn't get through screens. Our defense has been really good all year, and our guards have gotten through screens. Today, we just didn't get through. They were hitting too many jump shots because our guards weren't getting over the top hard enough and fast enough and getting them downhill into our bigs. That's something we've been known for all year. That's helped us win games. Unfortunately, we didn't do it at a high level."
GCU made its first push midway through the second half, when UNLV kept up its Mountain West fouls lead for a 7-0 Lopes run entirely on free throws. GCU cut the UNLV lead to four on three occasions but allowed scores each time to set up the Runnin' Rebels to pull away again.
The Lopes' shooting dipped to 30.6% when UNLV took a 70-56 lead with 4:14 to play.
"The changing of (man and zone) defenses was good," Runnin' Rebels head coach Josh Pastner said. "It maybe kept them off-rhythm at times. I thought the reason we won today was our 5 spot. Jacob and Emmanuel (Stephen), the presence they had at the 5 spot was important for us. We haven't always had that."
GCU scored 22 points in the final four minutes to make an unlikely comeback a possibility. Henley scored nine of his 17 points, part of his third double-double with 10 rebounds, and junior guard Makaih Williams had seven of his 16 points during that stretch.
Owusu-Anane, the Lopes' graduate power forward, created UNLV turnovers during the rally, including tying up UNLV to gain possession for two Henley free throws that made it a one-possession game for the first time since eight minutes into the game.
UNLV's ensuing inbound pass went to Williams, but he deflected the ball and the Runnin' Rebels kept possession to add a free throw for a 78-73 lead and 20.4 seconds remaining.
With his fifth double-double of the season and 20th of his career, Owusu-Anane polished off his 19-point, 13-rebound, four-steal, three-assist game with a 3-pointer that reduced UNLV's lead to 78-76 with 12 seconds to go.
Owusu-Anane again tied UNLV up, but the possession arrow kept the ball with the Runnin' Rebels with 9.1 seconds to go. The ensuing inbound was passed downcourt nearly out of bounds, but Bannarbie saved it with his feet just shy of the baseline. The Lopes took a foul with 5.2 seconds to go, and Williamson iced the game with two free throws.
"You've got to be ready to throw punches from the very first tip and be aggressive on both ends," Drew said. "Unfortunately, our guys got hit and we responded late, but too late."
Recent injuries to UNLV's Howie Fleming Jr. and Tyrin Jones added to being without Ladji Dembele and Myles Che since the preseason or early season. Gibbs-Lawhorn became a scoring point guard and played all 40 minutes Saturday to record the highest-scoring game of any Lopes opponent this season. He went 10 for 23 from the field, 3 for 8 on 3s and 6 for 6 on free throws.
"We knew there going to be in drop ball screen coverage, so coming off the screen, it was important to be a bit more patient," Gibbs-Lawhorn said. "You're not going to have too much help in the gaps from the corners, so just be patient when the big man rolls and try to keep the defender on your back. The defender can't foul, so it makes it a lot easier after the big man rolls."
GCU essentially used a seven-man rotation Saturday with redshirt freshman center Dennis Evans only playing four stat-less minutes. UNLV went nine deep, going to sophomore walk-on Jalen Cunningham for five minutes of plus-six time. Another reserve, senior guard Al Green, scored 13 points after averaging 5.3 on the season.
Saturday's game drew an announced attendance of 6,639, about 500 of which were Havocs, the GCU student fans who arrived by buses Saturday.
"I'm glad that they were able to buy tickets because it goes into UNLV's bank account," Pastner said. "So that's a good thing. It's good for UNLV's financials. So it all counts the same. However, I was really happy that we were winning, so it's a longer bus ride for them now to have to go home coming off of a loss. So glad we were able to collect the money, but they have to go home on a loss. So it was a win for UNLV all the way around."
GCU's next game will be at home Wednesday night against New Mexico (18-6, 9-4 MW), which dropped a second consecutive game with a 91-90 home loss to Boise State. The Lobos won their first meeting with the Lopes in Albuquerque, where Drew was ejected in an 87-64 loss.
"It's a grind," Drew said. "We've got another tough one coming next week. We've got to able to play for 40 minutes with urgency like we played the last four minutes. The urgency wasn't there to start the game. Obviously, Jaden Henley wasn't himself. I don't know if coming back here (to UNLV) was emotional because he played here last year, but he was not there. He's a way better player, and that hurt when he played like that for the first 30 minutes."
Grand Canyon's Saturday visit to Las Vegas nearly included the elements of its usual visits with about 500 Havocs in the crowd and the Lopes making an astonishing late-game run.
But on this day, host UNLV proved to be the hungrier team with a lineup that built double-digit leads that negated GCU's size and athleticism, only to withstand a Lopes 17-4 surge that left GCU just shy in an 80-78 loss.The Lopes will return to Thomas & Mack Center with more purple support in March for the Mountain West Championship, for which its quest to be the regular-season champion took a hit in the program's "Big Four" network debut on Fox.
GCU (15-8, 8-4 Mountain West) trailed for the final 32:50 of the game and were down by as many as 16 points but still came inches from two UNLV turnovers in the final 10 seconds that would have given the Lopes a shot to tie when trailing 78-76.
That almost made up for a game in which it shot 38.6% against a UNLV team that lost two starters early in the season and had two more starters out Saturday.
"Basically, we got punked, just plain and simple," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "They were more physical than us. They pushed us off our line. We couldn't hold our line. We couldn't get through the line. And a little too late in the last four minutes."It's disappointing because we were playing really good, high-level basketball. Nana (Owusu-Anane) gave us toughness for 40 minutes, but we've got to find other guys who were willing to be tough. They got through screens. We couldn't get through screens. That's where the game was won."
A win would've tied the Lopes for third place with 1 ½ games separating them from first place, but GCU now is in fifth place – 1/2 game behind Nevada and 1 game behind Wednesday visitor New Mexico.
The shorthanded Runnin' Rebels got a 20-point first half from guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who finished with 29 points, and overcame foul issues with sophomore center Jacob Bannarbie grabbing 15 rebounds off the bench.
In his return to his home court of last season, GCU senior Jaden Henley struggled along with his fellow guards as UNLV built a 39-23 lead behind Gibbs-Lawhorn's three-level scoring. UNLV was coming off a brutal loss at Fresno State, who scored seven unanswered points in the last six seconds to win."We played our hardest," Gibbs-Lawhorn said. "I could tell after the Fresno State game that the chip was on our shoulder, but everyone was watching tonight could tell. You could see it there."
GCU junior guard Dusty Stromer made a pair of 3-pointers toward the end of the first half to help cut the lead to 41-34 with 35 seconds until halftime. UNLV freshman guard Isaac Williamson answered with a long 3 that sent the Runnin' Rebels to a 44-34 halftime lead, the most points the Lopes have allowed in a first half this season.
"We've got to be more physical," Drew said. "We've got to play through contact better. And we've done that. For some reason today, we just didn't play through the contract like we've been doing.
"We didn't get through screens. Our defense has been really good all year, and our guards have gotten through screens. Today, we just didn't get through. They were hitting too many jump shots because our guards weren't getting over the top hard enough and fast enough and getting them downhill into our bigs. That's something we've been known for all year. That's helped us win games. Unfortunately, we didn't do it at a high level."
GCU made its first push midway through the second half, when UNLV kept up its Mountain West fouls lead for a 7-0 Lopes run entirely on free throws. GCU cut the UNLV lead to four on three occasions but allowed scores each time to set up the Runnin' Rebels to pull away again.The Lopes' shooting dipped to 30.6% when UNLV took a 70-56 lead with 4:14 to play.
"The changing of (man and zone) defenses was good," Runnin' Rebels head coach Josh Pastner said. "It maybe kept them off-rhythm at times. I thought the reason we won today was our 5 spot. Jacob and Emmanuel (Stephen), the presence they had at the 5 spot was important for us. We haven't always had that."
GCU scored 22 points in the final four minutes to make an unlikely comeback a possibility. Henley scored nine of his 17 points, part of his third double-double with 10 rebounds, and junior guard Makaih Williams had seven of his 16 points during that stretch.
Owusu-Anane, the Lopes' graduate power forward, created UNLV turnovers during the rally, including tying up UNLV to gain possession for two Henley free throws that made it a one-possession game for the first time since eight minutes into the game.
UNLV's ensuing inbound pass went to Williams, but he deflected the ball and the Runnin' Rebels kept possession to add a free throw for a 78-73 lead and 20.4 seconds remaining.
With his fifth double-double of the season and 20th of his career, Owusu-Anane polished off his 19-point, 13-rebound, four-steal, three-assist game with a 3-pointer that reduced UNLV's lead to 78-76 with 12 seconds to go.Owusu-Anane again tied UNLV up, but the possession arrow kept the ball with the Runnin' Rebels with 9.1 seconds to go. The ensuing inbound was passed downcourt nearly out of bounds, but Bannarbie saved it with his feet just shy of the baseline. The Lopes took a foul with 5.2 seconds to go, and Williamson iced the game with two free throws.
"You've got to be ready to throw punches from the very first tip and be aggressive on both ends," Drew said. "Unfortunately, our guys got hit and we responded late, but too late."
Recent injuries to UNLV's Howie Fleming Jr. and Tyrin Jones added to being without Ladji Dembele and Myles Che since the preseason or early season. Gibbs-Lawhorn became a scoring point guard and played all 40 minutes Saturday to record the highest-scoring game of any Lopes opponent this season. He went 10 for 23 from the field, 3 for 8 on 3s and 6 for 6 on free throws.
"We knew there going to be in drop ball screen coverage, so coming off the screen, it was important to be a bit more patient," Gibbs-Lawhorn said. "You're not going to have too much help in the gaps from the corners, so just be patient when the big man rolls and try to keep the defender on your back. The defender can't foul, so it makes it a lot easier after the big man rolls."
GCU essentially used a seven-man rotation Saturday with redshirt freshman center Dennis Evans only playing four stat-less minutes. UNLV went nine deep, going to sophomore walk-on Jalen Cunningham for five minutes of plus-six time. Another reserve, senior guard Al Green, scored 13 points after averaging 5.3 on the season.
Saturday's game drew an announced attendance of 6,639, about 500 of which were Havocs, the GCU student fans who arrived by buses Saturday.
"I'm glad that they were able to buy tickets because it goes into UNLV's bank account," Pastner said. "So that's a good thing. It's good for UNLV's financials. So it all counts the same. However, I was really happy that we were winning, so it's a longer bus ride for them now to have to go home coming off of a loss. So glad we were able to collect the money, but they have to go home on a loss. So it was a win for UNLV all the way around."
GCU's next game will be at home Wednesday night against New Mexico (18-6, 9-4 MW), which dropped a second consecutive game with a 91-90 home loss to Boise State. The Lobos won their first meeting with the Lopes in Albuquerque, where Drew was ejected in an 87-64 loss.
"It's a grind," Drew said. "We've got another tough one coming next week. We've got to able to play for 40 minutes with urgency like we played the last four minutes. The urgency wasn't there to start the game. Obviously, Jaden Henley wasn't himself. I don't know if coming back here (to UNLV) was emotional because he played here last year, but he was not there. He's a way better player, and that hurt when he played like that for the first 30 minutes."
Team Stats
GCU
UNLV
FG%
.386
.429
3FG%
.333
.333
FT%
.743
.947
RB
36
41
TO
11
12
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
C
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