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
Tuesday, March 3
Clune Arena • USAFA, Colo.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
Air Force
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Another injury hits Lopes before final road game
3/2/2026 5:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU plays at improving Air Force; both come off near-wins Saturday
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – On a Grand Canyon team with eight players who have averaged double-digit minutes this season, the defining month of a college basketball season is starting with six of those Lopes being available to play.
On top of going without starting guard Caleb Shaw since a Jan. 24 ankle injury, GCU lost more than the game Saturday night when graduate power forward Wilhelm Breidenbach left with a lower-leg injury during the Lopes' second-half comeback that resulted in a 74-69 loss at Utah State.
Breidenbach is being evaluated by doctors in Phoenix and will miss Tuesday night's game at Air Force. The frontcourt hole and subtraction from a short GCU bench will necessitate bigger roles for redshirt freshman center Dennis Evans and junior power forward Kaleb Smith, who have played 162 and 148 minutes, respectively, this season.
"It's a great opportunity for Dennis and Kaleb to step up and really help," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "The guys who haven't played, we work them out extra and try to keep them sharp and ready. There's nothing that duplicates real game action, but they've had extra workouts to be ready for situations like this."
Air Force (3-26, 0-18 Mountain West) could be a team GCU sees again eight days later in the Mountain West Championship first round if GCU remains tied with Nevada for fourth place or is in fifth place.
Because of a Jan. 27 overtime loss at Nevada and the Wolf Pack being the only MW team to not come to Phoenix, GCU needs to pass Nevada to earn the fourth seed and the first-round tournament bye that comes with it. To do so, the Lopes can win Tuesday night at Air Force and at home Saturday against Fresno State while Nevada either loses Tuesday night at Wyoming or at home Saturday against Air Force.
And although the Falcons are on the nation's longest losing streak at 22 games, they are coming off three of their best games. They led early in the second half at home against UNLV and then took San Jose State at home and Wyoming on the road to the final minutes. On Saturday at Wyoming, Air Force led with less than a minute and had two possessions with a two-point deficit before losing 66-62, leaving the Falcons to lament 8-for-21 free throw shooting.
"We could've had two wins," Air Force interim head coach Jon Jordan said on the Falcons' postgame show Saturday. "Our total outlook and vision for the future changes. Now, it's changing anyway because I believe that something good is going to happen, and I'm trying to help our players understand that something good is going to happen."
The Falcons have drilled defensive positioning to improve Air Force's sore spot, where it allows the 10th-highest opponent field goal percentage (49.0%) and the fourth-highest opponent 3-point percentage (38.3%) in the nation. Air Force opponents average 79.9 points per game, but Wyoming shot only 35.4% in Saturday's game.
Freshmen have accounted for 64% of Air Force's court minutes during Mountain West play with guards Kam Sanders and Lucas Hobin being the program's all-time leaders for freshman scoring. The experience has advanced them from four weeks ago, when GCU led 48-18 at halftime en route to routing Air Force 81-67 at home.
"They're playing matchup zone a lot," Drew said. "Offensively, they've tweaked some stuff with isos, posts and things that they didn't run the first time we played them. We'll have to be ready to play our best."
GCU lost Saturday, but its second half built momentum with how it rallied from a 14-point halftime hole to take a lead with 4:54 remaining at Utah State, where the Aggies have lost once this season. The Lopes trailed by two in the final minute when Utah State guard M.J. Collins was left alone for a corner 3-pointer.
"We were very disappointed we lost," Drew said. "We were right there, literally one or two possessions. The positive you take away is that we were right there on the road. But there are some things we need to learn too – some correctable offensive and defensive things that we could do better. It was little execution things, whether it was switching a ball screen correctly or executing a play correctly to get us on the right page."
Falcons have talked in the last week about growing confidence giving them a feeling that a win was within reach. Jordan, who took over Jan. 17 when head coach Joe Scott was suspended, noted how the Falcons "can feel it and sense it."
GCU knows Air Force is playing its best basketball and has the added motivation of a final home game, which is the Lopes' last road game.
"We want to respond the right way," Drew said. "We know how much is at stake in this game."
On top of going without starting guard Caleb Shaw since a Jan. 24 ankle injury, GCU lost more than the game Saturday night when graduate power forward Wilhelm Breidenbach left with a lower-leg injury during the Lopes' second-half comeback that resulted in a 74-69 loss at Utah State.
Breidenbach is being evaluated by doctors in Phoenix and will miss Tuesday night's game at Air Force. The frontcourt hole and subtraction from a short GCU bench will necessitate bigger roles for redshirt freshman center Dennis Evans and junior power forward Kaleb Smith, who have played 162 and 148 minutes, respectively, this season."It's a great opportunity for Dennis and Kaleb to step up and really help," Lopes head coach Bryce Drew said. "The guys who haven't played, we work them out extra and try to keep them sharp and ready. There's nothing that duplicates real game action, but they've had extra workouts to be ready for situations like this."
Air Force (3-26, 0-18 Mountain West) could be a team GCU sees again eight days later in the Mountain West Championship first round if GCU remains tied with Nevada for fourth place or is in fifth place.
Because of a Jan. 27 overtime loss at Nevada and the Wolf Pack being the only MW team to not come to Phoenix, GCU needs to pass Nevada to earn the fourth seed and the first-round tournament bye that comes with it. To do so, the Lopes can win Tuesday night at Air Force and at home Saturday against Fresno State while Nevada either loses Tuesday night at Wyoming or at home Saturday against Air Force.
And although the Falcons are on the nation's longest losing streak at 22 games, they are coming off three of their best games. They led early in the second half at home against UNLV and then took San Jose State at home and Wyoming on the road to the final minutes. On Saturday at Wyoming, Air Force led with less than a minute and had two possessions with a two-point deficit before losing 66-62, leaving the Falcons to lament 8-for-21 free throw shooting.
"We could've had two wins," Air Force interim head coach Jon Jordan said on the Falcons' postgame show Saturday. "Our total outlook and vision for the future changes. Now, it's changing anyway because I believe that something good is going to happen, and I'm trying to help our players understand that something good is going to happen."
The Falcons have drilled defensive positioning to improve Air Force's sore spot, where it allows the 10th-highest opponent field goal percentage (49.0%) and the fourth-highest opponent 3-point percentage (38.3%) in the nation. Air Force opponents average 79.9 points per game, but Wyoming shot only 35.4% in Saturday's game.
Freshmen have accounted for 64% of Air Force's court minutes during Mountain West play with guards Kam Sanders and Lucas Hobin being the program's all-time leaders for freshman scoring. The experience has advanced them from four weeks ago, when GCU led 48-18 at halftime en route to routing Air Force 81-67 at home.
"They're playing matchup zone a lot," Drew said. "Offensively, they've tweaked some stuff with isos, posts and things that they didn't run the first time we played them. We'll have to be ready to play our best."
GCU lost Saturday, but its second half built momentum with how it rallied from a 14-point halftime hole to take a lead with 4:54 remaining at Utah State, where the Aggies have lost once this season. The Lopes trailed by two in the final minute when Utah State guard M.J. Collins was left alone for a corner 3-pointer.
"We were very disappointed we lost," Drew said. "We were right there, literally one or two possessions. The positive you take away is that we were right there on the road. But there are some things we need to learn too – some correctable offensive and defensive things that we could do better. It was little execution things, whether it was switching a ball screen correctly or executing a play correctly to get us on the right page."
Falcons have talked in the last week about growing confidence giving them a feeling that a win was within reach. Jordan, who took over Jan. 17 when head coach Joe Scott was suspended, noted how the Falcons "can feel it and sense it."
GCU knows Air Force is playing its best basketball and has the added motivation of a final home game, which is the Lopes' last road game.
"We want to respond the right way," Drew said. "We know how much is at stake in this game."
Lope tracks
- GCU senior guard Jaden Henley is averaging career highs for points (17.9), rebounds (5.8), assists (2.8) and steals (1.6). The only other players in the nation reaching those averages are Cameron Boozer of Duke and Prophet Johnson of Sacramento State.
- Henley's first four career double-doubles came in the last 11 GCU games.
- Henley has the highest usage rate, 29.4%, in the Mountain West, according to sports-reference.com.
- The Lopes lead the Mountain West in scoring defense (68.7 opponent points per game) and rebounding (36.5 boards per game). They rank 39th nationally for lowest opponent shooting (41.3%).
- GCU is last in the Mountain West for 3-point percentage (30.9%).
Players Mentioned
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