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
19-11,12-7Mountain West
86
at
60
Air Force
3-27,0-19Mountain West
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Canyon | 43 | 43 | 86 |
| Air Force | 24 | 36 | 60 |
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Standings bump comes after road rout
3/3/2026 11:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU takes over 4th in MW after 5 Lopes score in double figures at Air Force
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – On a night when the Mountain West was at its most unpredictable, Grand Canyon performed as expected.
The Lopes met their first March moment Tuesday night, adjusting to their injury-thinned rotation to wallop Air Force 86-60 at Clune Arena and take advantage of Wyoming's surprise win against Nevada.
Suddenly, Saturday's Senior Night against Fresno State carries great weight. A GCU win would earn at least a fourth-place conference finish and a Mountain West Championship first-round bye. Should San Diego State stumble, as it did Tuesday night at Boise State, to the UNLV team that swept Utah State on Tuesday night, the Lopes could even claim a No. 3 tournament seed with a 20th win Saturday.
The reconstruction of GCU's depth built a solid base Tuesday night at Air Force, where the Lopes shared the ball to put five scorers in double figures and had the bench log 38.5% of the playing time in the first game without injured power forward Wilhelm Breidenbach. The result was GCU's largest win margin since Nov. 10.
The Lopes (19-11, 12-7 Mountain West) had been riding a 5-5 roller coaster since starting guard Caleb Shaw injured his ankle Jan. 24, but Shaw made the trip and got to rejoin starters watching the bench enjoy its largest scoring night (31 points) since Jan. 10.
GCU junior guard Dusty Stromer (12 points) and freshman redshirt Dennis Evans (career-high 10 points) each played most of the game, and junior Kaleb Smith slipped into Breidenbach's backup power forward role for six points in 18 minutes. It even carried over to a feel-good finish with freshman walk-on Cole Pepe making a 3-point for his first career points.
"This is a grind, and road games are even harder, so I'm really proud of our guys for being locked in from the very beginning to the final buzzer," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said.
The Lopes led 26-8 after the first 11 minutes with the last 15 of those points coming from Stromer, Evans and Smith. Evans, a 7-foot-2 paint protector, swatted the Falcons' third shot of the game and stayed in their heads from there with three blocks and many altered shots in 20 minutes. It was Evans' fourth game of three blocks or more, with each occasion coming in 20 minutes or fewer.
Starting center Efe Demirel was limited to 13 minutes by foul trouble, but he added a blocked shot to help keep Air Force to 42% shooting.
"Our guards did a really good job of finding them and trying to take away their looks," Drew said. "I thought our two bigs really protected the rim well for us, especially in the first half. They really set a great tone around the rim. Even with the ones they didn't block, they just had a presence to alter shots."
Evans had an early-game stretch in which he scored three times over four GCU possessions, dropping two post-up hooks before adding a slam off senior guard Jaden Henley's no-look pass.
"It was very exciting," Evans said. "We did exactly what we were supposed to do in the first 15 (minutes) and made it as hard as possible. We forced them to take shots they didn't want. We forced them off the 3-point line and forced them to come toward me to take a tough shot. And we were patient on offense.
"I'm trying to be more physical and be more active for him (Breidenbach), just so I can continue to show his energy because he can't play right now. It was really tough to see him go down that game (Saturday at Utah State)."
GCU's more common threats made it a blowout, giving the Lopes their third game of at least 56% shooting on the road this season. The 56.4% shooting was built on the efficiency of Henley going 7 for 11 for 17 points in 26 minutes and junior guard Makaih Williams making 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range on his 14-point, four-assist, no-turnover night. Williams was plus-29 in 25 minutes, leaving the Lopes minus-13 in 15 minutes without him.
"I thought our ball movement was really good," Drew said. "Guys were willing passers. With 17 assists, guys were willing to find some gaps and move the ball."
Stromer, averaging a career-high 6,0 points per game, posted his seventh double-digit scoring game of the season by using his 6-foot-6 size on guards for mid-range jumpers, a pair of 3-pointers and a fastbreak finish. He helped GCU's 9-for-21 (43%) 3-point shooting night, but he impressed his coach more defensively.
"I really liked his rhythm on offense," Drew said. "He moved the ball well, and he took good shots. That one he made in transition was a really tough shot. He had really good footwork on the shot fake and step-through with the finish. I'll probably talk about his defense more even than his offense. He played really well offensively, but he chased around their shooters and he made it tough. He didn't let them get it off. He did a tremendous job chasing guys for 26 minutes. He really played an all-around game for 26 minutes."
Smith had only made three appearances of two minutes apiece over GCU's past 13 games, but he logged a season-high 18 minutes Tuesday night in the Lopes' first game without Breidenbach, who was in Phoenix getting examined. The expanded role is closer to what he did last season at UC Riverside, where the 6-foot-10, 245-pound power forward averaged 26.6 minutes and started every game.
"He's definitely capable," Drew said of Smith. "It was great to get him minutes out here. He looked like he's been playing with the rhythm the guys had with him out there. We're going to need him."
GCU's defense caused 11 first-half turnovers to build a 43-24 halftime edge and sustained the large lead better than the teams' first meeting in Phoenix. The guards' aggressive perimeter defense chased the Falcons into unfamiliar shots and the deterrents of Demirel and Evans on the back line.
"Just seeing a guard go in there and see me and start to look around to find some to outlet it to is something that gets me going," Evans said.
Air Force began the game with eight misses and six turnovers on its first 17 possessions. The lead remained in double digits for nearly the last 36 minutes, reaching as high as 33 (79-46 with 6:25 to go).
"They weren't interested in losing to us at all," Falcons interim head coach Jon Jordan said. "They came out right from the start ready for us."
The Lopes met their first March moment Tuesday night, adjusting to their injury-thinned rotation to wallop Air Force 86-60 at Clune Arena and take advantage of Wyoming's surprise win against Nevada.Suddenly, Saturday's Senior Night against Fresno State carries great weight. A GCU win would earn at least a fourth-place conference finish and a Mountain West Championship first-round bye. Should San Diego State stumble, as it did Tuesday night at Boise State, to the UNLV team that swept Utah State on Tuesday night, the Lopes could even claim a No. 3 tournament seed with a 20th win Saturday.
The reconstruction of GCU's depth built a solid base Tuesday night at Air Force, where the Lopes shared the ball to put five scorers in double figures and had the bench log 38.5% of the playing time in the first game without injured power forward Wilhelm Breidenbach. The result was GCU's largest win margin since Nov. 10.
The Lopes (19-11, 12-7 Mountain West) had been riding a 5-5 roller coaster since starting guard Caleb Shaw injured his ankle Jan. 24, but Shaw made the trip and got to rejoin starters watching the bench enjoy its largest scoring night (31 points) since Jan. 10.
GCU junior guard Dusty Stromer (12 points) and freshman redshirt Dennis Evans (career-high 10 points) each played most of the game, and junior Kaleb Smith slipped into Breidenbach's backup power forward role for six points in 18 minutes. It even carried over to a feel-good finish with freshman walk-on Cole Pepe making a 3-point for his first career points."This is a grind, and road games are even harder, so I'm really proud of our guys for being locked in from the very beginning to the final buzzer," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said.
The Lopes led 26-8 after the first 11 minutes with the last 15 of those points coming from Stromer, Evans and Smith. Evans, a 7-foot-2 paint protector, swatted the Falcons' third shot of the game and stayed in their heads from there with three blocks and many altered shots in 20 minutes. It was Evans' fourth game of three blocks or more, with each occasion coming in 20 minutes or fewer.
Starting center Efe Demirel was limited to 13 minutes by foul trouble, but he added a blocked shot to help keep Air Force to 42% shooting.
"Our guards did a really good job of finding them and trying to take away their looks," Drew said. "I thought our two bigs really protected the rim well for us, especially in the first half. They really set a great tone around the rim. Even with the ones they didn't block, they just had a presence to alter shots."
Evans had an early-game stretch in which he scored three times over four GCU possessions, dropping two post-up hooks before adding a slam off senior guard Jaden Henley's no-look pass."It was very exciting," Evans said. "We did exactly what we were supposed to do in the first 15 (minutes) and made it as hard as possible. We forced them to take shots they didn't want. We forced them off the 3-point line and forced them to come toward me to take a tough shot. And we were patient on offense.
"I'm trying to be more physical and be more active for him (Breidenbach), just so I can continue to show his energy because he can't play right now. It was really tough to see him go down that game (Saturday at Utah State)."
GCU's more common threats made it a blowout, giving the Lopes their third game of at least 56% shooting on the road this season. The 56.4% shooting was built on the efficiency of Henley going 7 for 11 for 17 points in 26 minutes and junior guard Makaih Williams making 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range on his 14-point, four-assist, no-turnover night. Williams was plus-29 in 25 minutes, leaving the Lopes minus-13 in 15 minutes without him.
"I thought our ball movement was really good," Drew said. "Guys were willing passers. With 17 assists, guys were willing to find some gaps and move the ball."
Stromer, averaging a career-high 6,0 points per game, posted his seventh double-digit scoring game of the season by using his 6-foot-6 size on guards for mid-range jumpers, a pair of 3-pointers and a fastbreak finish. He helped GCU's 9-for-21 (43%) 3-point shooting night, but he impressed his coach more defensively."I really liked his rhythm on offense," Drew said. "He moved the ball well, and he took good shots. That one he made in transition was a really tough shot. He had really good footwork on the shot fake and step-through with the finish. I'll probably talk about his defense more even than his offense. He played really well offensively, but he chased around their shooters and he made it tough. He didn't let them get it off. He did a tremendous job chasing guys for 26 minutes. He really played an all-around game for 26 minutes."
Smith had only made three appearances of two minutes apiece over GCU's past 13 games, but he logged a season-high 18 minutes Tuesday night in the Lopes' first game without Breidenbach, who was in Phoenix getting examined. The expanded role is closer to what he did last season at UC Riverside, where the 6-foot-10, 245-pound power forward averaged 26.6 minutes and started every game.
"He's definitely capable," Drew said of Smith. "It was great to get him minutes out here. He looked like he's been playing with the rhythm the guys had with him out there. We're going to need him."GCU's defense caused 11 first-half turnovers to build a 43-24 halftime edge and sustained the large lead better than the teams' first meeting in Phoenix. The guards' aggressive perimeter defense chased the Falcons into unfamiliar shots and the deterrents of Demirel and Evans on the back line.
"Just seeing a guard go in there and see me and start to look around to find some to outlet it to is something that gets me going," Evans said.
Air Force began the game with eight misses and six turnovers on its first 17 possessions. The lead remained in double digits for nearly the last 36 minutes, reaching as high as 33 (79-46 with 6:25 to go).
"They weren't interested in losing to us at all," Falcons interim head coach Jon Jordan said. "They came out right from the start ready for us."
Team Stats
GCU
USAFA
FG%
.564
.422
3FG%
.429
.235
FT%
.714
.692
RB
34
24
TO
10
13
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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