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
Photo by: Jayden Todd
Seniors, bench click to earn MW tourney bye
3/7/2026 10:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU routs Fresno State in home finale, ties for 3rd in regular season
At the beginning of the season, Grand Canyon envisioned that it had a team that could continue its tradition of being nationally elite defensively, impose tremendous size on opponents, share the ball to multiple scoring threats, spread defenses with 3-point shooting and wear out opponents with depth.
The journey to the regular season's 20th win Saturday night did not always include all of that, but it ended with all of it as GCU thumped Fresno State 85-60 at sold-out Global Credit Union Arena to secure a Mountain West Championship first-round bye.
The Lopes dished out a season-best 23 assists to carve up the Bulldogs defense, closing the regular season with their first consecutive blowouts of 20-plus margins.
GCU (20-11, 13-7 MW) tied with New Mexico for third place with the Lobos earning the No. 3 tournament seed for winning the teams' regular-season series. More importantly, the No. 4 MW Championship seed receives a bye for Wednesday's first round, allowing the Lopes to prepare for a 2:30 p.m. Thursday quarterfinal against the Wednesday winner of fifth-seeded Nevada vs. 12th-seeded Air Force.
"I'm really proud of these guys," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "For us to come into a new league with a lot of newness and not having a lot of retention from last year, to finish tied for third in the sixth-best conference in the country and get 20 wins is a great accomplishment for these guys."
The Lopes celebrated their four seniors Saturday night, with the trio of Jaden Henley, Brian Moore Jr. and Nana Owusu-Anane locked into extending their careers for fellow senior Wilhelm Breidenbach, who underwent season-ending Achilles tendon surgery Friday.
The Lopes bench was fortified Saturday with career scoring highs by junior guard Dusty Stromer (17 points) and redshirt freshman center Dennis Evans (12 points) and the return of junior guard Caleb Shaw, who had missed 11 games for an ankle injury.
GCU won bench scoring 36-13 on Saturday night, marking the first time the Lopes reserves have outscored their opponents' subs in consecutive games since early January.
"We talked to the underclassmen from the juniors down and said, 'Hey, it's Senior Night, Make sure you help your seniors go out the best way they can on their home court.,' " Drew said. "You want to help honor your seniors that way, and I really thought the guys really bought in and were really focused. They wanted their seniors to have a good last night, and credit our seniors. They played with a lot of emotion, did a lot of good things out there and really set a tone. We talked in one huddle, and they spoke up. You could see the determination in their faces and how bad they wanted to win this game."
Some of that desire resulted in exuberant early mistakes, keeping GCU from leading for nearly the first 10 minutes of the game. But a Lopes 16-2 run was sparked by an uptick in offensive pace, whether it was transition scoring or sharp, quick-striking offense from ball movement.
GCU had not made more than 20 assists in a game since Opening Night and surpassed that effort with 23 assists that included four players with at least four assists.
Lopes graduate guard Brian Moore Jr. set that tone. He made a turnover on the second possession of the game and never again in a night of uber-offensive efficiency. Moore sank 8 of 9 shots from the field and handed out five assists while adding five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot to be plus-30 in his 29 minutes.
"I wanted to leave it all out there," Moore said. "I wanted to leave no regrets. I wante to go out in my last time here and have people think, 'Yeah, Brian Moore was a dawg.' I think I did that too."
In a GCU offense that opens games with a three-playmaker lineup, Moore was the one leading the ball movement Saturday. In the past two wins, he scored in double digits each time with eight assists to one turnover over 61 minutes of action.
"That was probably Brian's best all-around game of the year," Drew said. "I thought he made great decisions of when to attack the rim and when to pass. You look at our 23 assists, and a lot started with him just moving the ball to start. He didn't force shots. He didn't force passes. But he really got our offense moving the ball."
GCU held Fresno State to 36.7% shooting, using 13 steals, five blocked shots and long misses to play with pace even beyond its 16 fastbreak points, which matched its highest total since Jan. 10.
The Lopes kept Bulldogs leading scorer Jake Heidbreder from making a shot until the second half. He finished with seven points, 10 fewer than his season average, and Fresno State finished with 60, 22 fewer than it had scored in its Tuesday win against San José State.
The guards fought hard over screens to control the perimeter, but they also had the backline protection of GCU's pair of 7-footers — Evans and freshman Efe Demirel — notching two blocked shots apiece and deterring other attempts.
Coming off a career-high 10 points Tuesday at Air Force, Evans topped that with 12 points in 17 minutes on Saturday.
"With his growth from the beginning of the year to now, he looks like a completely different player," Drew said. "When he's active and pursuing the ball with the pace he did tonight, he can be so impactful. It was really fun to see him, and I'm happy for him. He works really hard."
Stromer's career scoring high came on the strength of making a career-high five 3-pointers on seven tries. It marks Stromer's third consecutive game with multiple made 3-pointers (9 of 15 over that span), a streak he had not posted since November.
Once at the bottom of the Mountain West for 3-point shooting, GCU has found its deep touch down the stretch of the season to make 39% of shots rom beyond the arc over the past six games.
"Shot selection has really helped," Drew said. "The guys are definitely more comfortable with each other and more comfortable with what we've been doing on offense. They have a better feel for each other. We have so many new players that I really feel like as a coach that I'm really getting to know this group right now. I wish we could get guys for two years."
Drew knows Shaw, his nephew, as well as anyone and knew what his return could mean to the team, especially after losing a rotation player in Breidenbach. The 6-foot-6 guard logged 16 minutes, making a 3 and a pair of free throws while matching his career high with four assists off swinging the ball or driving and dishing.
"His intensity and passion rubs off on the other guys when he's out there," Drew said. "Our guys naturally play harder because they see how hard he's playing and how hard he's going."
With its fifth consecutive 20-win season, GCU heads to its first Mountain West Championship with March momentum. The Lopes will travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday as they prepare for a 2:30 Thursday quarterfinal.
If favorite Nevada advances with a Wednesday win to face GCU, it will give the Lopes a rematch of a Jan. 27 overtime loss at Nevada in which GCU blew a late lead when Moore was out due to a hamstring injury.
That motivation was for another day because Saturday was about the seniors. who soaked up their last regular-season home game in front of "The Biggest Party in College Basketball." From a pregame ceremony receiving framed jerseys to a postgame ceremony with Drew and the crowd praying for them, the seniors went out with a 13-4 home campaign.
"We take for granted how amazing our crowd is," Moore said. "We see it every game. This is the stuff, when I was a kid, I would want to watch on TV (and say), 'This is what college basketball looks like.' It's amazing that I could end my college basketball career with such great fans and such a great community. I wish I had another year to do it again."
The journey to the regular season's 20th win Saturday night did not always include all of that, but it ended with all of it as GCU thumped Fresno State 85-60 at sold-out Global Credit Union Arena to secure a Mountain West Championship first-round bye.
The Lopes dished out a season-best 23 assists to carve up the Bulldogs defense, closing the regular season with their first consecutive blowouts of 20-plus margins.GCU (20-11, 13-7 MW) tied with New Mexico for third place with the Lobos earning the No. 3 tournament seed for winning the teams' regular-season series. More importantly, the No. 4 MW Championship seed receives a bye for Wednesday's first round, allowing the Lopes to prepare for a 2:30 p.m. Thursday quarterfinal against the Wednesday winner of fifth-seeded Nevada vs. 12th-seeded Air Force.
"I'm really proud of these guys," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "For us to come into a new league with a lot of newness and not having a lot of retention from last year, to finish tied for third in the sixth-best conference in the country and get 20 wins is a great accomplishment for these guys."
The Lopes celebrated their four seniors Saturday night, with the trio of Jaden Henley, Brian Moore Jr. and Nana Owusu-Anane locked into extending their careers for fellow senior Wilhelm Breidenbach, who underwent season-ending Achilles tendon surgery Friday.
The Lopes bench was fortified Saturday with career scoring highs by junior guard Dusty Stromer (17 points) and redshirt freshman center Dennis Evans (12 points) and the return of junior guard Caleb Shaw, who had missed 11 games for an ankle injury.
GCU won bench scoring 36-13 on Saturday night, marking the first time the Lopes reserves have outscored their opponents' subs in consecutive games since early January.
"We talked to the underclassmen from the juniors down and said, 'Hey, it's Senior Night, Make sure you help your seniors go out the best way they can on their home court.,' " Drew said. "You want to help honor your seniors that way, and I really thought the guys really bought in and were really focused. They wanted their seniors to have a good last night, and credit our seniors. They played with a lot of emotion, did a lot of good things out there and really set a tone. We talked in one huddle, and they spoke up. You could see the determination in their faces and how bad they wanted to win this game."
Some of that desire resulted in exuberant early mistakes, keeping GCU from leading for nearly the first 10 minutes of the game. But a Lopes 16-2 run was sparked by an uptick in offensive pace, whether it was transition scoring or sharp, quick-striking offense from ball movement.GCU had not made more than 20 assists in a game since Opening Night and surpassed that effort with 23 assists that included four players with at least four assists.
Lopes graduate guard Brian Moore Jr. set that tone. He made a turnover on the second possession of the game and never again in a night of uber-offensive efficiency. Moore sank 8 of 9 shots from the field and handed out five assists while adding five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot to be plus-30 in his 29 minutes.
"I wanted to leave it all out there," Moore said. "I wanted to leave no regrets. I wante to go out in my last time here and have people think, 'Yeah, Brian Moore was a dawg.' I think I did that too."
In a GCU offense that opens games with a three-playmaker lineup, Moore was the one leading the ball movement Saturday. In the past two wins, he scored in double digits each time with eight assists to one turnover over 61 minutes of action.
"That was probably Brian's best all-around game of the year," Drew said. "I thought he made great decisions of when to attack the rim and when to pass. You look at our 23 assists, and a lot started with him just moving the ball to start. He didn't force shots. He didn't force passes. But he really got our offense moving the ball."
GCU held Fresno State to 36.7% shooting, using 13 steals, five blocked shots and long misses to play with pace even beyond its 16 fastbreak points, which matched its highest total since Jan. 10.The Lopes kept Bulldogs leading scorer Jake Heidbreder from making a shot until the second half. He finished with seven points, 10 fewer than his season average, and Fresno State finished with 60, 22 fewer than it had scored in its Tuesday win against San José State.
The guards fought hard over screens to control the perimeter, but they also had the backline protection of GCU's pair of 7-footers — Evans and freshman Efe Demirel — notching two blocked shots apiece and deterring other attempts.
Coming off a career-high 10 points Tuesday at Air Force, Evans topped that with 12 points in 17 minutes on Saturday.
"With his growth from the beginning of the year to now, he looks like a completely different player," Drew said. "When he's active and pursuing the ball with the pace he did tonight, he can be so impactful. It was really fun to see him, and I'm happy for him. He works really hard."
Stromer's career scoring high came on the strength of making a career-high five 3-pointers on seven tries. It marks Stromer's third consecutive game with multiple made 3-pointers (9 of 15 over that span), a streak he had not posted since November.
Once at the bottom of the Mountain West for 3-point shooting, GCU has found its deep touch down the stretch of the season to make 39% of shots rom beyond the arc over the past six games.
"Shot selection has really helped," Drew said. "The guys are definitely more comfortable with each other and more comfortable with what we've been doing on offense. They have a better feel for each other. We have so many new players that I really feel like as a coach that I'm really getting to know this group right now. I wish we could get guys for two years."Drew knows Shaw, his nephew, as well as anyone and knew what his return could mean to the team, especially after losing a rotation player in Breidenbach. The 6-foot-6 guard logged 16 minutes, making a 3 and a pair of free throws while matching his career high with four assists off swinging the ball or driving and dishing.
"His intensity and passion rubs off on the other guys when he's out there," Drew said. "Our guys naturally play harder because they see how hard he's playing and how hard he's going."
With its fifth consecutive 20-win season, GCU heads to its first Mountain West Championship with March momentum. The Lopes will travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday as they prepare for a 2:30 Thursday quarterfinal.
If favorite Nevada advances with a Wednesday win to face GCU, it will give the Lopes a rematch of a Jan. 27 overtime loss at Nevada in which GCU blew a late lead when Moore was out due to a hamstring injury.
That motivation was for another day because Saturday was about the seniors. who soaked up their last regular-season home game in front of "The Biggest Party in College Basketball." From a pregame ceremony receiving framed jerseys to a postgame ceremony with Drew and the crowd praying for them, the seniors went out with a 13-4 home campaign.
"We take for granted how amazing our crowd is," Moore said. "We see it every game. This is the stuff, when I was a kid, I would want to watch on TV (and say), 'This is what college basketball looks like.' It's amazing that I could end my college basketball career with such great fans and such a great community. I wish I had another year to do it again."
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/ Men's BasketballGCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame with Dusty Stromer, Brian Moore Jr.
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GCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Postgame with Bryce Drew
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GCU Men's Basketball vs. Fresno State - Highlights
Sunday, March 08
GCU Men's Basketball at Air Force - Postgame with Dennis Evans
Wednesday, March 04