Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Texas Southern on November 2, 2026 at 7 p.m.
M Basketball
7 p.m.
vs Texas Southern
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
High-profile games, new-look MW highlight schedule
8/12/2026 10:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU fans get 18 home games with Santa Clara's visit among 5 NCAA Tournament opponents
From 3,000 miles west to 2,000 miles east and with 18 times to host "The Biggest Party in College Basketball," Grand Canyon built a nonconference schedule that merges with its second Mountain West slate to elevate to its season's expectations.
A 32-game regular-season schedule will test the Lopes against five 2026 NCAA Tournament opponents and put them in as many as 11 games against teams that registered 20 or more wins last season. GCU will meet eight of its opponents for the first time.
Lope Nation will get 18 regular-season home games in front of the electric Global Credit Union Arena scene with the highlights being the start of a home-and-home series against Santa Clara, which will visit on Dec. 5, and Mountain West challengers such as New Mexico, Nevada and newcomer Hawai'i when conference play begins in the new year.
With key returnees Makaih Williams, Efe Demirel and Caleb Shaw supported by a heralded transfer class, GCU will venture out for quality contests against probable preseason No. 1 Florida and tradition-rich programs Memphis, Oklahoma State, Saint Louis and either Colorado or Stanford.
"Our nonconference schedule has become more difficult each year," Lopes seventh-year head coach Bryce Drew said. "This year is our toughest yet."Â
The Lopes will open the regular season with four home games in the first two weeks of November, tipping off with Texas Southern on Nov. 2. With seven NCAA Tournament visits since 2014, the successful nine-year head coaching run of Johnny Jones has ended with multiple outlets reporting that Seton Hall assistant coach Corey Lowery has been chosen as his successor after a four-month search. Lowery, who served as a head coach in 16 of his 27 coaching years, will have a transition with Texas Southern's top seven scorers being seniors last season.
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Cal Poly and GCU will face off for the first time since 2016 on Nov. 11. Mustangs third-year head coach Mike DeGeorge inherited a program that had gone 0-20 in the Big West before he arrived and reached 10 conference wins last season for the first time in eight years. DeGeorge has implemented a five-out offense that plays at the fastest pace in the nation and averaged 82.1 points and 33 shots from 3-point range. He did not lose a player to the transfer portal after a 16-19 season and returns Big West scoring champion Hamad Mousa, a 6-8 junior swingman from Qatar who averaged 20.4 points with 37.4% 3-point shooting. Returning 6-6 junior guard Cayden Ward added 14.5 points per game.
The home string ends Nov. 14 with Louisiana Monroe, which is under new head coach Ryan Cross after his time as UAB associate head coach helped the Blazers to two NCAA Tournament appearances. He rebuilt the Warhawks roster with 14 signees – six Division I transfers (three who came with him from UAB), seven junior college transfers and one freshman. Louisiana Monroe will play at GCU one night after a crosstown game at Arizona State.
The Lopes then leave Phoenix for another appearance at the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert, California. GCU will play potential top-25 Saint Louis, which went 29-6 last season, on Nov. 24 at Acrisure Arena and then face either Colorado or Stanford there on Nov. 25. The Billikens, 1-1 vs. the Lopes over the past two seasons, are returning five key players from a team that averaged 87.2 points with the nation's fifth-best shooting at 51% from the field. Stanford is coming off successive 20-win seasons while Colorado returns its player, senior point guard Barrington Hargress (14.7 points and 4.5 assists per game).
GCU ends the month at home against Incarnate Word on Nov. 29. Fourth-year head coach Shane Heirman moved the Cardinals from eight wins to 19 wins in his first season at the San Antonio program. Last season's team went 12-19 with a 2-12 road record but ranked 21st nationally for 3-point percentage (37.7%). GCU has not played Incarnate Word since 2014.
After dropping an 84-78 game to Oklahoma State in a downtown Phoenix meeting last season, the Lopes take another crack at the Cowboys in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Dec. 2. Oklahoma State loses seven of its top eight scorers from a 20-15 team but fifth-year point guard Kanye Clary returns after guiding the offense to a program scoring record (83.9 points per game) and the nation's ninth-fastest tempo. Third-year coach Steve Lutz restocked through transfers with Central Florida 6-9 forward Jordan Burks (13.3 points per game), North Carolina 6-5 shooter Luka Bogavac (9.8 points per game) and the Sam Houston guard tandem of Kashie Natt (Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year) and Jacob Walker (11.5 points per game as a sixth man). He also added size with Arizona State 6-11 center Andrija Grbovic and Georgetown 7-foot center Julius Halaifouna.
Santa Clara comes to GCU on Dec. 5 after 11th-year head coach Herb Sendek's fifth consecutive 20-win season was his most successful there. The Broncos went 26-9 with 82.9 points and 8.9 steals per game, with the season ending on an 89-84 NCAA Tournament loss to Kentucky. Sendek, with 600 career wins, lost his top three scorers but returns 6-9 starter Jake Ensminger and sixth man Sash Gavalyugo. In the teams' first series, the Lopes will play at Santa Clara next season.
GCU will run it back with Northwestern State after beating the Demons 85-72 at home last season. Northwestern State returns 6-2 junior guard Izzy Miles, who has faced the Lopes five times after previously playing for Tarleton. He averaged 10.5 points per game last season with 39% 3-point shooting and has starting point guard CJ Larry back with him. A group of 11 newcomers includes Wingate top scorer Isaiah Vick, the 6-8 cousin of ex-NFL star Michael Vick, and ex-Northern Arizona starter Arne Osojnik.
The Lopes will start another prominent home-and-home series with Memphis by going to FedEx Forum on Dec. 11. Former NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway is 175-87 with three NCAA Tournament trips as head coach of his alma mater in his hometown. After seven 20-win seasons, the Tigers slid to 13-19 last season with a 1-8 finish for the program's first losing season since 1999-2000. Nine transfer additions are highlighted by Northwestern guard Jayden Reid, Texas A&M guard Josh Holloway, Southeast Missouri top scorer Luke Almodovar and North Alabama top scorer and rebounder Cornelius Williams. The first GCU-Memphis game will follow the Tigers facing Lopes head coach Bryce Drew's brother, Scott, on Dec. 5 at Baylor.
The recent marquee announcement of a GCU game against Florida, the presumptive preseason No. 1, will follow Dec. 18 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Gators, the defending SEC champion and a 2025 national champion, return 82% of their scoring from a 27-8 team. A sizable frontcourt features All-American Thomas Haugh (17.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game) and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu (19 double-doubles and fourth nationally for rebounds). That will be the Lopes' first meeting with the Gators, who are coached by Phoenix native Todd Golden.
The Lopes close 2026 with home games against UMBC on Dec. 22 and Justice, a National Christian College Athletic Association program from Chandler, on Dec. 29. UMBC went 24-9 last season and won the America West to qualify for the NCAA First Four. The Retrievers fouled the third-least times in the nation under sixth-year head coach Jim Ferry, who gets a healthy Devin Ceasar back after ankle injuries limited him to 15 games over the past two seasons. Opponents only scored 67.6 points per game against UMBC, a program famous for being the first NCAA Tournament No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed when it blew out Virginia 74-54 in 2018.
Mountain West play starts Jan. 2 with home-and-home series against each of the nine conference opponents, including newcomers Hawai'I, UC Davis and UTEP. All games on the "base" release of the conference schedule are subject to a one-day slide in either direction when national TV networks CBS, Fox and The CW make their game selections.
The Lopes will begin Jan. 2 at UC Davis, which went 19-14 last season by averaging 14.9 opponent turnovers per game under 16th-year head coach Jim Les. The Aggies pulled off a November 2024 upset at Global Credit Union Arena. UC Davis returns a pair of starters in 6-1 senior guard Connor Sevilla (13.3 points per game with 90% free throw shooting) and 6-9 junior forward Isaiah Chapell (8.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game). The Aggies will return to Phoenix for the March 6 regular-season finale.
GCU's Mountain West home opener will be Jan. 5 against UNLV, which lost 10 players, including top scorer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn transferring to Texas Tech. Under second-year head coach Josh Pastner, part-time starters Tyrin Jones (11.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and MW-best 2.2 blocks per game) and Isaac Williamson (8.6 points per game) return. In the transfer portal, Pastner landed Arkansas State 6-1 guard Terrance Ford Jr. (9.0 points and 4.9 assists per game) and New Orleans 6-8 forward MJ Thomas (10.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game). The Lopes go to Las Vegas on Feb. 20.
The Lopes stay home for a Jan. 9 game against Wyoming, which upset the Lopes in Phoenix last season. Third-year head coach Sundance Wicks retained four of his top eight players from an 18-15 team, the Cowboys' best season since 2021-22. Naz Meyer, a 6-7 guard who averaged 13 points, and Gavin Gores return after playing major roles as freshmen, along with senior guard Khadon Bennett (10.2 points per game). Wyoming added size and physicality in its transfer class and the scoring of Division II UC Monterey Bay wing Michael Mora (17.2 points per game). Wyoming will be GCU's first in-season rematch when it goes to Laramie on Jan. 30.
GCU plays Jan. 12 at San José State, which lost star Colby Garland to Georgia Tech. Spartans sixth-year head coach Tim Miles, with 461 career wins, added a former McDonald's All-American in Mookie Cook, a 6-6 junior transfer from San Francisco, and the Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year, Arkansas State junior guard Joey Chammaa. He also picked up 6-8 Tulsa power forward K.J. Martin Jr., a sophomore, and brought back 6-8 power forward Robert Vaihola (2022-25 Spartan). San José State visits GCU on Feb. 27.
Nevada, which went 2-0 against GCU last season and wound up 24-13, will be a Jan. 16 road stop with the Wolf Pack coming to Phoenix on Feb. 13 after missing that trip in the unbalanced conference schedule last season. Eighth-year head coach Steve Alford, who ranks 10th nationally among active coaches with 724 career wins, kept two starters – 6-9 power forward Elijah Price (12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game) and 6-5 senior guard Vaughn Weems (10.1 points per game). Alford added six transfers, including former Lopes player Styles Phipps after the junior point guard averaged 13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals for Pepperdine last season. Nevada also picked up 6-7 guard Keyon Kensie Jr. (10.9 points per game for Portland State) and 6-4 guard Peter Bandelj (13.0 points per game for Cal Poly), as well as size with 7-1 Simon Majok of Memphis.
GCU's first conference action with Hawai'i will be at home Jan. 20 before making its final trip of the season to play there on March 2, four days before its regular-season finale and three days after a home game. The Rainbow Warriors went 24-9 last season, which ended on an NCAA Tournament loss to Arkansas. It was 12th-year head coach Eran Ganot's best season since 2015-16, but he lost in his top six scorers. He does return Tanner Loff, who was going to be last season's starting point guard before a season-ending knee injury. Ganot added 6-8 forward Marcus Adams from Arizona State and 6-11 center Bol Dengdit from UC San Diego among 12 newcomers.
The Lopes-Lobos series will start in Albuquerque on Jan. 23. In his second season as New Mexico head coach, Eric Olen kept leading scorer Jake Hall (16.4 points pre game with 44% 3-point shooting that ranked 10th nationally). Tomislav Buljan transferred to Maryland, but he added 6-10 German Fyunn Lastring and two Austrians. After averaging 10.6 points as a freshman reserve, guard Uriah Tenette of Prescott, Arizona, also returns. Olen also adds a pair of UC San Diego transfers (Chris Howell after a redshirt and transfer Hudson Mayes) who can apply the knowledge from the system Olen installed there. GCU will play New Mexico at home Feb. 6 after its bye date, giving it a week of preparation.
Air Force returns to GCU on Jan. 26 with a new coach, former Phoenix Suns player and Penn State assistant coach Joe Crispin. The Falcons went 3-29 without a conference win after suspending head coach Joe Scott in January and dismissing him in February. The team's top seven scorers return with sophomores Kam Sanders and Lucas Hobin and senior Caleb Walker all averaging double-digit scoring last season. GCU plays at Air Force on Feb. 13.
The Lopes' final conference opponent is a new one, UTEP. GCU will play the Miners in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 9 and see them again at home two weeks later. Sixth-year head coach Joe Golding rebuilt the roster after his worst season there (11-20). He added four transfers who averaged 9.0 to 12.1 points for their previous programs, including Mesa native Ryan Jackson Jr. who came from William & Mary with Reese Miller. Golding also signed three incoming freshmen from Brennan High School in San Antonio.
After the March 6 home season finale with UC Davis, the Lopes will head to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Championship on March 10-13.
Click here for the GCU schedule page.
Click here for ticket information.
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A 32-game regular-season schedule will test the Lopes against five 2026 NCAA Tournament opponents and put them in as many as 11 games against teams that registered 20 or more wins last season. GCU will meet eight of its opponents for the first time.
Lope Nation will get 18 regular-season home games in front of the electric Global Credit Union Arena scene with the highlights being the start of a home-and-home series against Santa Clara, which will visit on Dec. 5, and Mountain West challengers such as New Mexico, Nevada and newcomer Hawai'i when conference play begins in the new year.
With key returnees Makaih Williams, Efe Demirel and Caleb Shaw supported by a heralded transfer class, GCU will venture out for quality contests against probable preseason No. 1 Florida and tradition-rich programs Memphis, Oklahoma State, Saint Louis and either Colorado or Stanford.
"Our nonconference schedule has become more difficult each year," Lopes seventh-year head coach Bryce Drew said. "This year is our toughest yet."Â
The Lopes will open the regular season with four home games in the first two weeks of November, tipping off with Texas Southern on Nov. 2. With seven NCAA Tournament visits since 2014, the successful nine-year head coaching run of Johnny Jones has ended with multiple outlets reporting that Seton Hall assistant coach Corey Lowery has been chosen as his successor after a four-month search. Lowery, who served as a head coach in 16 of his 27 coaching years, will have a transition with Texas Southern's top seven scorers being seniors last season.
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2026-27 season tickets are on sale now and start at just $101! Visit GCULopes.com/Tickets to purchase now.
SWAC defending champion Bethune-Cookman will use 10 newcomers to pursue the program's first NCAA Tournament trip. Sixth-year head coach Reggie Theus, also the Wildcats' athletic director and a former NBA head coach and player, comes to GCU on Nov. 11 after guiding a 17-15 season that included a 14-4 conference record with pressure defense and 15 fastbreak points per game. Top scorer Jakobi Heady is gone, but his brother Quentin is a 6-foot-6 junior forward who averaged 10.3 points last season.Cal Poly and GCU will face off for the first time since 2016 on Nov. 11. Mustangs third-year head coach Mike DeGeorge inherited a program that had gone 0-20 in the Big West before he arrived and reached 10 conference wins last season for the first time in eight years. DeGeorge has implemented a five-out offense that plays at the fastest pace in the nation and averaged 82.1 points and 33 shots from 3-point range. He did not lose a player to the transfer portal after a 16-19 season and returns Big West scoring champion Hamad Mousa, a 6-8 junior swingman from Qatar who averaged 20.4 points with 37.4% 3-point shooting. Returning 6-6 junior guard Cayden Ward added 14.5 points per game.
The home string ends Nov. 14 with Louisiana Monroe, which is under new head coach Ryan Cross after his time as UAB associate head coach helped the Blazers to two NCAA Tournament appearances. He rebuilt the Warhawks roster with 14 signees – six Division I transfers (three who came with him from UAB), seven junior college transfers and one freshman. Louisiana Monroe will play at GCU one night after a crosstown game at Arizona State.
The Lopes then leave Phoenix for another appearance at the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert, California. GCU will play potential top-25 Saint Louis, which went 29-6 last season, on Nov. 24 at Acrisure Arena and then face either Colorado or Stanford there on Nov. 25. The Billikens, 1-1 vs. the Lopes over the past two seasons, are returning five key players from a team that averaged 87.2 points with the nation's fifth-best shooting at 51% from the field. Stanford is coming off successive 20-win seasons while Colorado returns its player, senior point guard Barrington Hargress (14.7 points and 4.5 assists per game).
GCU ends the month at home against Incarnate Word on Nov. 29. Fourth-year head coach Shane Heirman moved the Cardinals from eight wins to 19 wins in his first season at the San Antonio program. Last season's team went 12-19 with a 2-12 road record but ranked 21st nationally for 3-point percentage (37.7%). GCU has not played Incarnate Word since 2014.
After dropping an 84-78 game to Oklahoma State in a downtown Phoenix meeting last season, the Lopes take another crack at the Cowboys in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Dec. 2. Oklahoma State loses seven of its top eight scorers from a 20-15 team but fifth-year point guard Kanye Clary returns after guiding the offense to a program scoring record (83.9 points per game) and the nation's ninth-fastest tempo. Third-year coach Steve Lutz restocked through transfers with Central Florida 6-9 forward Jordan Burks (13.3 points per game), North Carolina 6-5 shooter Luka Bogavac (9.8 points per game) and the Sam Houston guard tandem of Kashie Natt (Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year) and Jacob Walker (11.5 points per game as a sixth man). He also added size with Arizona State 6-11 center Andrija Grbovic and Georgetown 7-foot center Julius Halaifouna.
Santa Clara comes to GCU on Dec. 5 after 11th-year head coach Herb Sendek's fifth consecutive 20-win season was his most successful there. The Broncos went 26-9 with 82.9 points and 8.9 steals per game, with the season ending on an 89-84 NCAA Tournament loss to Kentucky. Sendek, with 600 career wins, lost his top three scorers but returns 6-9 starter Jake Ensminger and sixth man Sash Gavalyugo. In the teams' first series, the Lopes will play at Santa Clara next season.
GCU will run it back with Northwestern State after beating the Demons 85-72 at home last season. Northwestern State returns 6-2 junior guard Izzy Miles, who has faced the Lopes five times after previously playing for Tarleton. He averaged 10.5 points per game last season with 39% 3-point shooting and has starting point guard CJ Larry back with him. A group of 11 newcomers includes Wingate top scorer Isaiah Vick, the 6-8 cousin of ex-NFL star Michael Vick, and ex-Northern Arizona starter Arne Osojnik.
The Lopes will start another prominent home-and-home series with Memphis by going to FedEx Forum on Dec. 11. Former NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway is 175-87 with three NCAA Tournament trips as head coach of his alma mater in his hometown. After seven 20-win seasons, the Tigers slid to 13-19 last season with a 1-8 finish for the program's first losing season since 1999-2000. Nine transfer additions are highlighted by Northwestern guard Jayden Reid, Texas A&M guard Josh Holloway, Southeast Missouri top scorer Luke Almodovar and North Alabama top scorer and rebounder Cornelius Williams. The first GCU-Memphis game will follow the Tigers facing Lopes head coach Bryce Drew's brother, Scott, on Dec. 5 at Baylor.
The recent marquee announcement of a GCU game against Florida, the presumptive preseason No. 1, will follow Dec. 18 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Gators, the defending SEC champion and a 2025 national champion, return 82% of their scoring from a 27-8 team. A sizable frontcourt features All-American Thomas Haugh (17.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game) and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu (19 double-doubles and fourth nationally for rebounds). That will be the Lopes' first meeting with the Gators, who are coached by Phoenix native Todd Golden.
The Lopes close 2026 with home games against UMBC on Dec. 22 and Justice, a National Christian College Athletic Association program from Chandler, on Dec. 29. UMBC went 24-9 last season and won the America West to qualify for the NCAA First Four. The Retrievers fouled the third-least times in the nation under sixth-year head coach Jim Ferry, who gets a healthy Devin Ceasar back after ankle injuries limited him to 15 games over the past two seasons. Opponents only scored 67.6 points per game against UMBC, a program famous for being the first NCAA Tournament No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed when it blew out Virginia 74-54 in 2018.
Mountain West play starts Jan. 2 with home-and-home series against each of the nine conference opponents, including newcomers Hawai'I, UC Davis and UTEP. All games on the "base" release of the conference schedule are subject to a one-day slide in either direction when national TV networks CBS, Fox and The CW make their game selections.
The Lopes will begin Jan. 2 at UC Davis, which went 19-14 last season by averaging 14.9 opponent turnovers per game under 16th-year head coach Jim Les. The Aggies pulled off a November 2024 upset at Global Credit Union Arena. UC Davis returns a pair of starters in 6-1 senior guard Connor Sevilla (13.3 points per game with 90% free throw shooting) and 6-9 junior forward Isaiah Chapell (8.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game). The Aggies will return to Phoenix for the March 6 regular-season finale.
GCU's Mountain West home opener will be Jan. 5 against UNLV, which lost 10 players, including top scorer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn transferring to Texas Tech. Under second-year head coach Josh Pastner, part-time starters Tyrin Jones (11.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and MW-best 2.2 blocks per game) and Isaac Williamson (8.6 points per game) return. In the transfer portal, Pastner landed Arkansas State 6-1 guard Terrance Ford Jr. (9.0 points and 4.9 assists per game) and New Orleans 6-8 forward MJ Thomas (10.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game). The Lopes go to Las Vegas on Feb. 20.
The Lopes stay home for a Jan. 9 game against Wyoming, which upset the Lopes in Phoenix last season. Third-year head coach Sundance Wicks retained four of his top eight players from an 18-15 team, the Cowboys' best season since 2021-22. Naz Meyer, a 6-7 guard who averaged 13 points, and Gavin Gores return after playing major roles as freshmen, along with senior guard Khadon Bennett (10.2 points per game). Wyoming added size and physicality in its transfer class and the scoring of Division II UC Monterey Bay wing Michael Mora (17.2 points per game). Wyoming will be GCU's first in-season rematch when it goes to Laramie on Jan. 30.
GCU plays Jan. 12 at San José State, which lost star Colby Garland to Georgia Tech. Spartans sixth-year head coach Tim Miles, with 461 career wins, added a former McDonald's All-American in Mookie Cook, a 6-6 junior transfer from San Francisco, and the Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year, Arkansas State junior guard Joey Chammaa. He also picked up 6-8 Tulsa power forward K.J. Martin Jr., a sophomore, and brought back 6-8 power forward Robert Vaihola (2022-25 Spartan). San José State visits GCU on Feb. 27.
Nevada, which went 2-0 against GCU last season and wound up 24-13, will be a Jan. 16 road stop with the Wolf Pack coming to Phoenix on Feb. 13 after missing that trip in the unbalanced conference schedule last season. Eighth-year head coach Steve Alford, who ranks 10th nationally among active coaches with 724 career wins, kept two starters – 6-9 power forward Elijah Price (12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game) and 6-5 senior guard Vaughn Weems (10.1 points per game). Alford added six transfers, including former Lopes player Styles Phipps after the junior point guard averaged 13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals for Pepperdine last season. Nevada also picked up 6-7 guard Keyon Kensie Jr. (10.9 points per game for Portland State) and 6-4 guard Peter Bandelj (13.0 points per game for Cal Poly), as well as size with 7-1 Simon Majok of Memphis.
GCU's first conference action with Hawai'i will be at home Jan. 20 before making its final trip of the season to play there on March 2, four days before its regular-season finale and three days after a home game. The Rainbow Warriors went 24-9 last season, which ended on an NCAA Tournament loss to Arkansas. It was 12th-year head coach Eran Ganot's best season since 2015-16, but he lost in his top six scorers. He does return Tanner Loff, who was going to be last season's starting point guard before a season-ending knee injury. Ganot added 6-8 forward Marcus Adams from Arizona State and 6-11 center Bol Dengdit from UC San Diego among 12 newcomers.
The Lopes-Lobos series will start in Albuquerque on Jan. 23. In his second season as New Mexico head coach, Eric Olen kept leading scorer Jake Hall (16.4 points pre game with 44% 3-point shooting that ranked 10th nationally). Tomislav Buljan transferred to Maryland, but he added 6-10 German Fyunn Lastring and two Austrians. After averaging 10.6 points as a freshman reserve, guard Uriah Tenette of Prescott, Arizona, also returns. Olen also adds a pair of UC San Diego transfers (Chris Howell after a redshirt and transfer Hudson Mayes) who can apply the knowledge from the system Olen installed there. GCU will play New Mexico at home Feb. 6 after its bye date, giving it a week of preparation.
Air Force returns to GCU on Jan. 26 with a new coach, former Phoenix Suns player and Penn State assistant coach Joe Crispin. The Falcons went 3-29 without a conference win after suspending head coach Joe Scott in January and dismissing him in February. The team's top seven scorers return with sophomores Kam Sanders and Lucas Hobin and senior Caleb Walker all averaging double-digit scoring last season. GCU plays at Air Force on Feb. 13.
The Lopes' final conference opponent is a new one, UTEP. GCU will play the Miners in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 9 and see them again at home two weeks later. Sixth-year head coach Joe Golding rebuilt the roster after his worst season there (11-20). He added four transfers who averaged 9.0 to 12.1 points for their previous programs, including Mesa native Ryan Jackson Jr. who came from William & Mary with Reese Miller. Golding also signed three incoming freshmen from Brennan High School in San Antonio.
After the March 6 home season finale with UC Davis, the Lopes will head to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Championship on March 10-13.
Click here for the GCU schedule page.
Click here for ticket information.
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Players Mentioned
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