(SAN DIEGO, CA) After two home losses, Grand Canyon was routed 86-61 Wednesday night at San Diego State for the type of 0-3 start that could make the Lopes lose confidence and their swagger.
Actually, the Lopes are still trying to find those characteristics. A visit to Viejas Arena and its Aztecs-heavy crowd of 10,440 fans made them harder to find than open lanes on the California freeways.
GCU was run over by San Diego State’s parade of scorers with 13-for-27 3-point shooting and six dunks by one Aztecs player, sophomore power forward Nathan Mensah. The Lopes had their moments, leading 10-8 early and going on a 14-4 run in the second half, but they were isolated sunrays on a cloudy night.
“We have stretches where we play well and then we go away from it,” GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. “It just comes down to not having discipline. In that locker room right now, this is not a player-led team. It’s disappointing but we told them that we’re not quitting. Every day, the coaches are going to show up and we’re going to coach the heck out of them and they’ve got to stop fighting it.
“When we share the basketball and we play the way we’re supposed to play, we’re pretty good but we just don’t do it enough.”
That has put GCU at 0-3 for the first time since 2002, when that third loss also happened in San Diego.
The Lopes made six of their first 10 shots when they trailed 19-16 after 8 ½ minutes but proceeded to miss 15 of their last 17 shots of the first half. They went scoreless for the final five minutes and trailed 40-24 at halftime.
GCU made one rush in the second half with scores on eight consecutive possessions, including 10 points of senior power forward Lorenzo Jenkins’ season-high 15 points (two off a career high). The Lopes were within 11 at the time (56-45) but then did not make a field goal for nearly six minutes.
“You’ve got to play hard and it starts from inside,” Jenkins said. “There’s nothing that the coaches can draw up. We just have to make that decision to go out and play better.
“Once we get that first win, we’re going to get rolling. We’re a very good team. As much as people might not think so after these three games, we’re a great team and we have what it takes to make an impact and win a bunch of games. We have to lock in and do it and it starts with practice.”
GCU reverted to poor 3-point shooting (4 for 18) and junior center Alessandro Levercontinued to worsen a short rotation with foul problems. After fouling out in 16 minutes of play Friday against Illinois, Lever logged 20 minutes before fouling out Wednesday with one made field goal and two rebounds.
“He’s one of our best players,” Majerle said of Lever. “He’s got to act like it and he’s not right now. He’s just got to play with a lot more confidence.”
San Diego State shot 54.7% from the field for the game and only committed seven turnovers. Its starting guards, K.J. Feagin and Malachi Flynn, combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds.
GCU freshman point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. was nearly as impressive, leading all players with 10 rebounds at 5 feet 11 while scoring 14 points without a turnover in 39 minutes. He has scored at least 14 points in each of his first three Division I games.
The unexpected parts are the struggles of GCU’s two All-WAC Preseason Team picks, senior guard Carlos Johnson (31% shooting this season) and Lever (7.0 season scoring average).
“We’ve got to get our best players playing better,” Majerle said. “We’re not going to turn this around anytime soon until the players figure it out. It’s just not good enough. We’re not tough enough. We’re not playing hard enough. We’re not playing disciplined enough. I’m just very disappointed.”
A throng of several hundred Lopes fans felt a similar way for making the trip to San Diego State but their presence was noted.
“We saw them filing in early and I didn’t like how many they had,” Feagin said.
GCU will be back in familiar confines on Saturday night, when Arkansas-Pine Bluff visits GCU Arena for a 6 p.m. game. That visitor will not present the same problems as perennial winner San Diego State, which beat GCU for the first time in four tries Wednesday.
The Aztecs were the type of sharing team that Majerle aspires to have. San Diego State assisted on 25 of 35 made shots while GCU accumulated eight assists on 19 made shots.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if, at the end of the year, if you looked up and Grand Canyon is competing to put themselves in the NCAA tournament,” Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher said. “He (Majerle) is a good coach and they’ve got good talent. When they get all their pieces set, they’re going to be really hard to play against.
“With that being said, we pressed all game because we knew they only had six players. It’s a cumulative effect. We may not be getting turnovers, but we’re making them play 94 feet and that point guard has to bring it up against pressure all game. They don’t turn it over a lot but that wears on you after a while and that’s what we wanted to do.”
Article courtesy of Paul Coro – Grand Canyon University
