Lopes use 47-point 2nd half to move WAC record to 3-0
(St. George, UT) Grand Canyon could only find breathing space for a little bit of its Friday night game at Dixie State, but it was at the right time.
GCU held leads twice that only lasted one possession until crunch time, when the Lopes moved ahead of the Trailblazers with an eight-point, 64-scoring binge from senior guard Mikey Dixon and held on for a 77-74 conference victory at Burns Arena.
GCU (9-3, 3-0 WAC) led for the game’s final 4:33 but it came down to one final stop, when Lopes sophomore power forward Gabe McGlothan switched onto his former basketball academy roommate and teammate, Cameron Gooden, and caused the Dixie State point guard to lose the ball and not try a game-tying 3-point shot at the buzzer. The win puts GCU back in a tie for first place in the WAC with the Lopes and Trailblazers reconvening at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s really hard to win on the road,” GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. “I really credit our guys in the second half. We had that nice run. Mikey Dixon was terrific in that stretch and Jovan (Blacksher Jr.) hit some big shots. Thankfully, we got enough stops at the end to win.”
Dixon led the Lopes with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting as part of the 47-point second half, when GCU shot 57%. When the Lopes trailed 64-63 with 4:50 remaining, Dixon made a 3-pointer, converted a driving 3-point play and added a free throw on three consecutive possessions for a 71-66 lead.
In his two GCU seasons, Dixon’s five highest scoring games have all been on the road.
“I was just trying to punch the gaps,” said Dixon, who has adjusted his game to drive more since he began wearing a face mask for a facial hairline fracture. “We do a lot in practice, working on driving and kicking. Coach always harps to us, when you catch the ball, either shoot it or drive it. Make a quick decision. I just tried to put my head down. I saw the some gaps and I just wanted to attack the rim hard and finish.”
Sophomore point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. symbolized the second-half efficiency turnaround, going 5 for 10 in the second half to finish with 15 points after a 1-for-10 first half.
Lopes senior center Asbjørn Midtgaard posted his fifth double-double of the season (16 points, 10 rebounds) after the national field goal percentage leader making his five final shots.
“He kept battling,” Drew said of his 7-foot, 270-pounder. “He hasn’t been really pushed like that with guys that are similar in poundage and strength in the lower body. These are veterans. They have won conference championships for a couple years. They’re used to seeing big guys. They did a really good job of getting position, getting low on him and not letting him catch the ball on the box.”
GCU looked promising off the tip with a set that produced a 3-point shot from senior small forward Oscar Frayer but they never led in the first half again.
Frustrated by Dixie State’s changing defense, the Lopes missed 13 of their next 16 shots and were mired in mistakes during an 11-turnover first half. Midtgaard was the team’s usual top scorer and rebounder, but Dixie State (4-6, 0-3 WAC) was effective with double teams to prompt four Midtgaard turnovers in the first half.
GCU shot 31.3% from the field in the first half, using the seven offensive rebounds to stay in the game with 10 second-chance points. The Lopes won the boards, 43-32, for the game to stay in line with their No. 3 national ranking for rebound margin.
“We didn’t move the ball well,” Drew said. “Too much dribbling and shooting and not enough passing. I thought our guys did a much better job in the second half of creating for others.”
Dixie State’s transition scores and patient half-court offense built up its largest lead, 31-23, with 3:50 to go until halftime when Drew used a time out to stop the momentum and switch to a zone defense. It worked for a 7-2 close that pulled the Lopes to within three points at halftime (33-30) despite giving up 13 points to Trailblazers reserve Hunter Schofield. Schofield (23 points) and Gooden (22 points) were Dixie State’s only double-digit scorers for the game.
The Lopes had their moments of improved second-half defense, particularly when Frayer blocked two shots and drew an offensive foul on three consecutive possessions but they still needed to hold their breath to the buzzer.
“They’re really good in transition,” Drew said of the Trailblazers. “Gooden gets out and he’s really fast and hard to contain. They do a good job of making the extra pass in transition once you break down. This will be a big challenge for us tomorrow. Our bigs really have to run back and our guards really have to control the ball and keep Gooden out of the paint and transition.”
Much like their opening WAC set at Tarleton, GCU had to show resolve to pull out the first game at Dixie State and extend its winning streak to five games.
“It almost felt identical,” Dixon said of the Tarleton comparison. “No team really had a big lead the whole game. It came down to us in the end. We had to grit it out, grind it out. We’rewilling to do that. We’re willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics
