GCU makes 17 of 27 beyond arc, opens 2nd half with 18-3 run
(Phoenix, AZ) Past Grand Canyon teams have held a puncher’s chance of connecting from 3-point range.
This team throws haymakers.
GCU pounded Prairie View A&M with a flurry of 3-pointers that staggered and then knocked out the Panthers. The thrill was not just that the Lopes set an all-time program record for 3-pointers by making 17. It was that they only missed 10 as the habanero-hot hits kept coming to blow the game open in the second half of a 91-64 win at GCU Arena.
Prairie View could not see the punches coming, as the Lopes (3-0) used transition offense and trap breaks to find shooters throughout the game. The result was five players making multiple 3-pointers to back the argument for GCU having its best perimeter shooting team ever.
The Panthers were out cold on the hardwood by the time sophomore guard Chance McMillian hit back-to-back 3s and junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. followed with another 3 for a 9-0, one-minute run and a 76-45 Lopes lead with eight minutes remaining.
It made it difficult to remember that GCU only led 40-35 at halftime despite graduate guard Holland Woods II sparking the sizzling shooting by scoring 13 of the team’s first 22 points. Woods tied his career high for 3s with five and scored 25 points, his highest total since he was an All-Big Sky first-team star at Portland State in 2019-20.
“When we get stops and we can run and makes plays for each other, we’re really good and we have guys that can make shots,” Woods said. “If we continue to play with each other and for each other and get those kind of looks, I think we can break this record.”
The Lopes wasted their early good work by allowing Prairie View A&M to close the first half with a 9-0 run off sloppy offense, which committed turnovers on three of the last four possessions.
“Before the coaches even came in, we knew as a group we had to step on the gas,” Woods said.
The Lopes floored it at the start of the second half with an 18-3 run, sparked by 3-pointers from Woods and Blacksher and steal-dunk sequences by junior power forward Yvan Ouedraogo and graduate small forward Sean Miller-Moore.
Miller-Moore swiped the ball loose, chased it down as it rolled upcourt, dribbled behind his back to lose a defender and had another Panther raising his arms in protection as Miller-Moore soared and scored.
“On that one, we talked about it in the locker room,” Drew said of Miller’s slam. “I thought he was going to be a little bit short when he took off. Man, did he spread out and just keep going. I’m excited to see it on film. That was a big play. He made a great dribble move to get there. That definitely brought the house down and kept the momentum in our hand.”
GCU became the first team in the nation this season to make at least 17 3-pointers with at least 60% accuracy. The Lopes’ four rotation guards went 15 for 22 on 3s with Woods at 5 for 7, Blacksher at 4 for 7 and McMillian and fellow reserve guard Jalen Blackmon each making 3 of 4.
“This team can just flat-out shoot,” said GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan, who added two 3-pointers. “There was a period that I don’t think we missed for a good amount of time. The place was going crazy for it.”
McGlothan gave the Lopes 17 points and seven rebounds and was an astounding plus-37 in his 24 minutes, meaning the Lopes were outscored by 10 points in his 16 minutes of rest.
“If you want to play more minutes, then when you’re on the court, help those other four guys play really well and you guys go on run and that’s how you’ll play more minutes,” Drew said of his regular message to the team.
GCU’s second-half defense improved to keep Prairie View A&M to 40% percent shooting for the game. Preseason Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year Jawaun Daniels went 4 for 13 from the field for nine points.
With Wyoming visiting on Monday, the Lopes gave their coaches practice material. GCU allowed 16 offensive rebounds and committed 16 turnovers, but found value in facing a trapping defense with its four new starters.
“It was great for our guards to get double-teamed and have to move the ball,” Drew said. “It was great for our bigs to have to catch it and make decisions.”
Woods’ playmaking already had come out in the first two wins and his ball-handling remained solid Wednesday night with no turnovers in 29 minutes. But after going 5 for 21 from the field in the first two games, Woods made his first five shots Wednesday and had his season scoring high in less than eight minutes.
“It was weird,” Woods said. “That was the first time in a very long time that people were going under ball screens on me. That just happened to get me going and I stayed confident.”
Press Release courtesy Grand Canyon Athletics – Paul Coro
