Grand Canyon Lopes Face Crucial Road Swing Amidst Mountain West Struggles
GCU seeks to regain momentum as it navigates a challenging stretch of games, starting Saturday at San José State.
After suffering consecutive losses for the first time this season, Grand Canyon University (GCU) head coach Bryce Drew engaged in individual discussions with his players, seeking input on how to course-correct during a pivotal seven-game stretch. The individual approach, however, is now over for the Lopes, who traditionally rely on a staunch team defense and require increased offensive output as they embark on a road trip beginning Saturday against San José State at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) and continuing Tuesday at San Diego State.
Currently 15-9 overall and 8-5 in Mountain West Conference play, GCU has slipped to fifth place in the conference standings. This position jeopardizes their chances of securing one of the four coveted first-round byes in the Mountain West Championship tournament. A win against San José State, coupled with a Nevada loss at San Diego State on Saturday, would create a tie between the two teams, with Nevada holding the head-to-head advantage.
“There is a lot of season left,” Drew stated. “When you’re in a good conference, it’s very hard not to have ups and downs. There’s just too many good teams. You can beat anybody in the league, and you can lose to anybody in the league when you’re in a top-six conference in the country. You have to be mentally strong. You have to overcome adversity. You have to be ready for your next game and not look in the past.”
Despite a strong record when leading at halftime (14-0), the Lopes have recently struggled with slow starts, facing double-digit halftime deficits in their past two contests. They mounted impressive comebacks – nearly overcoming a large deficit at UNLV and rallying from a 20-point hole against New Mexico – but ultimately fell short in both instances.
The team’s performance has been further impacted by injuries. Since losing junior guard Caleb Shaw to an ankle injury, the Lopes are 2-3. Graduate guard Brian Moore Jr. also missed a game on January 27th against Nevada. In their last three losses, GCU starters have played 87% of the team’s total minutes.
“We were in a great rhythm when the two starters went out,” Drew explained, referencing a previous three-game winning streak against Utah State, San Diego State, and Fresno State. “We haven’t started games in that segment as well. We need to be able to get off to good starts and sustain that energy throughout.” Drew acknowledged the heavy workload on his starters, adding, “Hopefully, we can do better with that.”
Senior guard Jaden Henley and graduate power forward Nana Woosu-Anane are currently playing a career-high number of minutes. Henley leads the Mountain West in usage rate (28.9%). Woosu-Anane played all but 56 seconds of Tuesday’s loss to New Mexico and has logged 38 or more minutes in five of the last six games.
“Conference play is the most important time of the year,” Woosu-Anane said. “It’s what we’ve been working for all year. I’m someone who hates coming out of the game… My personality is so amped that any second I’m not out there, I’m like ‘argh.’” Despite his relentless energy, Woosu-Anane struggled offensively on Tuesday, scoring a season-low two points while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Henley and junior guard Makai Williams have also experienced recent shooting slumps, going a combined 10-for-28 from three-point range over the past two games.
GCU currently ranks 19th nationally in defensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com, but their 3-point shooting – the 13th-lowest in the nation at 30.1% – is hindering their success. “We’ve got to do better coming out,” Woosu-Anane emphasized. “The past two or three games, we weren’t at our best to start games. That’s on us as starters… We can’t have our fans standing that long for us to first score our first bucket. That’s on us, and it won’t happen again.”
San José State enters Saturday’s matchup on a seven-game losing streak, though their last two defeats were by single-digit margins against UNLV and Colorado State. The Spartans typically employ a starting lineup of players 6-foot-6 and under. Injuries have significantly impacted their roster, leaving them with only three available guards. However, junior Colby Garland, the Mountain West’s second-leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, is expected to play. Fellow starter Jermaine Washington (11.9 points per game) is also projected to return after missing the past three games with an ankle injury.
Notably, San José State’s leading scorer from their previous encounter with GCU, guard Ben Roseborough (23 points), has been sidelined for seven games with a knee injury. The Spartans are also without JaVaughn Hannah (calf) and senior big man Yaphet Moundi (foot) for extended periods.
“We’re going to have to stay out of foul trouble and do a great job of getting back, getting ready and getting organized against those guys,” San José State head coach Tim Miles said at a recent media availability. The Spartans currently have the Mountain West’s lowest field goal percentage (42.3%) and highest opponent field goal percentage (48.6%). They excel at ball control, committing only 10.9 turnovers per game.
Saturday’s game presents an opportunity for GCU head coach Bryce Drew to achieve his 300th career coaching win. However, Drew’s primary focus remains on restoring the Lopes to the level of play they demonstrated earlier in the season, a level that suggested a strong contender for a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. “We’ve got to get back to playing basketball how we did three weeks ago, when we were playing at a high level for 40 minutes,” Drew concluded. “We’re a different team than we were a couple weeks ago, and we have to make that different team be better than what it has been the last couple games.”
