GAME 1 GRAND CANYON Nov. 25, 2020 at 7 p.m. MEN’S BASKETBALL GCU Arena • Phoenix, Ariz. 2020-21 SCHEDULE GRAMBLING STATE GRAND CANYON TIGERS LOPES 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 W-L WAC H A N (0-0) (0-0) V Wed 11/25 Grambling State 7 p.m. HC: Donte' Jackson (4th at GRAM, 51-46, 11th overall, 177-109) S HC: Bryce Drew (1st at GCU, 0-0, 7th overall, 164-108) Sat 11/28 Park (Ariz.) 6 p.m. PTS REB AST PTS REB AST Cameron Christon Terreon Randolph Trevell Cunningham Alessandro Lever Alessandro Lever Jovan Blacksher Jr. Tue 12/1 Mississippi Valley State 7 p.m. 9.4 ppg 5.7 rpg 2.2 apg 15.7 ppg 6.0 rpg 3.6 apg Sat 12/5 Prairie View A&M 6 p.m. Fri 12/11 Nevada 7 p.m. TV STREAM LISTEN STATS Sun 12/13 Arizona State 2 p.m. FOX 10 Xtra ESPN3 1580 The Fanatic Ch. 45 / Cable 9 ESPN.com/Watch 99.3 FM & 95.9 FM Wed 12/16 SAGU American Indian 7 p.m. Barry Buetel play-by-play 1580thefanatic.com GCUStats.com Scott Williams analysis YouTube Michael Potter play-by-play Sun 12/20 vs. San Francisco at Las Vegas TBA Kate Longworth reporter YouTube.com/GCU Paul Coro analysis Tue 12/22 vs. Colorado at Las Vegas TBA SERIES HISTORY THIS GAME Tue 12/29 Denver 7 p.m. GCU record vs. Grambling State 1-0 » Grand Canyon opens its 72nd season of basketball and Fri 1/8 at Tarleton* 7 p.m. CT Home / away / neutral 1-0 / -- / -- eighth at the Division I level. Last meeting 12/9/17, home, W 87-53 » Bryce Drew makes his debut as the 14th head coach in Sat 1/9 at Tarleton* 7 p.m. CT Streak GCU won 1 program history. Drew is 6-2 in season openers as a HC. Fri 1/15 Chicago State* 7 p.m. » A Nov. 25 opener is the latest start to a GCU season since LAST GAME’S STARTERS Sat 1/16 Chicago State* TBA 2003-04 when the Lopes opened on Nov. 28. will be updated after first game » This game marks the first GCU athletic competition since Fri 1/22 at Dixie State* 7 p.m. March 11, a span of 259 days. Sat 1/23 at Dixie State* 7 p.m. » GCU has won 16 of its last 17 home openers. Fri 1/29 New Mexico State* 7 p.m. » Alessandro Lever’s first career start came vs. Grambling in 2017, and he’s started 90 of the 91 games since. Sat 1/30 New Mexico State* 7 p.m. STORYLINES Fri 2/5 at UT Rio Grande Valley* 7 p.m. CT » In preseason polling, GCU was picked to finish second Sat 2/6 at UT Rio Grande Valley* 7 p.m. CT behind New Mexico State in the coaches and media polls. Fri 2/12 CSUN 5:30 p.m. » Jovan Blacksher Jr. is the reigning WAC Freshman of the Year. He was the nation’s only freshman to accumulate Fri 2/19 California Baptist* 7 p.m. 300 points, 150 rebounds and 100 assists last season. Sat 2/20 California Baptist* 7 p.m. BY THE NUMBERS | 2019-20 » The Drew family — consisting of Bryce, Scott (brother) and Homer (father) — represents the third-winningest Fri 2/26 at Seattle U* TBA family of coaches in college basketball history. At 1,167 Sat 2/27 at Seattle U* TBA 71.3 << POINTS 70.5 victories, the Drews need just seven wins to surpass the Suttons (Eddie, Scott, Sean) for second on the list. Fri 3/5 Utah Valley* 7 p.m. 68.4 << POINTS ALLOWED 73.0 » GCU will immediately have the services of transfers Sat 3/6 Utah Valley* 7 p.m. + 2.9 << MARGIN - 2.5 , and Asbjørn Midtgaard Dima Zdor Sean Miller-Moore WAC TOURNAMENT (ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS, NEV.) 45.3 << FG PCT. 45.1 after getting waivers from the NCAA.Gabe McGlothan is 3/11-13 TBA TBA 41.1 << FG PCT. DEFENSE 44.1 newly eligible after sitting out last year due to transfer. » Alessandro Lever is a Preseason All-WAC first team * denotes WAC game home away 30.6 3PT PCT. >> 33.3 honoree and GCU’s No. 2 leading scorer in its D-I history. 68.2 FT PCT. >> 74.6 Lever needs 407 points to surpass Josh Braun’s top mark, NOTABLE NUMERAL 35.9 << REBOUNDS 32.7 which would be an average of 15.1 points over 27 games. GCU will roll out a new-look team 12.9 << ASSISTS 11.8 » Oscar Frayer is set to return to the floor after missing 9 featuring nine players who did last season. A former WAC All-Defense honoree, Frayer 14.3 TURNOVERS >> 11.5 not play for the Lopes last year could end his career leading GCU’s D-I marks in steals 7.5 << STEALS 4.8 (needs 16) and blocks (needs two). INTERACTIVE DOCUMENT 4.0 << BLOCKS 1.3 » GCU’s coaching staff has a wealth of Power 5 experience: Viewing this digitally? Bryce Drew - Vanderbilt; Jamall Walker - Illinois; Text with this underline will take you to the web or Josh Hauser [email protected] COMMUNICATIONS Ed Schilling - Indiana & UCLA; Casey Shaw - Vanderbilt. elsewhere in the document for more information Jerob Moon [email protected] ‹ 1 › #LOPESUP GRAND CANYON MEN’S BASKETBALL ABOUT GRAMBLING STATE VS SCOUTING THE TIGERS SERIES HISTORY 2020-21 NOTES SCHOOL NOTES Record -- Location Grambling, La. Home -- Conference SWAC VS Away -- Enrollment 5,191 Neutral -- COACH NOTES 2019-20 NOTES Head coach Donte' Jackson GCU RECORD STREAK H A N Record 17-15 (11-7) Season 4th 1-0 W1 1-0 -- -- Conf. finish t-4th Record at school 51-46 (.526) Postseason SWAC Tournament (0-1) Career record 177-109 (.619) FIRST MATCHUP LATEST MATCHUP AT-A-GLANCE W 87-53 W 87-53 Dec. 9, 2017 | Phoenix, Ariz. Dec. 9, 2017 | Phoenix, Ariz. » The Tigers had a successful 2019-20 campaign finishing with a winning record for the second time in three seasons. MEASURED » GSU finished with 11 wins in the SWAC, the most since the team went 13-5 in 2017- 18 which was the first year for head coach Donte’ Jackson. » Longest GCU win streak 1 win, 12/9/17 » Largest GCU win 34 points, 87-53, 12/9/17 in Phoenix » The Tigers lost four seniors last season including their top two scorers Devante » Largest GRAM win -- Jackson (12.7 ppg) and Ivy Smith Jr. (12.3 ppg). » Bryce Drew vs. GRAM 0-0 » GSU will lean on five senior this year that include forward Terron Randolph, the » Donte' Jackson vs. GCU 0-1 team’s leading rebounder, and Kelton Edwards, the best 3-point shooter from last year’s squad. SERIES NOTES LAST TIME OUT » The Lopes have won their only previous matchup against Grambling State. » GCU is 12-0 against SWAC teams with the most wins coming against Mississippi » Grambling State lost in the opening round of the SWAC tournment to Texas Valley State, whom the Lopes will play on Dec. 1. Southern 75-62, before the remaining games were canceled due to the » This season the Lopes will face three SWAC teams. That is the most since GCU coronavirus pandemic. faced three SWAC teams in back-to-back seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17. » Returning big man Terron Randolph recorded a double-double with 10 points and » This will be the first time GCU opens the season with a SWAC opponent since 11 rebounds while redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Christon led the team joining Division I. with 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting. » GSU trailed Texas Southern by just five points with 16:13 to play before TSU went LAST TIME THEY MET on a 14-2 run to extend the lead to 54-39. » GCU vs. Grambling State | Dec. 9, 2017 | W 87-53 » GCU held its opponent to less than 60 points for the fourth time in eight games CONNECTIONS with a 34-point blowout in 2017. » GCU guard Sean Miller-Moore logged 10 minutes and scored two points against » GCU extended its lead with a second-half surge that saw the Lopes outscore the Grambling State on Nov. 27, 2019, in a win for Oregon State. Tigers by 33 points in the game’s final 32 minutes. » The Lopes shot a then season-high 55.2% and assisted on 14 of 17 first-half made » Grambling State redshirt senior guard Prince Moss was on the roster when the baskets. Tigers played GCU back in 2017, but he did not enter the game. » Freshman center Alessandro Lever recorded his first career start against 2019-20 CONFERENCE STANDINGS Grambling State, scoring two points in 15 minutes. » 12 different Lopes scored with senior forward Kenota Vernon scoring 19 points SCHOOL CONFERENCE OVERALL on a perfect 8 for 8 from the field. » Senior guard Joshua Braun added 13 points while Matt Jackson and Shaq Carr Prairie View A&M 14-4 .778 19-13 .594 reached double digits off the bench. Southern 13-5 .722 17-15 .531 » The Lopes held Grambling State to 35.8% shooting and forced 21 turnovers while Texas Southern 12-6 .667 16-16 .500 scoring 26 points off those turnovers. Jackson State 11-7 .611 15-17 .469 ALL-TIME MEETINGS | LAST 10 Grambling State 11-7 .611 17-15 .531 12/9/17 vs Grambling State W 87-53 Phoenix, Ariz.