Antelopes hot, cold during split in Hall of Fame Classic
Grand Canyon was really good in one half during its two days in the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. That was enough to beat Northern Iowa 69-67 on Tuesday morning and return to Phoenix with a split. The Antelopes lost Monday to Wichita State 55-43 when they shot a record-worst 27% during their 10-year NCAA Division I history.
Here are three takeaways from the split as they prepare for a tough Pepperdine team at home Saturday night:
Consistency vs. complacency
Grand Canyon hasn’t been able to put together two strong performances in a row this season. In Kansas City, the Lopes really only had one good half of basketball. That was the first half against Northern Iowa on Tuesday when they built a 41-27 halftime lead, scoring 19 second-chance points, while UNI had none. In the second half, they allowed the Panthers to shoot 48% and make 5 of 8 3-pointers, while GCU shot just 40% and made only 3 of 11 3-pointers. Consistent shooting has been an issue. And, in the final five minutes, the Lopes were content to work the shot clock down to the final seconds before finding a shot to take, sometimes forcing bad shots that allowed UNI to come close.
McGlothan, McMillian, Baker have career days
Forward Gabe McGlothan had a college career-high 18 rebounds against Northern Iowa. He had nine in the first half and nine in the second half. He also had 13 points. It was his assertiveness down the stretch that prevented a late collapse. He worked his way down low for a basket, then, later, he was fouled. He made 1 of 2 free throws, and UNI couldn’t grab an offensive rebound in the end to try to send the game into overtime while at the line. McGlothan had eight rebounds in roughly a half of basketball in the 55-43 Wichita State loss on Monday.
“Aggressiveness to get to the ball,” coach Bryce Drew said in his postgame radio interview with GCU.
With Ray Harrison struggling with his shot for a second straight game, Chance McMillian came off the bench and scored a career-high 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting and 3 of 5 3-pointers. Josh Baker, a Tempe McClintock graduate, had a career-high 13 points, making 3 of 3 3pointers in the first half that helped the Lopes take a double-digit lead.
Blacksher taking Drew’s wrath in huddle
With about 10 minutes to play and GCU getting lazy on defense, allowing the Panthers to get back in the game, Drew called a timeout. He laid into Jovan Blacksher Jr. during much of the timeout.
On the very next inbounds play, Drew called a play for the junior point guard, who came through with a clutch basket. Blacksher had struggled offensively in his last two games, and for a half on Tuesday. He finished with 10 points and three assists, before fouling out in the final minute.
“Quite frankly, Jovan wasn’t playing like he’s capable of playing,” Drew said. “He loves GCU and wants to win more than anybody. I’m proud of him. He did a great job of forcing tempo. His jump shot on the wing might have been the play of the game.
“He’s such a competitor. Sometimes, he thinks about too many things. He’s been raised great. He’s very tough physically and very tough mentally. I know his dad and I have had lots of talks with him. We’ve had talks on how we’ve got to get him going sometimes. He really responded in the last 10 minutes.”