College basketball weekly: Grand Canyon men try to get to 20 wins in Seattle U rematch
Grand Canyon men's basketball has a chance to get to 20 wins if it beats Seattle U at home at 7 p.m. Thursday in a rematch of the Lopes' only WAC loss this season.
GCU is tied with Purdue at 19-2 for the best Division I record in the nation. This came after a week in which the Lopes shot 30.6% and 29.6% in 53-51 and 67-61 wins in Texas over Stephen F. Austin and UT Arlington, respectively.
Defense was key in those victories. But the defense will have to remain strong to get over the Redbirds (12-8, 5-4), who handed the Lopes an 86-79 loss in Seattle on Jan. 20, when Seattle shot 51% and made 10 of 20 3-pointers that snapped GCU's 14-game winning streak.
GCU is 9-1 in WAC play, holding a two-game lead over Tarleton State and California Baptist, who are both 6-3.
Tyon Grant-Foster, Gabe McGlothan, Ray Harrison and Collin Moore were clutch at both ends of the court in erasing a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes and finishing off UT Arlington with a 17-2 run. The Lopes turned 25 UT Arlington turnovers into 27 points and cashed in on 31 of 36 free throws. GCU ranks in the top 10 in the nation in made free throws a game.
After the Seattle game GCU, which is 10-0 at home, then returns to the road on Saturday to face Utah Valley (9-11, 4-5).
The GCU women's team, 17-4, 9-1 in the WAC, has won nine of its last 10 games, after splitting contests against SFA and UT Arlington at home last week. The Lopes travel to Seattle U on Thursday and then return home on Saturday to play Utah Valley at 2 p.m.
ASU looks to bounce back against Bay Area schools
The Arizona State men's team, which lost at Oregon and Oregon State last week to lose its share of the Pac-12 lead, hopes to bounce back this week at home.
The Sun Devils (11-9, 5-4) play Stanford (10-9, 5-4) at 7 p.m. Thursday and California (8-12, 4-5) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Jose Perez and Frankie Collins have been leading the Devils offensively, both averaging more than 13 points.
The ASU women's team (10-11, 2-7), coming off a 76-71 win Sunday over California, plays at rival Arizona (11-10, 3-6) at noon Sunday. Jalyn Brown had 21 points and Isadora Sousa hit 4 of 4 3-pointers in the Cal win.
The Wildcats, who have lost five of their last six games, are led by Kailyn Gilbert's 16.7 points and 5.9 rebounds a game.
Arizona men try to keep grip on Pac-12 lead
Arizona men's basketball team (15-5, 6-3), tied for first place in the Pac-12 with Oregon, has California at home Thursday night and then plays at home Sunday against Stanford. The Wildcats are 10-0 at McKale Center, but have been up and down on the road. They split games in Oregon last week, losing to Oregon State 83-80 on Jordan Pope's 3-point buzzer beater, before beating Oregon 87-78 with Caleb Love scoring a career-high 36 points.
UA fell two spots in this week's AP Top 25 to No. 11 in the nation.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Grand Canyon basketball try to get to 20 wins in Seattle U rematch
