Grand Canyon earns 3rd trip to NCAA Tournament by winning WAC championship

LAS VEGAS — The Grand Canyon men's basketball team is going dancing for the third time in its Division I tenure.

The top-seeded Antelopes (29-4) secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament with an 89-74 victory over No. 3 Texas-Arlington (20-14) in the Western Athletic Conference championship game late Saturday at the Orleans Arena. They will find out Sunday who their first opponent will be during the NCAA selection announcement at 3 p.m.

GCU advanced in 2021 and 2023 but each time lost by double digits to a ranked foe in their first round game.

The Lopes found themselves faced with a pesky opponent in the game that secured their tournament berth. UTA was just 11-21 a year ago but has enjoyed a resurgence under new coach K.T. Turner and it came into the title tilt riding an eight-game win streak.

GCU only led 36-32 at the half, and while it was able to establish a double digit lead at 50-39, it wasn't until the last three minutes the Lopes were able to put the game away.

The Mavericks cut the lead to one possession at 70-67 with 3:18 to go but GCU got it back to five on a pair of free throws by Ray Harrison with 3:09 left. Arlington turned the ball over on its next two possessions and missed a 3-pointer on the following possession and the favored Lopes eventually went back ahead by double digits at 78-67 with 1:43 to go, only to have UTA get back with in four at 78-74 with 39 seconds left.

GCU secured the game by making 12 of 13 free throws in the last three minutes, and scored the final 9 points to seal the win, which came with a bit of a bizarre ending after UTA took exception to a windmill dunk by Collin Moore with 3 seconds left, resulting in the Mavericks' Phillip Russell being ejected for a flagrant 2 foul for throwing a shoulder into Moore after the dunk. UTA's Akili Vining was called for a technical because he then picked up the ball and threw it at Moore.

A GCU player who didn't even get in the game was ejected for leaving the bench.

GCU shot 40% (23-for-58) and had four players in double figures led by tournament MVP Tyon Grant-Foster with 22 points and Ray Harrison with 19. Lok Wur added 16 and Jovan Blacksher 14.

UTA shot 49% (25-for-51) and was led by Russell with 22 points. The Mavericks also boasted a local product in Shemar Wilson of Tolleson who had 13 points and five rebounds.

GCU improved to 13-3 all-time in WAC tournament games and 8-0 in tournament games in which it was the higher seed.

Let's review:

What went right for GCU

Lopes capitalized off turnovers: The Mavericks committed 25 turnovers, 16 of those in the first half, and that led to the Lopes finishing with a 29-11 advantage in points off turnovers. Gabe McGlothan had four steals while Moore and Grant-Foster each had three. Two of those turnovers came in back-to-back possessions after the Mavericks had cut the lead to three points in the closing minutes.

Good at the line down the stretch: GCU went 37-for-50 from the line (74%), yes it was 50 attempts for one team. It made 12 straight at the three-minute mark which helped put the game away, Six were made by Grant-Foster, who earlier in the game had missed four straight, which drew some good-natured ribbing from coach Bryce Drew in the post-game press conference. This was a factor in the semifinal win over Seattle as well.

Rebounding: The Lopes finished with a 36-34 advantage on the boards, led by Grant-Foster with nine. Duke Brennan and McGlothan each snagged five. DaJuan Gordon had seven to lead UTA.

Bench points: GCU bench players scored 30 points, 16 by Wur and 14 for Blacksher. Drew singled out Blacksher in the postgame news conference, pointing out that Blacksher was the WAC preseason player of the year last year but is now having to come off the bench because of the other talented transfers brought in but has not complained and accepted that role.

What went wrong for GCU

Slow start: The Lopes missed 11 of their first 14 shots from the field (0-for-6 from long distance) over the first nine minutes and trailed 15-13. The only reason they weren't in a more precarious position was the Mavericks' nine turnovers in that same stretch. Seven of their first 13 points in the game came from the line.

3-point shooting was off: The Lopes were only 6-for-20, 3-for-11 in the first half and 3-for-9 in the second. Harrison was 0-for-4. UTA was 10-for-27, with many of those coming just when it looked like GCU was going to make a run and put the game out of reach.

They said it

"So thankful. What a great night for our team, our school. We have such awesome support as you guys saw out there and for us to be able to win a championship, be on national TV and in front of our fans who made the trip over here, makes it extra special. " — GCU coach Bryce Drew

"I just feel our connectiveness, how connected we are and the trust we have for one another so not one person has to make the play. We all know we can make the play. When to gets down to those close times we trust each other. We've all been through those hard practices together where we had coaches on us and we had to stay together to get through them so I feel that is a big key." — Tyon Grant-Foster on playing close games under pressure

"I try to approach every game the same but I did mean a little more to me. I wasn't recruited by them so when we play them I have the mindset that maybe they shouldn't have let me get out of Arizona but yes it meant a little more." — UTA's Shemar Wilson, who is from Avondale on playing against a "home" team.

"It's basketball game, time on the clock, they can go dunk the ball. We had a guy that did it in Seattle so maybe it's karma. He's allowed to go dunk the ball." — UTA coach K.T. Turner on whether he took exception to Moore's dunk

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Grand Canyon wins WAC title, earns 3rd trip to NCAA Tournament