Grand Canyon routs Portland in Jovan Blacksher Jr.'s return at Colangelo Classic

Grand Canyon was ahead 8-7 when point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., entered the game for the first time in 11 months Saturday night.

A minute later, he made the first shot he took — a 3-pointer. Three minutes later, GCU men's team was leading Portland 17-7 and on its way to a 91-63 college basketball rout in the final game of the Jerry Colangelo Classic at Footprint Center.

A large gathering of GCU students, the Havocs, cheered for the senior point guard as he made his first entrance with about 14 minutes to play in the half.

With Blacksher on the court, everything seemed to slow down for GCU (9-1). He fit in with the flow of this best start in the school's 11-year NCAA Division I history, content with distributing, playing maestro for big scorers Gabe McGlothan and Tyon Grant-Foster.

"I thought he blended really well," coach Bryce Drew said about Blacksher's first game since suffering a torn ACL last Jan. 5 at Sam Houston. "He's only practiced a couple of days with these guys. I think these guys, Gabe, Ray (Harrison) and Tyon, having three prolific scorers out there helps. Jovan can hit some gaps, make good point-guard passes, which he did and allow these guys to get good looks."

Here are takeaways as GCU moved up six spots to No. 31 in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings, as it tries to keep building a big portfolio that could pay dividends:

McGlothan, Grant-Foster take over

Unlike last week, when GCU had to dig out of a 17-0 hole to win at Liberty, the Lopes jumped out fast on Portland in a game that was delayed half an hour because Saint Mary's and UNLV played a double-overtime contest before that.

"We had a real short warmup," coach Bryce Drew said. "I think it helps to have a veteran group that has been in situations like that before. The first half, we didn't shoot the ball great. But the second half, we really caught fire."

GCU shot 49% in the game after hitting 42% of its field goals in the first half.

McGlothan and Grant-Foster combined for 27 first-half points as the Lopes built a 25-11 lead in the first 13 minutes. The Lopes led 37-21 with 2:44 to play in the half and 41-28 at the half. With Portland coming out hot to start the second half, McGlothan hit two straight 3s to push GCU's lead to 55-37.

He had 26 points, making 10 of 17 shots, 4 of 9 3s, and 11 rebounds. Grant-Foster had 20 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals as he continues to drive the Lopes to heights they've not seen this early in a season.

Blacksher's only points came on his 3. He was 1 of 6 shooting and had two rebounds and two assists and a steal and didn't turn the ball over in 20 minutes.

Great having Jovan back

McGlothan was all smiles when asked about Blacksher being back on the court. They were together in 2021 in Las Vegas when McGlothan and Blacksher led GCU to the WAC Tournament title and its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Blacksher was greeted with a huge ovation from the crowd when he first entered the game.

"I think it stands for everything he's done for the school, being his teammate for, shoot, how many years now?" McGlothan said. "It's great to see him come back and doing what he's doing. I'm excited for him, because knowing his heart, he's a great guy and deserves to be back."

This was the first time for Grant-Foster playing with Blacksher.

"I could get a little glimpse of what Gabe and coach have experienced with him," Grant-Foster said. "I felt like when it comes down to it, and he continues to practice with us and gets better, it's exciting to see."

This shouldn't hurt the rotation. Drew still brought in guards Josh Baker and Isaiah Shaw and center Sydney Curry, before Blacksher made his first appearance. Collin Moore, Harrison and Grant-Foster started in the backcourt. Blacksher's return gives Drew another veteran to make his team better.

"I think the camaraderie is really good on this team," Drew said. "I think everyone has a common goal and they want to win. And whatever that means, who plays, who shoots, who rebounds, who scores, I think they do a really good job of recognizing who has the hot hand on each particular night. That comes with maturity. They have the maturity and the togetherness."

Dominating the glass

GCU has yet to get outrebounded in its first 10 games. The Lopes held a 51-32 advantage on the boards against Portland, which was held to 32% shooting, but cashed in on 16 of 21 free throws.

Duke Brennan had seven rebounds in 14 minutes, Harrison had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Curry had eight points and eight rebounds. McGlothan had four of his 11 rebounds on the offensive end.

"Gabe sets a great tone," Drew said. "His rebounding is tremendous, going to the glass at both ends. Tyon has had some double-doubles. He does a great job coming in from the weak side. It's a mentality. It's something they've built over their lifetimes, and it's something we emphasize."

GCU, on a six-game winning streak, has an upcoming game at home Wednesday against Sam Houston, then plays a home game Dec. 30 against Louisiana Tech (9-3), which lost Saturday to Saint Louis 75-74 on a buzzer-beater 3. Sam Houston, which was in the WAC last year, is now part of Conference USA. This is Wednesday game is part of the WAC/USA series.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU blows out Portland in Jovan Blacksher's return after 11 months