Reserves spark Grand Canyon rout of Southern Utah, improves to 22-2
A week off energized Grand Canyon's basketball team. It especially boosted the bench, which showed there is much more to this team than Gabe McGlothan, Ray Harrison and Tyon Grant-Foster.
During a four-minute stretch in the first half, with his team leading Southern Utah 10-8, coach Bryce Drew's only starter on the floor was center Duke Brennan.
With a group that included Jovan Blacksher Jr., Lok Wur, Josh Baker and Isaiah Shaw, GCU built the lead to 29-12 and cruised to a 94-65 rout before 7,124 fans at Global Credit Union Arena on Saturday night.
Blacksher, whose playing time has been spotty at best this season since coming back from reconstructive knee surgery, had by far his best game of the year with 18 points in 18 minutes on six-of-seven shooting, including three-of-four 3-pointers. He also had three steals and an assist.
Wur, who was averaging two points before taking off three games ago, had his third straight double-digit scoring game with 10 points. But he did much more than score. He had 11 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals.
"They helped give us some energy," coach Bryce Drew said. "I thought in the second half, our defense picked up and we played much better.
Here are some takeaways, as GCU improved to 22-2 and 12-1 in the WAC, keeping a two-game lead for first place over Tarleton State:
Blacksher's great week of practice
Blacksher, a 5-11 point guard, put in a lot of time during the week on his shot. His knee felt the strongest it's been since coming back from last year's surgery that ended his 2022-23 season in early January of 2023.
"We had a bye week so I had a couple of days I could work on my shot and get my confidence back," the senior point guard said. "It really helped."
This was the Blacksher that steered GCU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, when he was the WAC Tournament MVP. He was great on the ball, showing calmness in traffic and not forcing the action. His shooting was pinpoint.
It impressed Grant-Foster, who had 18 points on six-of-15 shooting and six-of-eight from the free-throw line. The 6-foot-7 Grant-Foster, who knows only one speed (fast), heard a lot about how great Blacksher has been in his GCU career. This time he got to see it in person.
"That was really my first time seeing him like that," Grant-Foster said. "He's really good."
Drew said that Blacksher was really moving well this week in practice.
"He had his best game of the year," Drew said. "He has good days and bad days (with his knee). He had a great week of practice. I'm so happy for him."
Wur finding rhythm at the right time
Wur has been so locked in that Gabe McGlothan didn't have to put up big numbers for the Lopes to roll over a Southern Utah team that shot 42% with Dominique Fording scoring 23 points. McGlothan had nine points and six rebounds.
Wur was electric on defense, creating problems for SUU in the paint. Wur was coming off his first back-to-back double-figures scoring games last week with 13 points against both Seattle U and Utah Valley.
"It definitely helps being in a rhythm," Wur said. "Just helping out our team as much as I can at both ends."
Wur being active and helping out on the weak side have been key to keeping him on the court for more than a few minutes game. He logged nearly 21 minutes Saturday.
"It's so nice seeing him jump in," Drew said. "His timing is so well from the weak side. It really impacted the game in a lot of ways.
GCU had 43 points from its bench and forced SUU into 19 turnovers. The Lopes had 13 steals and 50 rebounds, 10 from Brennan, who also had nine points. SUU had just 29 rebounds.
The win improved GCU's NET ranking. The Lopes moved from 49 to 43 on Sunday, and kept pace with Purdue and UConn for the best record in the nation.
Drew felt the week off helped everybody regain their energy.
"I felt like I needed a week off for my body," Grant-Foster said.
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Reserves spark Grand Canyon in WAC rout of Southern Utah
