GCU’s Tyon Grant-Foster bows his head in frustration after a challenging season debut Thursday at Footprint Center, despite leading the team with 19 points against ASU. (Photo by Emma Jeanson/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – The tables have slightly turned for GCU basketball from a season ago, as the men’s team now struggles with early-season injuries and a lack of chemistry in pursuit of a return to the NCAA Tournament.
Lacking connectivity on the court Thursday against Arizona State (3-1) at the Hall of Fame Series Phoenix, the Lopes (2-1) fell short of closing out a series sweep on the doubleheader showcase, losing 87-76. The GCU women’s team beat ASU earlier in the evening, 70-59.
Reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster, who sat out the regular season’s first two games due to health reasons, debuted at Footprint Center with a team-high 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals but turned the ball over five times in a clear display of rust.
“I thought on defense in the first half, it was definitely a little rust from his end,” GCU coach Bryce Drew said postgame. “And I think that carried out through our team. There’s a little getting used to each other type again feeling.”
Grant-Foster had not played a game with the Lopes since the NCAA Tournament in March against Alabama. Drew understands a nearly eight-month hiatus from real game action will hurt any athlete who returns to play 36 total minutes, and time is also needed for the team to adapt and develop chemistry.
“Things were not clicking for that group, but it will the more they play together,” Drew said. “And I think by the time we get to game four or five, it’ll look a lot different than what it looked tonight.”
The Lopes also missed junior forward Duke Brennan (injury), and senior forward JaKobe Coles was fighting illness and foul trouble against ASU.
Brennan played in the Lopes’ October exhibition game against Eastern New Mexico University, and his absence from the court weakens GCU’s defense. Even though he fouled out at the end of the game, Brennan had 12 points, eight rounds and two steals.
Drew summed up Brennan’s absence Thursday in four words: “It hurts a lot.”
For a Lopes squad already worried about rebounding coming into the regular season, having a WAC top-10 rebounder on the bench is not ideal. Brennan averaged 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 offensive rebounds per game last season and led the team with his 58.3% field goal percentage.
In his absence, Coles scored 17 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range, and Ray Harrison added 15 points and five rebounds.
While GCU has improved its 3-pointer field goal percentage in the last three games and shot 7-for-17 from deep against the Sun Devils, the Lopes struggled to defend the perimeter against ASU, which shot 11 of 25 from 3-point range, and from the charity stripe, where they made 17 of 25 free throws.
“We had shots, and I feel like the ones that we took, some were good,” Harrison said. “Some we could have got better ones, but like coach was saying, we’ll be better. Just trusting each other, depending on just our assisting to work for us.”
Despite the injuries and areas of improvement, the Lopes remain talented and earned the respect of ASU coach Bobby Hurley, who considers them a team to watch this season.
“(GCU’s) on the rise. They are,” Hurley said. “They’ve arrived as a legitimate threat in college basketball and to go to the postseason. They’re built with their guard play to go on beyond this game and have a really good year.”
