By StephanieLee Elliott

Lopes enter their 3rd NCAA tourney with hopes of upsetting Saint Mary’s on Friday

Friday, March 22  |  7:05 p.m.  |  NCAA West Region first round  |  Spokane Arena  |  Spokane, Wash.
	(12) GRAND CANYON LOPES (29-4, 16-3 WAC)	vs.	(5) SAINT MARY’S GAELS (26-7, 15-1 WCC)
WATCH: truTV | LISTEN: 1580 The Fanatic | STREAM/STATS: View

SPOKANE, Wash. – Grand Canyon has rapidly ascended the Division I basketball ranks, finishing its first D-I season 10 years ago and now entering its third NCAA tournament appearance in four years on Friday night.

The successful progression leaves GCU always wanting the next breakthrough, which usually comes with a wall of resistance. Saint Mary’s, ranked 15th nationally, is that sturdy barricade in size of its players and stature of its program.

Armed with the program’s best NCAA tournament seed as the West Region’s No. 12, the Lopes (29-4) are fiercely focused on running through a wall for head coach Bryce Drew to upset No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s (26-7) in a 7:05 p.m. first-round game at Spokane Arena. It will broadcast on truTV.

GCU has been checking off goals like a grocery list this season, going unbeaten at home, winning its first outright WAC regular-season championship, and repeating as WAC Tournament champions. The tourney title delivered another chance at the Big Dance, following last year’s first-round loss to another West Coast Conference champion, Gonzaga.

If GCU becomes the program’s first 30-win team since its 1978 NAIA national champions, the Lopes will have earned it. They are facing a Gaels team that ranks first nationally in rebounding margin per game (plus-12), second in points allowed per game (58.7), eighth in opponent field goal percentage (39.5%) and 10th in least turnovers per game (10.1).

Saint Mary’s plays as disciplined as a military operation, running the system that 23-year Gaels head coach Randy Bennett has implemented for 23 years and 533 wins.

The methodical Gaels are tied for the 10th-slowest pace in the nation, taking offensive possessions deep into the shot clock and constricting opposing offense with defensive physicality, even off the ball.

Aidan Mahaney teams with 6-foot-4 junior guard Augustus Marciulionis, the WCC Player of the Year, and 6-foot-10, 242-pound senior center Mitchell Saxen, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, to form half of what was a six-man rotation at the WCC Tournament. The Gaels lost sophomore forward Joshua Jefferson’s 10 points per game to a knee injury on Feb. 10.

GCU also does many things really well to give Saint Mary’s potential problems. The Lopes’ opponent field goal percentage is not far behind the Gaels at 40.5%, which ranks 17th nationally. That has helped GCU outscore opponents by an average of 12.9 points per game (11th nationally) with 18.9 made free throws per game (fourth nationally).

Each player in GCU’s seven-man rotation has been to the NCAA tournament at least once, and four of the starters’ ages are 22 or older.

The Lopes also can draw on getting wins against WCC teams San Francisco and Portland, which the Gaels swept, and beating a San Diego State team that blew out Saint Mary’s 79-54 in November.

Saint Mary’s began this season at 3-5 and have gone 23-2 since then to keep up the past decade’s ninth-best winning percentage in the nation (.758).

COURTESY GRAND CANYON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

MORAGA, Calif. — The 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket has been set, and for the third consecutive year, your Saint Mary’s Gaels (26-7) sit as a five seed. The Gaels won 26 games this season, including 23 of their final 25 en route to both a regular season and postseason WCC Title. Saint Mary’s will have the luxury of not having to travel too far this year either, as they will play their first matchup of the tournament in Spokane, Washington, on of the closest regional sights to the Saint Mary’s Campus. 

The Gaels opponent in the opening round will be the 12th seeded Grand Canyon Antelopes (29-4), who will be making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, and their second in as many years. Also playing in Spokane in the West Region will be the fourth seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (21-11) and the Charleston Cougars (27-7). 

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MORAGA, Calif. — There was quite a bit of excitement around the Saint Mary’s Men’ Basketball team leading up to the 2023-24 campaign. Flash forward five months, and fans and critics alike have realized that that hype was well deserved. The Gaels will enter the NCAA Tournament ranked 15th in the country by both the AP and Coaches Polls, holding a 26-7 record, including wins in 23 of their final 25 matchups. They are a five seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year, and will make one of the shorter treks for their opening matchup of the Big Dance, heading to Spokane, Washington to take on 12th seeded Grand Canyon (29-4).

THE DETAILS
Saint Mary’s Gaels vs. Grand Canyon Lopes
Friday, March 22 at 7:05 PM
Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena – Spokane, Wash.
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THE GAELS AT THE DANCE
This is Saint Mary’s 14th NCAA Tournament Bid in program history, and their 11th under Head Coach Randy Bennett. It is the first time in program history that the Gaels have earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive years. The Gaels are also the first non-Gonzaga mid-major to earn a five seed or better in the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive years since Memphis did it four times between 2006-2009. Saint Mary’s is 7-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament games, and 6-6 in their opening round matchups in the tournament. As a five seed, the Gaels are 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament, and 2-0 in their opening matchups, defeating Indiana in 2022 and VCU in 2023. 

ABOUT THE LOPES
Grand Canyon University enters the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, after making the jump from NCAA DII in the 2013-14 season. They have won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in three of the past four seasons to earn those three bids. All-time, GCU is 0-2 in NCAA Tournament games, falling to second seeded Iowa in 2021 and to third seeded Gonzaga in 2023. The 12 seed is the highest that the Lopes have ever attained. Fourth year Head Coach Bryce Drew is the second GCU Head Coach in their Division I era, and is the only Lopes Head Coach to take his team to the NCAA Tournament. Over his 12 year Head Coaching Career, Drew has been to the NCAA Tournament six times, twice with Valparaiso, once with Vanderbilt and now three times with GCU, but has never made it past the first round. His team has shown great consistency this year, as he has walked out the same starting five in 32 of 33 games, with the only wrinkle coming in a matchup against NAIA foe Bethesda. The biggest impact player for the Lopes this season has been 6-7 wing Tyon Grant-Foster, averaging nearly 20 points and six rebounds per contest, while also leading his squad with 45 blocked shots, becoming the first ever GCU player to earn WAC Player of the Year honors. Even more notably, Grant-Foster missed all of last season while at DePaul after collapsing in the locker room during the season-opener. Point guard Ray Harrison (2nd Team All-WAC) and four man Gabe McGlothan (1st Team All-WAC) have also been terrific this season, averaging 14 and 13 points per game respectively. Defensively, the team leaned heavily on Georgia State transfer Collin Moore, who led the WAC in steals en route to being named to the All-WAC defensive team. Like the Gaels, GCU is a physical, defensive team, ranking 17th in the country in field goal percentage defense, 12th in the country in blocked shots per game and 11th in the country in scoring margin. They try to be just as physical offensively, as they get to the free throw line at a staggering rate, ranking seventh in the NCAA in free throw attempts per game and fourth in free throws made per game. This will be just the second ever meeting between the Gaels and Lopes. In 2016, these two squads met in the final week of the regular season, with the Gaels earning a 73-64 victory. Dane Pineau went for an 18 point, 10 rebound double-double, while GCU’s Grandy Glaze led the Lopes with 15 points and nine boards. 

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COURTESY ST. MARY’S ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS