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With center Duke Brennan back from a shoulder injury, everything fell into place for Grand Canyon’s basketball team during Friday night’s 91-73 rout of Norfolk State before a sellout crowd of 7,022 at Global Credit Union Arena.
Players were no longer out of position. It opened up the court more for forward JaKobe Coles and guard Tyon Grant-Foster and led to Ray Harrison tying a career high with eight assists.
GCU (3-2), breaking a two-game losing streak after shooting just 39% and having an 18-game home winning streak snapped earlier in the week in a 75-68 loss to UC Davis, matched a school record for points in the first half (54) against a Division I opponent. They did that last year against Southeast Missouri State in the season opener.
GCU held a 54-27 halftime lead over the Spartans (4-3), as Brennan had nine of his 13 points. He finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
With Brennan in the post, the pacing and spacing were at their best this season for the Lopes, who have a quick turnaround to play 5-0 Stanford on Tuesday in Palm Desert, California, at Acrisure Arena, in the Acrisure Holiday Classic.
“Having Duke Brennan obviously changes our team dramatically, so I have to give him a lot of credit for rehabbing hard,” coach Bryce Drew said in the postgame radio show with GCU. “Him having the will to get back on the court.
“He had 13 and seven but he puts pressure on the rim with his rolls, he sets big screens. He takes a lot of contact and frees people up like JaKobe and Lok (Wur) and Tyon. His presence, you could tell from the first couple of minutes, changes both ends of the court.”
Coles and Grant-Foster each had 20 points. Coles had five assists, along with sophomore guard Makaih Williams. Guard Collin Moore had six assists, a block and two steals.
GCU’s 31 assists were the most ever against a D-I opponent, surpassing the 28 it had in 2015 against Mississippi Valley State.
This was only the sixth time GCU made at least 13 3-pointers while shooting 55% or better against a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/duke-brennans-return-grand-canyon-202555572.html
Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic
Publish date : 2024-11-23 20:25:00
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