Utah Valley Triumphs: A Swift Review of Their 72-64 Victory Over GCU

Box Score OREM, Utah – Grand Canyon’s five-game winning streak was halted during its initial WAC road match on Thursday evening. The Lopes were behind Utah Valley for the final 33 minutes at UCCU Center, concluding the game at 72-64.

The Wolverines (10-6) established themselves as the first team to go 2-0 in WAC play by excelled in various hustle categories against GCU (11-5), such as offensive rebounds, points from turnovers, and shot-blocking, bringing the defending WAC champion’s conference record to even at 1-1.

Key player

GCU swingman Tyon Grant-Foster followed up his 23-point performance Saturday with a 22-point outing Thursday night at Utah Valley, where he contributed 18 points in the latter half.

Grant-Foster, a graduate, converted 8 of 15 attempts from the field, 1 of 3 beyond the arc, and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line. He also accounted for eight rebounds, four blocked shots, and two steals in 29 minutes.

Key moment

The Lopes made a comeback from a 13-point disadvantage early in the second half, narrowing Utah Valley’s advantage to 51-50 with 9:19 left, during which Grant-Foster netted five consecutive GCU points. At that juncture, GCU managed to halt Utah Valley two additional times but committed successive turnovers that enabled the Wolverines to embark on a 7-0 run, solidifying their lead for good.

Key statistics

Utah Valley outscored GCU 14-0 in points off turnovers during the first half, collected a season-high 17 offensive rebounds against the Lopes in the match, and blocked 10 shots from GCU.

Quotable

GCU head coach Bryce Drew: “They displayed greater toughness than us. They possessed a stronger desire than we did. Their will to win surpassed ours. We recognized that traveling on the road would present a challenging game. They hold the second-best record in our conference, had won multiple consecutive games, and were in excellent rhythm. Ultimately, every team wants to defeat us. When you adopt the mindset that you can be significantly superior and more dominant than your opponent, the hungrier team that yearns to defeat you will ultimately prevail. This is evident in the statistics. Seventeen offensive rebounds. There’s no path to victory. They blocked 10 shots against us. There’s no path to victory. Unacceptable.”

What’s next?

The Lopes will head back home for a series of WAC matchups at Global Credit Union Arena next week. They will face Abilene Christian at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Tarleton State at 6 p.m. on Saturday..

Return to GCULopes.com later tonight for an updated game recap by Paul Coro, which will include more insights and responses from Lopes head coach Bryce Drew and a player.