Grand Canyon's 'incredible run' to March Madness fueled by players-only meeting
DENVER — When Yvan Ouedraogo called for a players-only meeting in the final week of the regular season, Grand Canyon players talked, listened, hugged each other and went on a run.
A six-game run all the way to March Madness to play a top dog, the No. 3-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, who have been here, done that so many times they know what kind of animal they are getting ready to take on Friday at 4:35 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA West Region.
"Scary," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of the red-hot Lopes. "They made 10 3s in a half. In a half. There's probably three-quarters of the teams in college basketball who don't make 10 in a game. Probably 80% of the teams don't.
"They're on an incredible run right now. They're seeing a huge basket. Bryce (Drew, GCU's coach) does a great job. He mixes up his defenses. He's very creative on the offensive end. They're experienced. And they're hungry. They've been watching and hearing about Gonzaga all these years. And they want to knock us off. That's a dangerous combination."
Ray Harrison was the one constant this season, more so after point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr.'s season ended on Jan. 5 in Sam Houston with a knee injury. But there were games in which Harrison, no matter how hard he took the ball to the basket, couldn't get all the shots to go. And nobody else was able to finish things up for the Lopes.
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They were 18-13, hitting rock bottom in late February on their home floor in a loss to Seattle U. They set a Division I-era program record for first-half futility with just 13 points. It appeared it would be a lethargic lunge to the finish line.
But something happened on the night before playing at Southern Utah, the last of their final two regular-season WAC games. The players got together to see how they could finish strong.
"It was just basically how much we love each other," said 6-foot-7, 235-pound forward Gabe McGlothan. "How we want to bond this team together with something that can't be taken away in history. What it took. Getting down to the nitty gritty."
It was the two local guys, McGlothan and Noah Baumann, who really took it to heart, and have risen to heights that, without them, wouldn't have the No. 14 Antelopes (24-11) in March Madness, getting ready to face Gonzaga (28-5).
"They both had a sensational (WAC) tournament," Drew said. "Noah has been such a great shooter his whole career. But those were the games he was just terrific.
"Gabe, that second game of the tournament, he really took off. And that championship game he was really good."
McGlothan, who led Chandler Basha High School to a state championship his senior year in 2017, had a career-high 35 points in the 84-79 WAC quarterfinal win over Seattle U. He added 10 rebounds.
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Baumann, who played at Phoenix Desert Vista at the same time McGlothan was in high school, hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the 78-75 win over No. 1 Sam Houston in the semifinals. He had 17 points, making 4 of 7 three-pointers, including a four-point play.
In the WAC championship game, an 84-66 win over No. 3 Southern Utah, McGlothan had 21 points to go with tournament MVP Ray Harrison's 31 points. Baumann had 16 points, making 5 of 8 3-pointers, a game in which the Antelopes made 13 of 20 3-pointers.
Before this wild run, GCU was reeling, after scoring a Division I-era fewest first-half points of 13 in a bad home loss to Seattle U on Feb. 24. It was the last time the Lopes played at home. All of these magical moments leading to the dance have come away from GCU Arena.
"We believed in us the whole time," McGlothan said. "Cloud 9, just because it's a great feeling. But we're still touching Earth, because we knew we could do this. We had God the whole time."
Baumann is one of the top 3-point shooters in all of college basketball, and has been that way in all of his stops, from San Jose State, USC and Georgia. The WAC tournament was his most consistent run, stepping up in the biggest moments.
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Baumann, McGlothan, Chance McMillian, freshman guard Kobe Knox, the big man Ouedraogo, senior guard Walter Ellis all have had clutch moments to get them here.
"Throughout January and early February, if Ray didn't score, we probably weren't winning," Drew said. "That Sam Houston game, he scored seven points and we won."
That's because Knox knocked down all six 3-pointers he took in that Sam Houston win.
Ellis has had ice in his veins down the stretch. The defense of Ellis, Knox and McMillian are key, along with their 3-point shooting.
That is big when a team is facing a top-scoring team in the nation and is led by 6-10 star Drew Timme, who is averaging 21 points and seven rebounds.
Gonzaga got its wake-up call on Jan. 19 at home, a 68-67 loss to Loyola Marymount, a home loss that comes along maybe once every five or so years. Since then, the Bulldogs have won 12 of their last 13 games, the only loss an OT setback to Saint Mary's, a game they avenged in the WCC Tournament championship game with a 71-51 rout.
"I don't think we were sleeping on them,"guard Rasier Bolton said of LMU. "They kicked us in the butt.
"We can't take anything for granted (against GCU). We can't come in thinking we're going to win easily. They had to fight to get here. They did some pretty miraculous stuff to get to this point. They're not coming here just to lay down."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Grand Canyon basketball players-only meeting fueled run to NCAAs
