The Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team is posing a threat in its first season competing in the Mountain West Conference.
Halfway through the season, and with January victories against two of the conference’s preseason favorites, San Diego State and Utah State, the Lopes have established that another conference title is within their reach.
It’s a remarkable feat given the obstacles GCU faced rebuilding its roster in the offseason.
Coming off three consecutive Western Athletic Conference championships and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the Lopes headed into their first MWC season in 2025-26 with only two returning players.
Coach Bryce Drew admitted during the preseason that losing so many players to the transfer portal and graduation posed a major challenge for the Lopes.
“We want to compete to win championships every year, and it’s hard to do that when you are playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Drew said. “We try to recruit some experienced players in the portal to come in.”
To maintain the program’s level of play, Drew brought in guards Brian Moore Jr., Caleb Shaw and Jaden Henley through the portal. Just as importantly, the Lopes are building a team around commanding defense. GCU ranks third in scoring defense (68.2 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (40.8) in the Mountain West.
“Defensively, we want to be aggressive,” Drew said.
Forward Nana Owusu-Anane is driving that mindset, leading the team in rebounds (8.6 per game), along with ranking second in steals (1.2) and blocks (1.0).
“His approach is so professional,” Drew said. “Whether it’s practice, pre-game or huddles, he is just locked in. He wants to compete and win.”
GCU closed out January by bouncing back from an overtime loss at Nevada with an 86-69 home victory over Boise State, despite playing at less than full strength. The Lopes shot a season-high 60% from 3-point range against the Broncos, a dramatic improvement from their 30% season efficiency from long range.
“We all had a chip on our shoulder coming into tonight,” junior guard Dusty Stromer said after the win. “I think that last game hurt, and we didn’t want that to carry over.”
The Lopes, 14-7 overall and 7-3 in the conference, find themselves fifth in the Mountain West but just 1.5 games behind league-leading Utah State going into a game against Air Force Tuesday night at GCU’s Global Credit Union Arena.
Six of GCU’s wins came in January, including the victory over visiting Utah State, ranked 23rd in the Associated Press Poll. GCU got the upset win, 84-74.
“They have been working hard, staying together,” Drew said after that victory. “Moments like this, you don’t often get a ranked team in your own building. This is a day that they will remember.”
Following up on that win over a ranked team, the Lopes hosted San Diego State, which came into the game 7-0 in Mountain West play. The Havocs, GCU’s student section, brought the energy for the nationally televised game with a “White Out” theme and the Lopes won a 70-69 thriller.
“Mountain West is a great league, it’s a competitive league,” said GCU junior guard Makaih Williams, who went four-for-four from the free-throw line to secure the win. “One of my close friends, Elijah Price at Nevada, he even told me that before I got to Mountain West. It’s just great to get these wins, especially over these top two teams.”
Williams is one of the two returning players from the previous season (Shaw is the other). Despite coming off the bench, he is the team’s second-leading scorer at 13 points per game.
Guard Jaden Henly leads the team in scoring, averaging 17 points per game.
Grand Canyon hopes to continue its January success over the final stretch of the season to make a fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
“We have a lot of basketball left, we are only halfway through conference season,” Drew said. “You want to finish your strongest.”
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