NCAA Tourney Win Highlights Best Season in Division I History for GCU
NCAA Tourney Win Highlights Best Season in Division I History for GCU
Tyon Grant-Foster and the GCU Lopes won 30 games, including an NCAA Tournament game in a historic year for the Lopes
Third time is the charm, right?
In the case of the GCU men’s basketball team, it sure was.
In two of the last three years, GCU has won the WAC Tournament to earn the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In both of those trips, the Lopes got tripped up in the first round.
In 2021, in GCU’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Luka Garza-led Iowa Hawkeyes got the better of the Lopes in an 86-74 win.
In 2023, GCU faced Drew Timme and Gonzaga in Denver. After an issue with their gear not arriving at the airport, GCU hung with Zags most of the night before ultimately falling 82-70.
In 2024, after winning the outright WAC regular season title, and then holding off both Seattle U and UT Arlington to win the WAC Tournament, GCU was being talked about as a possible Sweet 16 team.
The Lopes faced a West Coast Conference team in the first round for the second straight year.
Facing St. Mary’s in the 5-12 game in Spokane, GCU got the better of the Gaels. Four Lopes were in double figures, led by Tyon Grant-Foster’s 22 points in a 75-66 win over the Gaels.
In that 2024 NCAA Tournament win, the first-ever in GCU’s short Division I history, the Lopes did what they did best in 2023-24…they got to the free throw line. GCU was 28-36 from the charity stripe. St. Mary’s was 7-12 at the line.
To put it mildly, GCU got to the free throw line A LOT in 2023-24.
The Lopes were fifth in the country at free throw attempts per game, averaging 25.8 trips to the line.
GCU was third at free throw makes per game, averaging 19.3 makes.
SFA was the only other WAC team in the top-20, averaging 17.0 makes on 24.1 attempts.
Tyon Grant-Foster attempted 282 free throws in 2023-24. That is 118 more than his teammate, Ray Harrison who attempted 164 free throws.
People complain that GCU gets more calls than normal. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t.
Just look at a two-game road trip to West Texas. GCU was outshot at the free throw line in a pair of losses at Tarleton and at ACU. That fact alone led GCU head coach Bryce Drew to take his frustration out on live radio after the ACU loss.
However, GCU also shot 50 free throws in the WAC Tournament title game.
No matter how you spin it, GCU played a type of basketball that led to the Lopes getting to the free throw line… A LOT.
WAC Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster played downhill night in and night out. And at 6-7, 210 pounds, with a 7-foot wingspan, it is hard to stop a guy going full speed at the rim.
The other problem is, Grant-Foster could knock down shots from the perimeter, making him even more of a challenge to defend.
The supporting cast was also a problem. Gabe McGlothan, Ray Harrison, Collin Moore, Duke Brennan, Jovan Blacksher Jr., and Lök Wur all played a significant role in the Lopes success in 2023-24.
Wur was especially good during the WAC Tournament for the Lopes, averaging 14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the wins over Seattle U and UT Arlington.
The Lopes had a win over then-25th-ranked San Diego State in Phoenix. GCU also dominated Liberty in the WAC/Conference USA Scheduling Alliance.
GCU’s only loss in the non-conference slate was to a good South Carolina team on Nov. 19 in the Arizona Tip-Off.
Three of GCU’s five losses came in WAC play. All three were on the road. Cam Tyson and Seattle U knocked off the Lopes on Jan. 20 at the Redhawk Center. And then the two-game West Texas road trip happened toward the end of February.
But, even with three conference losses, the Lopes were able to win the WAC regular season title outright for the first time in program history. GCU won a share of the regular season title in 2020-21 but the outright title has eluded the Lopes.
It didn’t elude the Lopes in 2023-24, although it very nearly did. GCU can thank Utah Valley for making it possible to win the outright regular season title.
Following the trip to West Texas, GCU was in a tie atop the standings with Tarleton.
One week after the Lopes lost at Tarleton, the Lopes got a gift from Utah Valley as the Wolverines went into Stephenville and knocked off the Texans. In the process, GCU won out, and won the outright regular season title, a game ahead of Tarleton.
The rest is history. Two wins in front of a home crowd at Orleans Arena meant a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. Spokane was the destination, and the Lopes did not disappoint in a near wire-to-wire win over the Gaels.
Two days later, the history season came to an end on what some might say a bittersweet shooting performance.
The Lopes shot just 32 percent from the floor, 66 percent from the free throw line, and were just 2-20 from 3-point land in a 72-61 loss to Alabama.
To put it mildly, the 2023-24 GCU squad raised the bar of expectations even more than in the first decade as a Division I basketball program.
30 wins is the most in the Division I era. 17 wins in WAC play was the most since joining the WAC for the 2013-14 season.
And the Lopes had another Player of the Year in Tyon Grant-Foster, who was also named WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Grant-Foster is back. Ray Harrison is back. Collin Moore is back. Duke Brennan is back. Lök Wur is back. And the Lopes basically reloaded for the 2024-25 season, the final in the Western Athletic Conference for GCU.
Can the Lopes raise the bar of expectations even more in 2024-25?