Grand Canyon is still waiting for reigning WAC Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster to break out of a prolonged shooting slump.
But, in the meantime, others are making an impact. In a 112-66 final non-conference rout of Bryant on Monday night before a sellout of 7,214 fans, Makaih Williams broke out with the biggest game of his career.
Last year’s WAC Freshman of the Year at UT Arlington, Williams had his career-high 25 points by halftime, and took over during a long stretch in the second half that put the Bulldogs away, 61-23.
Williams finished with 31 points and had five of his team’s 16 steals. He also made 10 of 11 free throws on a night when the Lopes made 35 of 44 from the line. He was 9 of 16 shooting, 3 of 6 from distance. All of this came off the bench, after starting the last three games with Caleb Shaw, as Grant-Foster and Collin Moore came off the bench.
GCU was 3-0 with Williams and Shaw in the starting lineup, but, before the game, coach Bryce Drew told them that he was returning Grant-Foster and Moore to the starting lineup for the final non-conference game, before Saturday’s start of WAC play at home against Southern Utah.
Here are takeaways from Monday’s game and the adversity the Lopes worked through to get to 10-4 after coming off a 30-win season that saw them win their first NCAA Tournament game:
Williams’ breakout performance
This was why the Lopes were ecstatic to get Williams on campus in the offseason after he entered the portal. He led UT Arlington to the WAC Tournament championship game, which the Lopes won.
But it took almost all of the non-conference games for Williams to show his full potential. With Williams and Shaw on the court during a long stretch in the first half Monday, the Lopes pulled away from Bryant (6-9), which was playing its first game in eight days and making its longest road trip from Rhode Island,
“I had trust in myself,” Williams said. “We’re playing great right now. Some people are having ups and downs. I’ve been having downs lately. We’re a deep team. We have lots of talent. It’s all going to come through.”
Williams’ big night raised his scoring average to 7.7 points. It was only the fourth time he scored in double figures. His previous season high was 14 against Stanford on Nov. 26. Williams had a total of 24 points in his last seven games.
“For them (Williams and Shaw), I thought coming off the bench and getting comfortable, kind of playing more free might be good for them,” Drew said. “I thought both of them were sensational. They were in that run with Ray (Harrison), Duke (Brennan) and Lok (Wur), and they deserved to be on the court. And I wasn’t going to take that group off the court, because they played so well.”
Shaw had eight points, three assists and five rebounds.
Brennan’s emergence
After missing the 2-2 start of the season, Brennan has solidified GCU’s offense and defense with his low-post presence. He had 11 points and 15 rebounds, the third double-double of his career, against Bryant. He had 11 rebounds in the first half.
Brennan overcame a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the first four games.
“I think we’ve been trying to find our jell a lot the last couple of games,” Brennan said. “Tonight was good for us. We were sharing the ball. Doing this in conference is going to be super-big for us. It sets a standard of how we can play. We want to keep the same mentality heading into conference.”
Despite a 40-something lead late in the second half, GCU was staying with its rotation players. Williams took a hard fall on a drive with about three minutes left, tweaking his ankle. But he appears to be fine and should be ready for Southern Utah.
Drew said it was mostly out of necessity that he had to stick with his rotation due to so many players being out with injuries. Nine players played against Bryant. Freshman point guard Styles Phipps has been out with a broken thumb and has missed the last five games.
Being the aggressor
The last two games the Lopes showed why they won 30 games last year, pushing tempo, getting to the basket and drawing fouls. In Saturday’s 68-55 win over San Diego at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, the Lopes shot poorly, making just 19% of its shots in the first half and 28% for the game.
But they were the aggressors, and cashed in at the free-throw line, making 36 of 42. That was their mindset last season: go hard, and, if the shots don’t fall, create free throws.
“I think we have a lot of athletes, getting downhill and beating those guys to the rim,” Brennan said. “That’s our mentality. Get into the lane, draw fouls. I know last game, it was kind of hard. It was really physical game. But getting those guys in foul trouble early helps us.”
How concerning are Grant-Foster’s struggles?
The biggest concern heading into WAC play is Grant-Foster’s shooting struggles. He had 12 points against Bryant, but 10 of those came from the line. He missed his first 12 shots, before making his only field goal late in the game.
He was 0 for 6 from 3-point range. Grant-Foster, who led the Lopes with 20 points a game last season, has made only 6 of 50 3s (12%) this season. Since making 3 of 5 3-pointers against Norfolk State on Nov. 22, Grant-Foster has made just 1 of his last 36 3-point tries. Since scoring 23 points against Hawaii on Dec. 3, he has made only 14 of 74 field goals.
How concerning is this?
“We all know what a great player he is,” Drew said. “It’s great to see the team playing well, despite him not shooting as well as he’s capable of. But he had seven rebounds. He made an unbelievable block at the other end. So he’s doing other things that we like. He’s impacting the game in other ways. The day that he does make shots, which we believe is coming soon, then those other numbers are going to look even better.”
Grant-Foster still is playing aggressively, drawing fouls. He made 10 of 12 free throws against Bryant.
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU men’s basketball builds momentum heading into WAC play
