GCU ‘Lopes surge to 10-point road win at San Diego State after facing halftime deficit

Grand Canyon men’s basketball outscored San Diego State by 14 points out of the break to pull off a 73-63 road win, giving the program new life in the Mountain West standings.

The ‘Lopes (17-9, 10-5 Mountain West) picked up their second straight victory and swept the Aztecs (18-7, 12-3) in the regular season, having defeated them 70-69 in Phoenix on Jan. 21. They move to 2.5 games behind conference leader Utah State and two back of San Diego State with five games left before the postseason.

GCU became the first Mountain West team to beat San Diego State by double-digit points since February 2015, according to GCU sports information.

Guard Jaden Henley led all players with 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting and added three rebounds, two assists and three steals for the ‘Lopes.

Henley scored nine points in the first half as GCU went into the break trailing 33-29. The senior led the way with 12 second-half points.

GCU also saw key contributions by freshman Efe Demirel, who had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, and junior Makaih Williams, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Miles Byrd finished with 18 points and four blocks for the Aztecs. Tae Simmons added nine points for San Diego State. Taj DeGourville also had eight points and three steals.

San Diego State’s 35.5% night from the field was its worst at home since January 2022 against Boise State. No. 1 Michigan and No. 4 Arizona are the only two teams to hold the Aztecs to a lower shooting percentage at 27% and 26%, respectively.

Up next for GCU

The ‘Lopes return home to play Wyoming (14-12, 5-10) on Saturday, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. The game can be seen on Mountain West Network.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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