For the third straight year and fourth in the last five, Grand Canyon basketball will represent the WAC in the NCAA Tournament.
General Information:
Team: Grand Canyon
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Record: 26-7 (13-3)
Head Coach: Bryce Drew (13th season, 5th at Grand Canyon)
What to know about Grand Canyon basketball:
Death. Taxes. Grand Canyon winning the WAC tournament. Since Bryce Drew took over five years ago, Grand Canyon has made the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance this season after beating Utah Valley in the final. They won 26 games in the regular season and finished second in the conference.
This team is led by JaKobe Coles, the TCU transfer who averaged 14.6 PPG and 5.9 RPG on 52.1% shooting. He took it to the next level in the conference tournament, scoring 24 in the first game, 22 in the semifinal, and 13 in the final, earning him WAC Tournament MVP honors.
He is joined by Tyon Grant-Foster, who took a step back this season after averaging 20 a game last year. He dealt with injuries for a large part of the second half of the season, but when he’s healthy, he’s still one of the best all-around mid-major players in the country. Ray Harrison and Duke Brennan both stepped up in his absence, showing how deep the team’s guard play is.
If you want to try to beat this Grand Canyon team, you’re going to have to keep up. They have a top 15 tempo in the country per Kenpom, an interesting style switch-up after being in the middle of the pack last year, and one of the slowest two seasons ago. Fast tempo means a lot of turnovers though, and the 12.6 a game they commit is bottom 50 in the country. They make up for it in rim protection, swatting 5.1 a game, the 18th most in the country.
After an early loss to Utah Valley on January 9th, Grand Canyon has kicked it into a new gear, winning 15 of their last 17 games. They finished 5-4 on the road, just one of two teams in conference to walk out with a positive road record.
NCAA Tournament prediction for Grand Canyon basketball: Round of 64 exit
Seed: 13
Grand Canyon earned the 13 seed in the tournament, and will take on the “Crab Five” in Maryland. Last season, Grand Canyon basketball entered the tournament just one seed higher, and took care of business, beating the 5 seed Saint Mary’s 75-66. They do bring back a decent amount of returners from that team, so they know what it takes to pull off the upset and keep their season alive.
Grand Canyon only faced off against two tournament teams, Georgia and Bryant. Bryant, the 15 seed was no match, losing 66-112, while 10 seed Georgia did get the win, but by a close margin of 73-68. Grand Canyon outscored Georgia 45-39 in the second half of that game, and while Georgia is nowhere near this Maryland team, it proves they can hang with the big boys.
They do get the advantage of playing in Seattle. While it is still nearly 1500 miles away, it is significantly closer than Maryland to Seattle. Perhaps they get a bit of a home crowd, which can propel them to an upset for a second straight year, and perhaps a Power 5 coaching gig for Bryce Drew.